The Powerful Prayer Of Faith
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Andrew Murray well said, “Christ actually meant prayer to be the great power by which His church should do its work and the neglect of prayer is the great reason the church has not greater power over the masses in Christian and heathen countries.… The power of the church to truly bless rests on intercession: asking and receiving Heavenly gifts to carry to men” (Murray, Ministry of Intercession, 12–13).
Tonight we are going to look at “The Powerful Prayer Of Faith”.
Text: Mark 11:20-26
20 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
21 And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”
22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.
23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
25 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.
26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
1. Dried and Withered Away; 20-21
1. Dried and Withered Away; 20-21
Peter was amazed at the fig tree that Jesus cursed. Overnight it went from having beautiful foliage to being dried up from the roots and withered away. There is great symbolism here concerning the nation of Israel and their failure in powerless prayers of faith.
The dried up and withered fig tree is a picture of Israel in just 36 years [AD 70], when Titus the Roman Emperor comes and destroys Jerusalem and the temple.
The dried up roots represent the temple of God, the foundation of the nation of Israel. It had been desecrated by the religious leaders.
The withered fig tree represents the barren spiritual condition of the people. God could no longer use them for their lack of faith and their powerless prayers!
8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
2. Powerful Prayer of Faith; 22-24
2. Powerful Prayer of Faith; 22-24
We might ask ourselves why Jesus uses the cursing of the fig tree to teach the disciples about prayer. In just a few days Jesus would be crucified and the disciples would be shocked, scattered and scared. Jesus had taught them how to pray and the importance of prayer, but His continual presence with them had restrained their desire to practice prayer as they should. Now Jesus is trying to show them how important prayer is going to be in their lives going forward.
The power of prayer begins with the object of our faith, God!
Have faith in God! The most important aspect of faith is the worthiness/value of its object. You can place tremendous faith in Santa Claus, but you’ll be disappointed. However, if we have true, vibrant faith in the God of the Bible, we have spiritual authority to access His divine power.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
The power of prayer is “God”, but the prayer of faith is what allows us to tap into that power.
[23] Jesus says we can toss mountains into the sea by a prayer of faith. Now Jesus doesn’t mean that we can pray for anything and we get it. What he wants his disciples and us to realize is that nothing is impossible with God!
Mountains represent the immovable and the impossible obstacles in life. It is something almost too steep to climb, too wide to cross, too high to see beyond. Jesus was referring to the mountains of opposition to the gospel message of the disciples in the days and years to come. The disciples would need to “pray without ceasing”, powerful prayers of faith to overcome and be fruitful in trying times.
The same goes for us in our life of mountains. [health issues, family trials, cultural circumstances, political and societal issues]
Song by Brandon Lake & Cody Carnes, “Too Good To Not Believe”
Oh, how my eyes have seen it, Oh, You're too good to not believe
And I've seen cancer disappear, I've seen metal plates dissolve, I've seen mental health restored, I've seen families reunited, I've seen prodigals return
I've seen troubled souls delivered, I've seen addicts finally free
Don't you tell me He can't do it, Don't you tell me He can't do it!
Jesus told them to pray without doubt, believing God and He will answer their prayers!
How do we pray without doubt and believing God? Praying prayers of faith in harmony with God’s will!
36 And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”
9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
23 “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.
24 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
Believing faith taps into God’s power to accomplish His purpose. Again hear Andrew Murray: “We have a God who delights in impossibilities” (Cowman, Streams, 336).
3. A Clean Heart; 25-26
3. A Clean Heart; 25-26
The most vital part of a powerful prayer of faith begins with a clean heart in us.
For a person to pray while bearing a grudge is like a tree sprouting leaves and bearing no fruit. And we know what Jesus thinks of that! So if we want God to hear our prayers we need to have a clean heart.
Many times our prayers are hindered because our relationship with God is broken because of a strained relationship with man.
The cross is both vertical and horizontal. The vertical God-and-man relationship is taken care of. Man is reconciled to God by the propitiatory death of God’s Son and the Judgment Seat is now a Mercy Seat. We are made right with God. But often Christians are not in fellowship with the Father; there is rebellion against the will of God. Is there something between your soul and the Saviour? Then there may be something between you and somebody else and man must be reconciled to man. Are you right vertically and horizontally, loving God and your neighbor?
Havner, V. (1976). All the Days (p. 22). Fleming H. Revell Company.
37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.
Jesus is not talking about God forgiving sin in need of salvation here, but the need of a christian to have daily sins removed. Remember when Jesus washed the disciples feet and the conversation he had with Peter.
5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
6 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?”
7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”
8 Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”
10 Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”
The choice believers face is clear: we can hold a grudge or have our prayers heard.
Close;
The missionary C. T. Studd said, “Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell. I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell!” Now that is a great place to plant a temple! That is a great place to plant a life with a sign that reads, “A Savior for All Nations! Come on in! All are welcomed! None will be turned away!”
That attitude is what God wants in His church. But that attitude only happens when people put God as the object of their faith and then learn to pray with power according to His will.
“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” James 5:16b