October 19, 2018
Mark 11:18-25
18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
19 When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.
20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots.21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”
22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
CONSIDER THIS
How are we to understand this?
“Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
If ever there were a proof text for the “name it-claim it” crowd, this is it. In fact, entire theological systems and faith movements have been built by a few verses like these and others strung together. However, I think any biblical interpreter worth his or her salt would quickly say, “Not so fast!” My dear friend, Dr. Ben Witherington III, often puts it this way, “A text taken out of context becomes a pretext for anything you want it to say.”
So what’s going on here? Remember, we are coming to the end of the three year period of discipleship for the twelve. They have been schooled in the nature of the sovereignty of God. They have been taught and trained in the ways of the Kingdom of God. And let’s remember the bigger context at work. Just yesterday, Jesus cursed the fig tree and cleaned house at the Temple. In contrast to the religious machinations of the Temple in which Israel placed so much confidence, Jesus tells his disciples to
“Have faith in God,”
As they stood there on the Mount of Olives looking at the withered fig tree that would indeed never bear fruit again they couldn’t but help to have seen the towering Temple across the valley in the mighty Jerusalem. Jesus in essence told his disciples the whole project had become a house of cards that would soon come crashing down. Don’t have faith in the corrupted system. “Have faith in God.”
This is the big deal—the whole point of discipleship. As they followed Jesus, he showed them what God was like every step of the way. Discipleship is learning by Word and Spirit who God is and what God is like. It is learning to trust the true God. This is manifest through a life of prayer, which is the hidden way the life of faith works. The way of faith depends on the life of prayer as one’s heartbeat depends on one’s breath. Dr. William Lane, one of my teachers through this Gospel of Mark said it well: “When prayer is the source of faith’s power and the means of its strength, God’s sovereignty is its only restriction.”
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
When a follower of Jesus lives immersed in the Word of God and is animated by the Spirit of God, their prayers—with ever increasing resonance—ring true to the will of God. God funds his will through the faith-filled prayers of his people. Here’s what this text is all about: We must learn to think of prayer not in the terms of the power of our faith but the framework of the faithfulness of our God. Prayer is that constant abiding conversation Jesus wants to have with us all the time. It is simpler than we could ever have imagined yet more consuming than we can conceive. With today’s text, Jesus teaches us what it means to be people who live and love with power.
There is one other restriction, though.
And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
The only blockade to the way of faith inspired by the life of prayer is unforgiveness. To the degree we withhold forgiveness from others, we deny it to ourselves. As has been aptly said, “Unforgiveness is drinking poison and expecting it to kill the other person.” A final practical note on forgiveness. Forgiveness is not saying what happened was o.k. It doesn’t mean everything is hunky dory after. It’s not about kissing and making up. Forgiveness is the willful decision to cease retaliating in any form against the person who harmed you. (That includes harboring bitterness and anger fantasies, etc.)
On that note, let me close with a couple of questions:
1. Is prayer more about “something you say” (which is not a bad thing) or is it taking the shape of constant conversation?
2. Invite the Holy Spirit to search your spirit and ferret out any unforgiveness festering there. Are you ready to let that go? Can you confess unforgiveness as a sin and invite the Holy Spirit to cleanse you of its poison and to empower you to let go of your need to “pay them back” if only in your mind? It’s just not worth it to hold on to unforgiveness. Don’t waste another minute of your life.
THE PRAYER
Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me. Lord Jesus, so much of what I have thought of as your ways are really only my ways practiced in your name. I want to break free from that and into the life you offer, the real and powerful life lived from the source of your Spirit. Melt me. Mold me. Fill me. Use me. For the glory of your name, Jesus. Amen.
THE QUESTION
Do you ever wonder if you are skirting around the reality of it all while clinging doggedly to what you supposed to be it? Are you willing to let go of what you thought was it in order to lay hold of the real thing?
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For the Awakening,
J.D. Walt
Sower-in-Chief
seedbed.com
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