Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign welcome to Hope for Today, a weekly Bible teaching program that will bring
[00:00:09] Speaker B: you hope for every day.
[00:00:17] Speaker A: Thanks so much for joining us as we study God's Word together today. Our, uh, study in the Book of Mark brings us to five verses in Mark, chapter 11.
Before we get into the lesson, think about words we use so often that we tend to forget what they mean in the Bible. There are words like that, words that are packed with meaning, but as we use them over and over, we don't always think about what the word means.
Just recently, I had a friend explain to me how God showed him a vision of the grace we have through Jesus. Tears pooled in his eyes, and his voice cracked as he described God's grace. I use the word grace many times, and I know what it means. But this conversation challenged me to meditate on God's grace and allow it to go past my head into my heart. Faith is another word like this. It's a word we throw around many times without really thinking about what it means. Of course we have faith. And yes, I have faith in God. But wait, do you really?
What does that mean? And how do you know today? Let's take a little time to think about what that really means.
[00:01:23] Speaker B: In the year 1806, there was a young college student named Samuel Mills. And he felt a burden to pray for foreign missions.
And so one day in August, he assembled a small group of friends who were spiritually minded like he was, and they prayed together that the Lord would raise up men and women to take the gospel to foreign nations.
Now, remember, this is the early 1800s.
Eventually, in answer to their prayers, God established several the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, the American Bible Society, the forerunner of many Bible societies around the world, and the United Foreign Missionary Society. And through these organizations, the Lord sent many laborers into the harvest field.
But I asked the question, why did Samuel Mills and his friends feel burdened to pray for foreign missions?
What was the key to their success? And why did God honor their cries for the gospel to reach into other parts of the world?
Well, the primary answer is that their prayers were an act of faith.
They believed that God wanted all people to hear the gospel and that God had the power and the desire to answer their prayers regarding world missions.
And that brings us to our text for today, mark, uh, chapter 11 and verses 22 to 26. Because in this text, Jesus directly commands his disciples regarding their faith and its expression in their lives.
So listen as I read Mark 11, beginning with verse 22.
So Jesus answered and said to them, have faith in God, 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.
Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them.
And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him. That your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.
But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.
Jesus command to have faith in God provides essential components of effective prayer for you and me to consider and then to implement in our lives.
And so I've titled my study have Faith in God.
Now, the immediate context of this interaction between Jesus and the 12 is is the cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple.
On Monday morning, on the way to Jerusalem from Bethany, Jesus cursed the fig tree because it had a deceiving appearance. It had leaves but no figs.
And then that same day, he cleansed the court of the Gentiles in the Temple, drove out the livestock sellers with their merchandise and turned over the money changers tables.
This was evidence of the day's fruitless religion.
And then he and the 12 went back to Bethany again.
The following day, as they made their way back to Jerusalem, they saw this lone fig tree that Jesus had cursed, and it was dried up from the roots.
As they observed this phenomenon, Peter said in shock, rabbi, look, the fig tree you cursed has withered away.
And that brings us to our text today.
The first component of effective prayer that I want to share with you is the object of our faith.
In response to Peter's professed shock at the withered fig tree, Jesus issues a simple, straightforward command. He says, have faith in God.
Didn't the disciples already have faith in God?
Well, in Luke 8:25, after Jesus stilled the raging storm, he asked his fearful disciples, where is your faith? In Matthew's account of that same incident, Jesus asked, why are you so afraid, O you of little faith?
And then in Matthew 14:31, Jesus responded to Peter's cry of fear by saying, o you of little faith, why do you doubt? These incidents, along with many others, show us the weakness of their faith.
However, I think Jesus is revealing something deeper with this statement.
As indicated by his cursing of the fig tree and his cleansing of the temple, the Jewish people were exercising belief in a works religion rather than exercising faith in God. And so these events were dramatic, visible evidence of an appearance of faith. But there was no corresponding fruit.
The curse of spiritual death would spread from the religious leaders to that whole generation of unbelieving Jews.
Now, it's easy for us to criticize the religious leaders and the disciples, but we must be careful to consider the object of our faith.
Because we too say we believe in God and his Word. And yet, like them, we often unknowingly place our faith in our heritage, our religion, our nationality, our, uh, family background, maybe our abilities and our own self sufficiency. But you know, all of these will eventually fail us.
God alone must be the object of our faith. Our religious practices and our prayers will be lifeless and empty. And if he is not the object of our faith, the next component of effective prayer then is the authenticity of our faith. How can we determine that?
Jesus initial command to have faith in God indicates that the fig tree's withering was in response to his Father's will.
We know Jesus had complete trust in God. The point of cursing the fig tree was that dependent trust in God can accomplish what is humanly impossible. And it's accomplished through prayer.
So look at what Jesus said next. Amen. Uh, if you say to this mountain, be removed and cast into the sea. And do not doubt in your heart, but truly believe you will receive whatever you ask for.
Now let's look closer at Jesus statements. He says, do not doubt, but genuinely believe.
To doubt means to be at variance with yourself, to be unsettled, to be a picture of sea waves clarifies the idea.
Genuine belief is more than simply agreeing with the truth. It has to result in action.
James 2:21 asks this, was Abraham, uh, our father not justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?
Do you see that faith was working together with his works. And by works, faith was made perfect. The scripture was fulfilled. Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for for righteousness.
But how does all of this relate to prayer? Well, verse 24 says, Therefore I say to you whatever you ask. When you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them.
God is the source of power to change moving a mountain, that's a universal symbol of doing something that appears humanly impossible.
Jesus presupposed that overcoming the difficulty in view was God's sovereign will.
A true disciple of Jesus would hardly pray for anything else but the will of God.
A praying person can believe what he asks will happen because it is God's will. He will neither doubt God's ability to do what he requests, since God can do anything, nor will he doubt that God will grant his petition because he is asking in the will of God, and then furthermore, promises to answered prayer depend on God's sovereign control of everything.
They don't allow us as human beings to override God's will.
You know, what Jesus says in this text must be understood in the light of all the teaching on prayer in the New Testament. Because if we take this verse out of its context and we ignore the rest of the teaching in the New Testament, then we start getting into the magical business of what is called name it and claim it, or the word of faith movement.
So I ask you, how do you respond to Jesus teaching in this text?
As disciples, we can believe that we will receive what we request in prayer when we ask for God's will to be done.
Jesus said in John 14:13, and whatever you ask in my name that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. And so a question you need to ask yourself is, is what I'm asking for going to bring glory to the Father or glory to me?
According to the Scriptures, we can be sure of two things when we pray with authentic faith. First of all, God will hear, and secondly, he will answer.
The final component then of effective prayer is the authenticity of our forgiveness.
In the final two verses of this text, Jesus mentions a component of prayer that he discussed elsewhere, and that is the importance of forgiveness.
And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But, uh, if you do not forgive, neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses.
Now, physical posture in prayer is not critical. Jesus mentioned standing, but heart posture is critical.
The Word carries the idea of firmness, of standing fast.
So my prayer is to be faith filled. It is to be regular and systematic.
As I walk with God in the fellowship of prayer, I will know if I have unforgiveness in my heart.
And that unwillingness to forgive then indicates a lack of faith on my part.
In this text, Jesus warning focuses on a spirit of unforgiveness.
When we repent and have been forgiven through the grace of God.
But someone injures us or offends us, apologizes and confesses their sin, something is wrong if we refuse to forgive them.
We can't expect God's forgiveness if we want vengeance, especially after the person who wronged us has repented.
Every child of God should stand ready to forgive any offense fully. And finally, whether that offense is real or imagined. If the person who wronged us truly repents.
Jesus highlights our having a grudge against our brother as a catalyst for seeking forgiveness.
In Matthew 5, the opposite is in view. We remember that our brother has something against us, and those two encompass the whole range of offenses.
My willingness to forgive my offenders demonstrates genuine faith.
I know that God could have prevented the offense from happening, but he didn't. And that proves that he has something he wants me to learn through it. Can I trust him to work through my pain to accomplish his plan and purpose?
Is God the object of your faith, or do you have faith in your faith or something else?
What about the authenticity of your faith? Does it enable you to believe that what you can't see is just as real as what you can see?
Or is your faith like a wave of the sea or a, uh, reed in the wind, constantly in motion?
The Scripture says, if that describes your faith, then you will not receive answers to your prayers.
And then finally, what about the authenticity of your forgiveness?
If you have genuinely experienced forgiveness from your Heavenly Father, then how can you withhold forgiveness from your brother?
Focusing on my offenses against God makes the offenses of others against me seem comparatively small.
Do you want to pray effectively?
Then have faith in God and then take the components Jesus gives us in this text and apply them in your life. You will experience the power of a. Ah, praying Faith.
[00:13:22] Speaker A: Faith and forgiveness. Words we've heard many times, but when was the last time you really thought about them and what they mean to you?
Thanks JMarc, for teaching this passage. Are, uh, your faith and forgiveness authentic?
What has helped you move these words from your head to your heart? And how do you keep your faith and forgiveness fresh and real? If you'd like to share your response with us, we'd love to hear it. Here is how you can reach us. Our email address is hopeheraldsofhope.org or you can contact us via, uh, the website. Go to heraldsofhope.org There you will find Contact us under the Partner tab on the top right. Click on that to message us directly as we end our program today. It's only fitting to close with a verse about faith. This may be the clearest definition of faith in the Bible. Hebrews 11:1 says now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Uh, I encourage you read this in a few other translations and think about your faith.
