Mark 11:20-25 Revised Standard Version

The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree

²⁰ As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. ²¹ And Peter remembered and said to him, “Master,^[a] look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered.” ²² And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. ²³ Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. ²⁴ Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received^[b] it, and it will be yours. ²⁵ And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”^[c]

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

As Jesus and his disciples walked along toward Jerusalem, they came across an unexpected surprise: a fig tree in full leaf.

This was a surprise because it was too early in the year for figs.

But where there was a fig tree in leaf, you could expect figs.

So Jesus and the disciples went over to the tree to see if it had any fruit.

It had none.

What seemed at first to be a remarkable tree turned out to be a disappointment.

So Jesus said to the tree: “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”

And he walked away.

The next day, as they left Jerusalem and passed by the same tree, the disciples were astonished to find the tree totally withered.

When Peter expressed his surprise about the tree, Jesus used the opportunity to teach two lessons.

The first lesson was about failure. The empty tree serves as a stern hardcore warning we cannot pretend to be spiritually alive, for we won’t bear any fruit.

The second lesson is about faith. Jesus says, “Have faith in God.” We are to 100% trust in him for all the life and strength we need in order to serve him.

When we are rooted in Jesus through sincere prayer, our faith will bear fruit.

Our faith in Christ will be strong enough to help move people to believe in Jesus and enter his kingdom. Through his strength in us, we will show he is alive!

Probable or Improbable: Faith to Move Mountains

In reading our Bibles, we will come across verses that seem straightforward and easy to understand immediately.

On the other hand, there are also verses like this one!

“Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours,” says Jesus.

We are tempted essentially to sidestep what these words say.

We try to bury them under a hundred qualifications.

The misapplication of such verses has scared some of us so much that we hardly give any attention to the sheer encouragement and the challenges they contain.

In this bold command, Jesus reminded His followers to trust God, because it is actually faith’s foundation in God that gives that faith significance. We should not have faith in faith or faith in ourselves, but 100% faith in God, God alone.

The metaphor that Jesus employed—that of someone commanding a mountain to be thrown into the sea—was perhaps familiar to the disciples; it was similar to a common rabbinic figure of speech for accepting an impossible challenge to then, with all effort accomplishing something that was seemingly impossible.[1] 

1 Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (Longmans, Green, and Co., 1898), Vol. 2, p 376 (footnote).

The way to get real-life results in prayer is to seek God with an attitude that says, “No matter how long it takes, or whatever I have to do, I will not be denied.”

This is not arrogance; it is Godly hunger. It is not about pushing God to give us what we want and how and when we want it, but about pushing yourself into God. It is not praying for the sake of praying. It is praying to see the hand of God move. It is desperate hardcore praying. It is the type of prayer that gets answers.

The disciples would not have misunderstood Jesus as suggesting that they  can literally hurl the Mount of Olives into the Dead Sea over 4,000 feet below them.

They would have understood his words as a proverbial statement indicating God wants to do extraordinary things through His children, for His children.

We discover vivid proof of Jesus’ teaching on faith and prayer throughout the book of Acts.

Early on, when a lame beggar asked Peter and John for money, Peter told him instead to look up, to stand up and walk in the name of Jesus Christ(Acts 3:6).

Perhaps as he spoke to this man, Peter was remembering Jesus’ words and he was thinking to himself, “Whatever you ask in my (Jesus) name … believe…”

When God is the object of our faith, we can have an audacious faith—a faith that believes the impossible to be possible with Him.

We can know that we are speaking to someone who is able to do far more than we can even imagine (Ephesians 3:20-21), we can do even greater works than Jesus (John 14:12-14).

¹² “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. ¹³  Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; ¹⁴ if you ask^[a] anything in my name, I will do it.

Jesus essentially says to us, I want you to pray in a way that says you actually truly believe in One God who is too wise to make mistakes, who is too kind to be cruel, and who is too powerful, unchangeable to be subdued by the great forces of the universe.

Don’t set aside these verses with hundred impossible improbable qualifications.

Just let them sit there in your spirit for a minute – preferably a whole lot longer.

Enjoy the truth that God is able to do things beyond anything you can imagine.

Rest secure in the indelible reality Father, Son, Spirit, know no impossibility.

And then ….

Pray Until Something Happens!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Psalm 20 Revised Standard Version

Prayer for Victory

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

20 The Lord answer you in the day of trouble!
    The name of the God of Jacob protect you!
² May he send you help from the sanctuary,
    and give you support from Zion!
³ May he remember all your offerings,
    and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah

⁴ May he grant you your heart’s desire,
    and fulfil all your plans!
⁵ May we shout for joy over your victory,
    and in the name of our God set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfil all your petitions!

⁶ Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed;
    he will answer him from his holy heaven
    with mighty victories by his right hand.
⁷ Some boast of chariots, and some of horses;
    but we boast of the name of the Lord our God.
⁸ They will collapse and fall;
    but we shall rise and stand upright.

⁹ Give victory to the king, O Lord;
    answer us when we call.^[a]

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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