Matthew 21: 21 – 22
“Truly I say to you, if you have faith, and do not doubt, you shall not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the seas,’ it shall happen. And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.”
Jesus was keen on prayer. All things, when approached through prayer, are, he taught, possible. He didn’t need to speak to us directly on healing because he was interested in all things. The conclusion being “all things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.” So, here is the question, have we asked, while believing, for healing. Let’s do that today, shall we?
What physical ailment have you? I know we often have several but let us choose one to focus upon today. Imagine Jesus is holding a healing meeting. You see yourself walk up to him. He asks, “What do you wish healed?” You tell him. Then he asks, “Do you believe I can do this?” What do you respond?
Jesus deals with a world of unbelief. In fact, most of the people who read this verse read it in unbelief. Want me to prove it? When Jesus spoke of casting the mountain into the sea, was he speaking literally or metaphorically. Most people do not believe Jesus was speaking plainly. In fact, Jesus had a very difficult time being understood because when he was being quite literal, people took him as speaking figuratively. Let me give you the inside scoop on the meaning of today’s verse. Jesus spoke literally. He meant exactly what he said. You don’t have to look for the hidden meaning. He meant that if we understood and believed, we have power over the physics of this planet and could, literally, cause the mountain to be removed. However, because of doubt and unbelief, we have made his words capricious, though that is not how most of us would describe Jesus. So, it turns out that we only categorize him as fanciful when we encounter statements that our faith is too small to handle. This, then, is the task, to believe Jesus. How can he teach us if we will not take him at his word? Do we believe him or do we not? If we will answer this very basic question, we can move forward.
In yesterday’s Word of the Day, Jesus taught that God would do what we ask when two or more of us agree about anything. Today we learn that anything we ask will be done for us if we ask without doubting. This is where the work comes in. Twice Jesus has said that Father will do all things for us, but the condition of faith is sometimes a tough hurdle to get over. We have a difficult time believing Jesus’ words. How, then, are we going to believe he will actually do what these scriptures promise? Harder still is that we must move out of our thinking centers, our minds, and into our believing centers. You would either call that your heart or your spirit. You see, we sometimes “believe” with our minds though doubt remains in our hearts. How can that be? Well, your mind is not your believer. What we really should say is, “I think that is true,” because we are actually thinking in agreement, but have not graduated to believing in agreement with Jesus. How do you get your spirit to come into alignment with Jesus’ words?
It comes down to these tools again: mediation, prayer, visualization, rehearsal. This is where it is beneficial to write down a key verse and talk with Jesus about it continually. Visualization is very helpful. See Jesus sitting in a chair at your house and ask him to teach you how to have the kind of faith you need. See him sitting there teaching you and even praying for you. Watch as he lays his hand on you and prays for your healing. Do this until the switch goes on inside you. All of a sudden you have an “aha” moment.
These things should be the most natural things in the world, but because the world is broken, it has come down to work for us to believe and see as we should. You, however, are built as a faith machine. You are God’s own handiwork. Listen to me in this! He has prewired you with the network to believe all things. You even have the capacity to look with your God given visionary ability and see that mountain get up and jump itself into the sea. Do not be discouraged. Jesus sends you this good word today so that you will be encouraged. All things for which you ask and believe, you shall have. It has been proven time and time again. You are the blessed, living in the blessing. This is your birthright and God’s will. Fire up that believer and ask what you will because the Father is willing and waiting to get into agreement with you. What do you want?
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