The Impossible Made Possible

The Mount of Olives from Bible-History.com

 

 

 



 "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." -Mark 11:24
 Mark Chapter 11 starts what is known as the "Triumphal Entry" into Jerusalem. Jesus tells his disciples to go ahead of Him to get a colt and bring it back to Him to ride into town. As He enters the town people are cutting branches to throw onto the road and throwing their clothes down for a path as well. The people there also sang hymns to praise His entry into the city. This was the entry into town only fit for a King; a King that would die for His people at the end of this particular week.
 While Jesus was in Jerusalem this particular week there was a lot that happened and He used everything as a teaching tool for His disciples. Jesus demonstrated how an unfruitful fig tree would always be unfruitful. He also cleansed a temple that was being used for prosperity rather than for a place of prayer to His Father.
 After cleansing the temple he left the city where His disciples noticed the withered fig tree. They asked Him about it and He discussed to them about faith in God. He was in the location of the Mount of Olives. This was the Mount that Jesus was talking about when He said, "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."
 There are two elements Christ talked about in this set of scripture to receive whatever asked for from God. The first is faith in God which is believing in Him. Hebrews 11 discusses faith more in-depth. "It is the substance in things hoped for and evidence of things un-seen." ~Heb. 11:1 Hebrews Chapter 11 goes on to talk about the great Patriarchs of faith and the mighty things that they accomplished having faith in God. It also discusses their rewards from God for their faith. So, the first element is to have faith in God. He also discusses that when we ask for something we must believe that we will receive it. This is the same thing as having faith in God; we are having faith (believe) that God will give us what we ask for.
 The second element here is prayer. Christ talks extensively on prayer throughout His public ministry. Probably the most popular demonstration of prayer in the New Testament is His prayer in the Garden which can be read in Matthew 26:36-46, Luke 22:39-46, and Mark 14:32-42. Three times Jesus went away from His disciples and companions to pray. The first time the text tells us that He fell to the ground asking for "this cup to be taken from Him" meaning the punishment for the sin of the world in which He was going to bear soon. Just as Christ demonstrated, we should take the time to pray and earnestly pray. Christ demonstrates that earnest prayer should consist showing humility to God such as hitting our knees before Him.
 Christ also demonstrates in His prayer to His Father that, "nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will." When we pray we should be asking that God's will be done. The Son Himself asked that His Father's will be done and not His own. As we know, Christ still went to the cross and took that horrible punishment for you and I. Therefore, when we pray we should be praying for God's will to be done and not our own. Often times people pray for worldly things and wonder why they don't get them. It is because it wasn't for the will of God. Most often we should ask ourselves whether or not what we are asking for will glorify God. Would it glorify God that a mountain be moved into the sea? Most definitely! It could if it was done in God's name and caused people to repent and turn toward God. There are other ways that it could glorify Him as well.
 The Mount of Olives highest peak is 2,684 ft and it also stretches for approximately 2.2 miles. This was the mountain that Christ was talking about when He said that if we prayed for it to be removed and if we believed, it will be done. It isn't the largest mountain, but it is large enough to seem impossible. However, as Christ says in His prayer in the Garden, "Father, all things are possible for you."
 What about you? Are there mountains in your life that need to be removed? There is no circumstance too big for God to remove. As a child of God when certain things are removed He knows that we can glorify Him. All it takes is having faith in Him and faith that whatever we pray for we will receive.

Victory in Adversity comes from God!