MARK 11:22-26

MARK 11:22-26

MARK 11:22- 26 - Faith is trust, or confidence. Such confidence should be in God, not in any human expedient. We can have faith in Him only as we rest upon His Word. 

When God speaks it is for us to take Him at His Word. If, therefore, He made it clear that it was His will to remove a mountain from its established place and cast it into the sea, real faith could count on Him to act, and so would dare to command the mountain to disappear. Doubtless, behind the natural figure our Lord had in mind mountains of difficulty, such as Zerubbabel faced in Palestine when the returned remnant encountered such fierce opposition in the days of rebuilding of the temple (Zech. 4:7). Nothing is impossible with God, and he who is in fellowship with God can act in faith assured his request will be honored.

  “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Faith counts the things that are not as though they are. But we need to remember that these words apply only when we delight ourselves in the Lord, and so the desires of our hearts are according to His holy will (Ps. 37:4). 

   The state of the soul has much to do with the possibility of the prayer of faith. Hence the teaching as to forgiveness given in verses 25, 26. God has never promised to answer the prayer of an unforgiving heart. This attitude toward others effectually blocks the channel of prayer so that no answer is possible. In His family government God forgives us as we forgive our brethren. This is not the forgiveness of a sinner, but of a failing saint. Unless we forgive, our Father in heaven will not forgive us when we come to Him acknowledging our sins from day to day.