Matt 17:19Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”e
There has been debate over what "this mountain" is but I would say to you it is anything in your life that is seemingly immovable, it is anything you need or need done that human hands and effort cannot accomplish. What does the Lord say about moving mountains? First, He encourages us with this:
For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain
^^why did He tell us this? To encourage us. He knows we are weak, He knows we are under attack from the flesh, the enemy and this world. So what does He tell us? Let us consider what He did not tell us. He did not tell us "you must have mountain sized faith to move a mountain." He did not say that. He said mustard seed sized faith will move that mountain....Our Lord is/was trying to encourage us not to give up. When we are wondering "do I have enough faith for this?" Surely you at least have mustard seed sized faith?
So can you move your mountain? With faith about this size ^^, yes you can...
Now consider this:
Psalm 77:10Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.
11I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
12I will consider all your works
and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”
13Your ways, God, are holy.
What god is as great as our God?
14You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the peoples.
Notice the Words : I will remember, I will remember, I will consider, I will meditate.
What has the Lord already done? Remember, consider, meditate on these things and build your faith up in them.
Matt 7:7“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
8For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
The Lord cannot lie, this is what He said ^^. We can become impatient and we can give up first before the Lord answers but the Lord cannot lie and the Lord does answer just as He said He would.
The work of this servant is to testify to what has already been written and already been done by the Lord. The work is to confirm the Word of the Lord exactly as it was written. The Lord said it, He meant it, and the experience of this servant confirms and establishes the fact that the Word of the Lord can be trusted.
This servant has been through the fire. This servant has asked and received through the Word of the Lord faith, and patience not because there is anything special about him. This servant has seen the answers to prayer and miracles performed at least in part as a testimony to YOU:
Matt 7:7“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
8For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Our God is alive, is fully active answering prayers and performing miracles for His people as much or more today than He ever was. Can anyone show me in the Bible where the Lord said "as of such and such date I stopped working miracles for my people?"
This message written to you comes from someone who has experienced the pain and suffering of patience and waiting for the Lord to answer. This servant has seen the seeming death of my miracles right before my eyes and yet something (the Spirit of the Lord) rose up within and said THIS IS NOT OVER YET.
The Lord has given us a book of instructions and patterns to follow. The miracle pattern repeats itself over and over again. We ask in faith, we wait and suffer in patience then we see the seeming death of our miracle to which we have to respond "this will not end in the death of my miracle" then our miracle is delivered to us.
Two examples of this pattern are 1. Israel at the Red Sea, Pharaoh is bearing down on them and they are trapped. It is the seeming death of their miracle of escape from Egypt but did they die or did they escape? Another example is the sisters going to Jesus to heal Lazarus, instead the Lord waits to see Lazarus until he is dead so the sisters, the apostles and all of us would learn that apparent death does not mean "this ends in death" no the Lord said specifically "this will not end in death." Lazarus was raised from the dead, that situation did not end in death
John 11:1Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
2(This
Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured
perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.)
3So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
4When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”
5Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
6So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days,
7and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
Did Lazarus die? Yes, that is part of the process but did it end in death? No it did not.
When our 'Lazarus' dies, most people give up which is why most people do not see miracles. Faith, patience, the Word of the Lord and life can be and will be restored from death in your situation as well. Ask, seek, knock, why? Because everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
It takes faith the size of a mustard seed to move your mountain, and it may take some time, some patience, faith, prayer and yes this means we will suffer in the process but to what end? To the end of answered prayer, or miracles delivered on our behalf resulting in a testimony and growing the cloud of witnesses who say YES, AMEN OUR GOD IS ALIVE AND OUR GOD DELIVERS TODAY AS MUCH AS HE EVER HAS.
If we do not give up, we will have what we ask of Him. He cannot lie, He gave us His Word for a reason:
1 John 5:13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
Grace and peace be multiplied to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ
