SPEAKING TO MOUNTAINS

"And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.  For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.  And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.  But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses." (Mark 11:22-26).

 

We all have mountains in our lives.  They are those seemingly immoveable obstacles that keep us from pursuing the will of God fully.  Lusts of the flesh, unforgiveness, besetting sins, financial difficulties, or even physical afflictions - all of these can appear as un-scalable as a mighty mountain to us.  Jesus tells us that we must have faith in God in order to see our mountains removed, and the way that He directs us to exercise that faith is by saying to the mountain, "Be removed!"

 

We spend a lot of time asking God to remove the mountains that stand before us, when, instead, we should be commanding some of them to leave.  We may pray about certain things for years without seeing any real lasting results.  The problem is that we are begging God to do something about an obstacle which He has already given us authority to command.  Jesus told the disciples to speak to the mountain; and if they would believe that the things which they spoke would come to pass, then they would.  When we speak to a mountain to be removed, then we are exercising authority over it, and affirming our faith that it will happen.  Paul tells us, "We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak." (2 Corinthians 4:13).

 

There is a certain authority that believers have been given in Christ, which, if exercised, would dramatically change the world.  Jesus said, "…as My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you." (John 20:21).  We are so used to being beaten down by the enemy of our souls that we forget that we have been given dominion over him in Christ.  Satan is only interested in stealing from, killing, and destroying the saints of God.  His intent is to silence our witness for Christ, and hinder the work that we would do for the Lord.  If he can discourage or intimidate us to the point where we feel useless, then he has accomplished his purpose.  We allow him to come into our house, steal our things, and threaten our loved ones, without ever standing up to him when he is the one who is already defeated.  The only power that he has is what we give to him.

 

God spoke through the psalmist David and said, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained strength because of Thine enemies, that Thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.  What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?  Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet." (Psalm 8:2, 4, 6).  We are the babes and sucklings, Beloved. We are weak and immature spiritual creatures, to be sure, but it is out of our mouth that the enemy will be stilled.

 

There is a connection between believing and speaking that is very fundamental.  We are taught as new Christians to testify about our salvation, and in so doing our faith is strengthened.  Speaking what we believe affirms our faith.  We are told in Romans, "The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed." (Romans 10:8-11).  If we truly believe a thing, then we will confess it; and if we confess a thing, it is because we truly believe it in our hearts.

 

There was a Roman soldier, a centurion, in Jesus' day of whom Christ said, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel."  What did this man do that brought such praise from the Son of God?  He believed and understood that Jesus merely had to speak the word in order to heal the servant for whom he cared so very much.  This Roman leader explained to the Lord that he understood authority very well.  He said, "I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it." (Matthew 8:9).  His men recognized the authority behind his position - his rank and station - and they simply did as he commanded them.  What the centurion understood so easily in the natural, he was able to apply to the spiritual.  He believed that Christ, the Son of God, had unlimited authority over all things, and what He spoke, would come to pass.  Scripture records that this man's faith caused Jesus to marvel, especially because He was seeing it in a man who was a Gentile, and not a Jew.  Because of his faith, Jesus spoke the word of healing and the man’s servant was restored from his sickness as he lay back at his master’s house.

 

It is this type of faith that the Lord would have us to understand and to develop.  It is a faith that not only believes that Christ's power and authority is complete in the universe, but that He also has passed on that authority to you and me as His ministers and agents on earth.  The Roman soldier had no authority of his own; it was all given to him by the power of Rome, and by its Caesar.  Without being given his office by Rome, this man would have been powerless.  Because of Rome's dominion over the earth at this time, however, men feared and obeyed the agents of Rome.  Another way to look at it is to imagine an officer of the law - a policeman.  He has no power or authority of his own; but when he wears the badge, he represents all of the authority of the laws of the United States (or whatever country he happens to represent).  When he arrests someone, he does so in the name of the law, not his own name; and people fear and obey him because of the strength behind the law.  He is simply an agent of the law, not the law itself.  Likewise, we have been chosen to represent the Lord.  We are babes, with no power of our own, but God has chosen us to be His agents.  Therefore, he has given us license to do certain things in His name, and in His power - in the name of the Lord.  All the power and authority that is His is now at our command.  “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:18-20). 

 

As you might be thinking at this point, it is extremely important that we learn to discern the will of God in every matter.  We don't espouse a "name it and claim it" type of belief system here.  There are things that are very obviously God's will for us to have, such as victory over temptation and sin.  He has clearly promised us power to overcome sin, therefore we can take the offensive without asking if it is God's will for us.  Also, anything that stands in the way of completing a work that the Lord has clearly instructed us to do is a mountain that must be removed - we can command it.  We must remember that faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of God.  If we have not heard God, we have nothing to rest our faith in, and must, therefore, wait on Him to speak.  God speaks to every one of His children through His Holy Spirit which He places in each of us as part of the new birth.  If we have not been exercised in listening for Him, it may be difficult at first to hear His still, small voice within us over the loud, raucous voices that the world uses to distract us.  Little by little, however, we begin to discern the will of the Father through the His Living Word.  Then our faith will begin to soar!

 

There are other matters that we must pray about in order to know what God is wanting.  Paul prayed three times about his "thorn in the flesh" before the Lord answered and told him that His grace was sufficient, and that His strength was made perfect in weakness.  Ultimately, our lives are meant to bring glory and honor to the Father, not to serve our own selfish wants and desires.  Sometimes, this is accomplished through some great deliverance, and sometimes through our finding His strength in the middle of our weakness.  Either way, our God is faithful to pour out His grace upon His children. 

 

Zerubbabel was a man who was appointed to be the governor over Judaea when the Jews returned from their captivity in Babylon.  The Jews took on the task of rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem, but encountered much opposition from the inhabitants of the land who succeeded in stopping the work for 16 years.  In the book of Zechariah, God speaks through the prophet and tells Zerubbabel, "This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.  Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it." (Zechariah 4:6-8).  Beloved, don't be afraid to believe God and speak to the mountains that are in your life.  There is nothing mightier that we can use to speak than the Word of God.  It is a two-edged sword.  With it we can put the enemy of our souls to flight.  There is great power in God's Word, there is great authority in God's Word, and there is great comfort in God's Word.  Through it, we are able to discern what His will is, and then have faith to act upon it.  It cuts two ways, however.  It will put our enemies to flight, but it will also reveal the things in our own lives that need surrender to the Lord once and for all.

 

Read our opening scripture again.  It reveals that there are things that will hinder God's ability to work in our life.  Be very sure that if you are harboring unforgiveness or sin of any kind in your heart, God will not hear you.  He will not answer your prayers as long as you are bearing anything against another, and neither will He forgive your sins.  First be reconciled with your brother, and then make your requests to God.  Hatred and unforgiveness rarely affect the object of our anger, but it always affects us.  It makes the heavens brass to us.  In the name of Jesus, Beloved, be set free!  Know that the Lord has given us the power to remove the mountains that are standing in the way of what the Lord would like to do in our life.  Say to the mountain, "Be removed!"