"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Mark 11:22-24
Recently I have been reading and listening to Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and I am amazed by Jesus' claims about faith and the miraculous. Jesus claims if we have faith in something and do not doubt then we will receive it. I have heard people say that it has to be in God's will before it will happen. And even though I agree that I should not ask for anything that would be out of the will of God, that is not what I read and hear Jesus saying. He says in this passage that if I tell the mountain to "throw yourself into the sea," and I don't doubt then it will happen.
I believe Jesus is telling us to have a boldness in our faith. I do believe the Holy Spirit will lead and guide as we exercise of our faith with boldness—I have felt the Holy Spirit "check" me when I was leaning a little closer to what Tim wanted than what God wanted. We must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit as we live our life.
Jesus consistently teaches his followers to have a bold faith. Here are a few examples:
- Matthew 21:22 – "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for it prayer."
- Mark 5:36 – "Ignoring that they said, Jesus told the synagogue rule, 'Don't be afraid; just believe.'"
- Mark 9:23, 24 – "'If you can?' said Jesus, 'Everything is possible for him who believes.' Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, 'I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!'"
- Matthew 9:29 – "Then he touched their eyes and said, 'According to your faith will it be done to you.'"
This is just a small sample of the many times Jesus speaks about believing and faith and connects faith to the miraculous.
Let me share one more verse with you; it is a different kind of example of the faith for the miraculous to be seen.
Matthew 13:58 – "And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith."
I believe God wants us to have bold faith and to expect to see the miraculous.
I want to encourage you to read the gospels again and look for the many times Jesus teaches a bold faith.
Before you leave this page take a few moments to leave a comment about bold faith. Maybe you can share an example from your own experience.
Blessings
Tim
