Hebrews 2:1 TPT This is why it is so crucial that we be all the more engaged and attentive to the truths that we have heard so that we do not drift off course.
In our previous lessons we have learned:
- In week one, we learned what faith in God is and how it works by looking at how God interacted with Abraham.
- In week two we looked at how we get faith and that all of us have the same faith potential in what we can believe God for in our lives.
- In week three, we looked at how to put our faith in God’s Word to work beginning with building a capacity for great faith with confessing the Word UNTO faith.
- It is possible to have great faith, little faith, and absentee faith.
Matthew 8:10 NKJV When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!
Matthew 16:8 NKJV But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?
Luke 8:25 NKJV But He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!”
- Faith is released or put to work by our words and our actions.
The Confession of Faith:
Mark 11:12-14 NKJV (12) Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. (13) And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. (14) In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it.
Mark 11:19-24 NKJV (19) When evening had come, He went out of the city. (20) Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. (21) And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.” (22) So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. (23) 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. (24) Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
- Jesus spoke to a thing – the fig tree.
Notice that Jesus did not pray about the mountain – He did not ask God to remove the mountain for Him. There is nothing wrong with praying about your mountain, but that is not enough. Speak to your mountain!
Jesus said that we could speak to the mountain in OUR lives, but we don’t have the right to speak to the mountains in the lives of others (except those we have authority over or have their permission – that’s where prayer comes in).
- Nothing visibly changed with the fig tree where the disciples could see a difference.
Had there been a visible difference, somebody, perhaps Peter would have pointed it out as he later did.
- Jesus spoke the words and went on His way.
They conduct their business in Jerusalem and that evening, are on their way out of the city and passed by the fig tree. There was still no visible change or else again, the disciples would have said something about it. This did not phase Jesus at all.
Mark 11:20 NKJV Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
- The next morning, 24 hours later, there is a visible change and Peter pointed it out.
- The fig tree dried up from the roots.
Notice the fig tree dried up from the roots. This is the same as will happen with anything that we are using our faith on. The moment that you begin attending to the Word of God, the Word goes to work on the root of the problem, not the external things that you can see. If it were to address the leaves only, then the root would still be there and then it could grow back.
Notice that Jesus’ words went to work at the root of the situation and the effect was not immediately visible to the natural eye. The change started at the root (invisible) and then worked its way outward (visible).
Mark 11:21 NKJV And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”
- Jesus did not quit when He did not see immediate results in the tree.
Jesus was so calm and confident in what He had done, the disciples had forgotten about it. Jesus did not make a big deal about it.
The key is not to quit when you do not see the immediate results. Jesus’ faith was not in what He could see. He believed something else.
Mark 11:23 NKJV 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.
- Jesus said we are to believe that what we say will be done, not believe to see the changes.
Did you notice that Jesus said in verse 23, if a person confesses something “and shall not doubt in his heart” – in other words, if he believes the words he is speaking with his mouth will be done – he will have exactly what he says.
The word “doubt” is from the Greek word diakrinomai, which means to hesitate, to waver, to doubt, or to differ.
In context, Jesus is saying that when a person’s heart doesn’t differ from what his mouth is saying, the combination of his heart and mouth in agreement will always make things happen!
- This is the biblical concept of “the heart-mouth connection.”
The heart-mouth connection is what got us Born Again.
Romans 10:8-10 NKJV But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): (9) that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (10) For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For instance, if you believe in your heart that Jesus purchased your salvation, and you put your heartfelt faith together with the confession of your mouth, you can literally receive that salvation and make it an eternal fact.
- God’s power is released when the heart and mouth get into agreement on God’s Word!
Why does this work?
Hebrews 11:3 TPT Faith empowers us to see that the universe was created and beautifully coordinated by the power of God’s words! He spoke and the invisible realm gave birth to all that is seen.
The creation is never greater than the Creator. So, the creation is subject to the Creator. Only that which is part of God, the Creator is permanent. Everything else is subject to change or temporary.
- Everything in this visible realm was created by the Word of God and therefore is subject (subordinate) to the Word of God.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 TPT We view our slight, short-lived troubles in the light of eternity. We see our difficulties as the substance that produces for us an eternal, weighty glory far beyond all comparison, (18) because we don’t focus our attention on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but the unseen realm is eternal.
Temporary (DICTIONARY) – Lasting, existing, or effective for a time only
Those things that are temporary in our lives, are subject to the Word!