MOVING MOUNTAINS
(André & Jenny Roebert)
The Preparation
“And Jesus, replying, said to them, ‘Have faith in God (constantly). Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! And does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him. For this reasonIng I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will (get it)’” (Mark 11:22-24 AMP).
There are three simple steps to blast and remove the mountains in our lives that seem to loom over us and stand in the way of us receiving the reality of God’s promises. However, in order to do this, we need to recognize that the words recorded in the gospel of Mark are foundational to the life of faith. In fact, this type of mountain-moving or mountain-blasting faith is exactly what Jesus operated in when He walked on earth. These were the type of results He got when He prayed and believed and spoke God’s will. We know that the Bible teaches us to imitate Jesus and have Him as our example and so most believers take this portion of scripture and begin shouting and declaring scripture at the “mountains” in their lives, expecting to see results like Jesus did, yet they seldom get the results they desire. Why is that? Well, I believe that the reason is simply because no matter how foundational they may be, these verses are not stand-alone.
And so to begin with our first step of blasting and removing our mountains, we must begin with a certain amount of preparation. That’s right, we need to do a little homework concerning our mountains before we just throw our explosive words of scripture at them. We may end up causing more damage than what’s worth, without even denting our mountain! So to do our preparation means to become a little more informed about our mountain and most certainly what caused it to be there in the first place. Truth is some of us may have more than just one mountain standing in the way of our miracle, we may find ourselves staring in the face of an entire mountain range that has been built up over years. We need to get wisdom concerning our mountain, godly wisdom that reveals the root cause of it’s threatening existence.
The teaching of Jesus on moving mountains is foundational to our faith but they don’t stand in isolation! Just like the rest of the Bible, these verses need to be read in context in order to understand them fully. The preceding section (v.11-17) states:
Then Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. And after looking around at everything, he went out to Bethany with the twelve since it was already late. Now the next day, as they went out from Bethany, he was hungry. After noticing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to see if he could find any fruit on it. When he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.
He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. Then they came to Jerusalem. Jesus entered the temple area and began to drive out those who were selling and buying in the temple courts. He turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and he would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. Then he began to teach them and said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have turned it into a den of robbers!”
Notice that Jesus didn’t say anything to the fig tree or the money changers in the temple the first day He went there. The Bible said that He made the trip, saw what was going on and walked away. It’s obvious that He was angered and even outraged by what He saw, yet instead of reacting to it, He looked around, walked out and returned to Bethany. Why? Because Jesus said that He only did what He saw His Father do and that He only said what He heard His Father say. So obviously, He needed to first hear His Father on the matter before He reacted. He needed time to pray and speak to His Father concerning what was troubling Him. So He went back to Bethany to spend the night getting direction and wisdom from His Father about the situation.
Now if Jesus had to receive wisdom and direction before He acted, then surly we do too, especially before confronting our mountains.
Before confronting our mountain, we are to seek Godly wisdom too, from the Word of God. Proverbs 4:7 says, “The beginning of wisdom is: get wisdom (skillful and godly wisdom)! For it is the principle thing. And get understanding (discernment, comprehension and interpretation)”; “…skillful and godly wisdom (which is the comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God” (v.11).
Only when Jesus knew what His Father wanted Him to do, He went back to the temple to operate in faith and clean house. Just the same, we can’t just jump up and start commanding mountains to move before we do a little preparation work.
The reason for this is that all mountains are not the same and each mountain has a root! Very often we have an entire mountain range that has been built up over a number of years through fear, unbelief and disobedience to God’s word. It could be a mountain of financial debt or sickness or depression or heartache concerning our rebellious children or a rocky marriage. Each of these things must be dealt with individually. If you are determined to deal with the mountain so that it doesn’t rise up again, you need to find out what caused it.
So, like Jesus did, pray for wisdom. James 1:5 say that we can ask God for wisdom, “…liberally without reproach”. We can seek God’s council from His word concerning our situation, repent where we have neglected to walk in wisdom and begin to walk in obedience to His word.
The Mountain of Financial Debt
If you are facing a mountain of financial debt, recognize that according to God’s wisdom, we are to owe no man anything but to love him. (Romans 13:8). Begin to do away with those credit cards and unnecessary loans. Be faithful to tithe and bring your financial offerings to the Lord. Repent of squanders living and begin to walk in wisdom concerning the day-to-day management of your finances. We have found that many people are in the financial difficulty they are in because they have never recorded their monthly income and expenses or put a simple monthly budget together. Without a definite plan to tackle debt and live within your means, your mountain is going nowhere but up in size, no matter how many scriptures you hurl at it.
The Mountain of Sickness and Depression
Sometimes we are faced with the dark mountain of sickness or depression that threatens to terrify our souls and drain the joy of the Lord right out of us. The Word teaches us to be extremely diligent where the area of our thoughts are concerned. No matter how negative and depressing your thought life can appear, put wisdom to practice – recognize which thoughts are based on fear and doubt, take them captive and cast them right out of your mind. Then be sure to replace each one with the truth of God’s word that brings life and peace. This process of bringing our thoughts into submission to God’s word is called renewing your mind. Romans 12:2 says that renewing our minds to God’s word is His perfect will for our lives! When God’s word shouts louder inside of us than the depressing thoughts of defeat, we begin to see a turn in the tide and victory becomes a sure thing. However, neglecting to deal with the negative thoughts that harass our minds will ensure your defeat.
The Mountain of Rebellious Children
Perhaps your mountain is the painful reminder of your rebellious children. From experience, I have found that parenting is not for the feint hearted, no matter the age or gender of the child. However the Holy Spirit is constantly available to us as our teacher and comforter. The word of God is very clear on the responsibility of a parent to raise our children in the way of the Lord, consistently training and disciplining in love and living by example. When we decide to model lives of love, honesty and self-control in front of our children, they follow suit. Keep a tight reign on strife and mean-spiritedness, and give no room for I’ll talking or disrespect. Preaching to your children will only bring frustration and indifference. Rather preach by your own right living, patience and kindness. Always disciplining in love and remain consistent to avoid confusion and distrust.
Children always mimic their parents’ natures, so take a good long look in the mirror before shouting your scriptures and allow the Holy Spirit to correct some corrective, internal surgery before you try move this mountain.
The Mountain of a Rocky Marriage
Facing the mountain of a rocky marriage can be so disheartening. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all we needed to do to see change or improvement was to quote a few scriptures, stand back and see the transformation take place before our eyes?! Oh boy, that would be great! And if this is your impression, you have been misinformed for sure. I came to realize that a marriage consists of two people – my spouse and me. Only the Holy Spirit has the ability to change the heart of our spouse so our responsibility lies entirely with our own walk of love and gentle attitude and quietly praying for them. Learning how to unconditionally love someone you live with, takes much diligence and self-surrender to the Spirit of God.
The Bible teaches us to strive to walk in love and forgiveness continuously. We are told to consistently seek out our partner’s best interest and always be prepared to embrace change within godly boundaries. Very often we have to start focusing on the good things we have in our marriage, being grateful for them, instead of always making issues of the ones we can’t change without divine intervention. By no means does this mean we should settle for unhappiness. On the contrary, while you stand on the promises of God’s word concerning your marriage, be diligent to walk in love and patience, always considering your spouse before your own needs. This kind of godly conduct is conducive to harmony and peace and cultivates an environment for understanding.
Don’t Just Shout!
The word of God is most powerful and when used with wisdom and understanding, will always bring life changing results. However, shouting scripture at your mountain won’t cause it to move an inch let alone cause it to disappear into the sea. In order to get the results Jesus got when he exercised His faith and spoke God’s word, we need to do a little preparation first. Getting God’s perspective and wisdom concerning our problem or mountain is the first.
