“Have faith in God. 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. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
This is not a blanket approval for all requests we make to God. Jesus in encouraging us to pray, focused our attention on having faith in God. To have faith in God means we need to know our God, His will and His character. To have faith in God means we need to trust that God will also give us the best. To trust that He is willing, (because He loves us), able (because He is powerful) and ready (because He already has a perfect plan for us) to do what we ask in prayers.
God is prompt in responding to our prayers because he has bound Himself to us in Covenant. That will also mean there are Covenantal obligations between us and God. In that faith relationship with God, review and reflect our Covenantal obligations with God in the past year. Our Covenantal obligations are clear: love God; worship Him, love others as ourselves, renounce and reject temptations of sin that come from the desire of the flesh, the world and the devil. Be honest and ask the Lord to reveal if we had in any way neglected or omitted those obligations. Confess and repent before the Lord, so that we can make peace with God. If we desire to receive Covenantal blessings, among others, God’s promptness in responding to our prayers, we must be ready to fulfil our Covenantal obligations. Otherwise, answers to our prayers might be delayed.
One thing is certain from today’s passage, God will come to us swiftly when we need to “remove mountains” before us. If you see any “mountains” before you in the coming year, stand on your Covenant with God in Christ Jesus, have faith in God, and contend in prayers to remove them in Jesus’ Name.
I recently receive this story that describe faith:
Once, all villagers decided to pray for rain. On the day of prayer all people gathered together but only one boy came with umbrella. That’s faith.
That’s how mountain-removing faith looks like! Declare into the year ahead God’s Covenantal blessings with that kind of faith and expand your capacity with expectation to receive them.