A Few Thoughts on Mark 11:23

Dave Study

“For verily I say unto you, that who so ever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass shall have whatsoever he saith.”

Notice that what Jesus says here about faith is the same as the Word of God says about salvation in Romans 10: 8 & 10 (AMPLIFIED BIBLE) … “The Word is near you, on your lips and in your heart; that
is that is the word of faith we preach, Because if you acknowledge AND confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (vs. 10) “For
with the heart a person believes and so is justified and with the mouth he confesses and confirms [his] salvation.”

What these two passages are trying to tell us is that faith works the same no matter if for salvation or for something you are asking for in prayer. You must believe it in your heart or in your spirit and confess it with your mouth. You can believe it for 3500 years but unless you confess it with your mouth, and step out in faith before you actually see it you don’t have it.

Take for example the woman in the issue of blood in Matthew chapter 9. In verse 21 the Bible tells us that she SAID; “For she kept saying to herself, if I but touch His garment, I shall be restored to health.” (vs. 22) “Jesus turned around and, seeing her, He said, Take courage, daughter! Your faith has made you well. And at once the woman was restored to health.”

Just as you got what you asked for when you confessed Jesus as Lord and asked for salvation!
We all know that there are principles certain things work on, ie;  the principle of aerodynamics describes the reason that airplanes can fly. Well, these two things that I have shared with you describe how faith works. Believe it in your heart and confess it with your mouth.  The next thing you need to know is that profession proceeds possession. That is, you must say it with your mouth (profession) before you get it (possession). Also remember that as in our example, you had to profess Jesus as Lord before you were saved. The other thing that you must keep in mind is what you are asking for must be based on scripture.

This doesn’t mean that we have a vending machine God that we punch the right buttons, use the right formula and we get everything we ask for. Just as I can’t ask for a million dollars and expect God
to drop it in my lap, first of all I probably wouldn’t know what to do with it if I had it. Oh I know what some of the things are that I would do, but God does have my best interest at heart and He knows
what I need at what point in my life.
What it all boils down to is that we must accept our position with God and therefore we must allow Him full reign in our life and accept what He allows to happen. After all, since you accepted Jesus into your life and made Him Lord of your life THERE IS NOTHING THAT HAPPENS TO YOU BY ACCIDENT! NOTHING! God is on His throne He is in control. Just ask Him for the grace and the strength to be faithful to Him.

In His Service, Dave Study