Faith Moves Mountains

 We had an awesome night of worship at my church (http://crossroads.cc/) this past Friday.  Our pastor, Aaron West, (http://aaron-west.com/) challenged us to pray big prayers for God’s hand to move in our church and our community.  I always love how God works, because this past week I have been praying some pretty big prayers of my own!  God has been speaking to me about having a faith that can move mountains. 

 

In Matthew 17 and Mark 9 you can read the story of a father who comes to Jesus to ask for healing for his son.  The disciples had tried, but were unable to heal the boy on their own.  Jesus accused them of not having enough faith.  Wow, if the disciples who walked with Jesus and witnessed his miracles didn’t have enough faith, could I possibly have enough to move the mountains that stand in the way of God’s goodness and wholeness for my family?

 

There are times I want to believe God will move in a mighty way, but my faith is weak.  At those times I often confess like the father in this story, “Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief”.  Jesus tells the father that everything is possible for the one who believes.  So I pray and ask God to increase my faith.

 

Hebrews 11:1 says that “faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.”  Faith is believing God not only can, but will do the impossible.  Yet, it also means accepting God’s will and God’s timing when the impossible doesn’t happen.  At those times we need to keep believing that God knows, God cares and God is still able.  Never stop praying until God has said done. 

 

I am not going to tell you how to pray, or what it will magically take to get God to move in a big way.  If there were formulas, it wouldn’t be faith.   Like anything else, a growing faith requires commitment.  If I want to increase my faith I need to spend more time with God in His word and prayer.  I need to make sure that my schedule is not so full of good things that I miss out on the most important thing - a deeper relationship with my heavenly Father.  There are times when an honest assessment of God’s place in my life is in order.  As a relationship grows, expectations increase.  Trust is developed.  Faith becomes the means by which God reveals himself to us each and every day.  My own faith is inspired by God's faithfulness.

 

How we weather the storms of life is a good test of our faith.  Do we blame God for our troubles or do our troubles send us right to God?  Do we cry out in anger or do we surrender in childlike trust?    We can be stopped by the mountains that stand in our way or we can speak to the mountain in the name of Jesus and tell it to move.  So in faith this past week I asked God to move some mighty big mountains standing in the way of His best for my family.  I know that a single word from God can change everything.  Now I wait in faith with gratitude, not only believing He is able, but thankful that I serve a God bigger than any mountain.