Choice and Prayer
| When evening came, they went out of the city. In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!" "Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." (Mark11:19-25) |
There are consequences when we fail to respond, to choose, and to act.
This is one of the things that makes Christianity unpopular.
Bear in mind that it's Holy Week. It began with the Triumphal Entry, will end with the Crucifixion, and something new will begin with the Resurrection. On Holy Week Monday Jesus cursed the fig tree and cleansed the temple. Now it's Tuesday morning and Jesus and the disciples are walking to the temple from Bethany as they did on Monday.
But this time, they reach the fig tree, it is completely withered.
Peter is amazed.
Why? He'd seen plenty of miracles. Even storms stilled and Lazarus raised.
Maybe he's amazed because this time the miracle is a warning. The fig tree withered in about 33AD. In 70AD the temple, which had banned the Christians and persecuted them, was destroyed...
But now Jesus turns the conversation to faith and prayer. The idea of prayer is appropriate here because Jesus had wanted the temple to be a "house of prayer" and it was not.
It's important to recognise that all the second person pronouns are in plural...
"Truly I tell youse, if anyone says to this mountain... Therefore I tell you, whatever youse ask for in prayer..."
So He isn't just answering Peter, but the disciples and us...
And so He teaches His disciples about prayer because the church became the place of prayer.
Think about the Book of Acts.
Every time the church gathered for prayer something happened:
- In Acts 4:31 the disciples prayed together and the place they prayed was shaken.
- In Acts 12:5 the church was praying for Peter in Prison and an angel set him free.
- In Acts 10 Cornelius and Peter were praying in separate places and they received the same calling - and the Gospel went to Gentiles.
- In Acts 13:2 the church was praying and Paul & Barnabas were set apart for the first missionary journey.
- In Acts 16:25-26 - Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns in prison when a great earthquake shook the prison.
And so Jesus emphasises the importance of prayer.
But He's also talking about faith.
He uses a dramatic image - A mountain will throw itself into the sea.
But He's talking about trusting in God, believing in God.
And the examples I mentioned earlier are incredible instances of the amazing things that happen when God's people pray.
