Faith and the Mountain #
Every generation of believers has faced situations that seem impossible. It may be sickness, broken fellowship, or the weight of a system that resists God’s will. Such things stand before the Church like mountains, unshaken and immovable. When Jesus spoke of faith that could move mountains, He was not handing out a motivational slogan. He was calling His followers to live in the reality of God’s kingdom, where every barrier must bow to His authority.
Mark records the words:
“I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says is going to take place, it will be done for him. For this reason I am telling you, whatever things you ask for in prayer in accordance with God’s will, believe with confident trust that you have received them, and they will be given to you” (Mark 11:23–24 AMP).
Taken on their own, these verses can sound like a blank cheque, as though God promises to give whatever the heart desires. But when read in their setting, they reveal something greater. Jesus was not speaking of faith as a tool for personal ambition. He was demonstrating that true faith flows from union with Him and agreement with the Father’s will.
The Fig Tree and the Temple #
The words about faith are set between two acts that seem strange until they are read together. Jesus approached a fig tree covered in leaves. It looked alive, but there was no fruit to be seen. He cursed it, and by the next day it had withered from the roots. The fig tree was more than a plant. It was a sign of Israel’s religious system, full of outward appearance but empty of real life.
Immediately afterwards, Jesus entered the temple and found the courts filled with trade. Money changers and merchants had crowded out prayer. He overturned their tables and declared:
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations. But you have made it a robbers’ den” (Mark 11:17 AMP).
The fig tree and the temple tell one story. Empty religion may look impressive, but it bears no fruit and cannot stand before God. This is the setting for Jesus’ words about faith. He was not pointing to positive thinking. He was pointing to the power of God to bring down every false system and to establish His kingdom through a praying, believing people.
The Nature of Speaking Faith #
Jesus begins with the command to speak. The Greek word eipē means to declare or to command. It is not a silent thought but an open confession. The heart believes, and the mouth declares. Faith does not sit in silence. It is expressed, spoken, and released. When the Church speaks what God has spoken, it is not trying to persuade Him. It agrees with His finished work and declares it on the earth.
To say is to stand with God’s will. To believe is to trust His character. To receive is to live as though His word is already settled. This is not the language of demand but of representation. The Church stands in the earth on behalf of heaven, declaring that what Christ accomplished must now be revealed.
Believing Without Doubt #
The call is not only to speak but to believe without wavering. The Greek word pisteuō carries the sense of trust and reliance. It is more than mental agreement. It is resting in the certainty of who God is. The word “doubt,” diakrinō, means to divide or to hesitate. Faith is not divided. It is settled.
Jesus says that the one who does not doubt in his heart will see the mountain move. The mountain may still stand after the first command, but that does not mean nothing has happened. Faith is patient. Like a seed planted in the ground, it works beneath the surface. The farmer does not dig up his seed each morning to check. He waters and waits because he knows life is at work. So too the Church continues to declare God’s truth, to trust His promise, and to give thanks, even when sight has not yet caught up with reality.
The Language of Thanksgiving #
Faith and thanksgiving belong together. Paul writes:
“With thanksgiving let your specific requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6 AMP).
Thanksgiving is not reserved for the day the answer arrives. It begins the moment the promise is believed. It is the witness of the heart that the Father’s word is true. To pray without thanksgiving is to treat the promise as uncertain. But to pray with thanksgiving is to confess that the answer is already sure.
This is why thanksgiving must fill the prayers of the Church. It keeps faith alive. It shifts the gaze from the obstacle to the God who moves it. It fills the heart with expectation and steadiness until the word is made visible.
Christ the Mountain-Mover #
When Jesus spoke of mountains, He was not only speaking of personal challenges. In Scripture, mountains often picture kingdoms and systems. Daniel saw a stone cut without hands become a great mountain that filled the earth (Daniel 2:35). This was the kingdom of God, rising and covering all.
At the cross, Jesus removed the greatest mountain of all.
“When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public example of them, having triumphed over them through the cross” (Colossians 2:15 AMP).
Faith is not trying to make something happen by force. It rests in what Christ has already done. It declares that every barrier—fear, unbelief, sin, or opposition—must bow to the victory of the cross. Mountains move not because of our effort but because the King has triumphed.
Prayer in the Will of God #
Jesus connects faith to prayer.
“Whatever things you ask for in prayer in accordance with God’s will, believe with confident trust that you have received them, and they will be given to you” (Mark 11:24 AMP).
Prayer is not a tool to bend God’s arm. It is not a method to bring our desires to pass. It is in agreement with His will. True faith begins with hearing. As Paul writes, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Prayer aligns the Church with the purpose of God, not the other way round.
This guards us from presumption. Faith is not a force to manipulate God. It is trust in His revealed will. Jesus Himself said:
“If you abide in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you” (John 15:7 AMP).
The promise is not for the wandering heart. It belongs to those who dwell in Him, whose desires are shaped by His word.
Living in Resurrection Reality #
This is not “name it and claim it.” That teaching centres faith on man’s will. Jesus centres faith on the Father’s will, revealed in Him. Faith is not rooted in self-effort but in union with Christ. Paul writes:
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God” (Galatians 2:20 AMP).
Faith is Christ’s life expressed in His Body. It is His trust in the Father working through the Church. The old Adamic mind cannot live this way. It clings to sight and reason. But the new creation lives by the Spirit, dead to the world and alive in Christ. Here, faith is not an effort. It is the natural fruit of His life in us.
The Call of Faith #
Mark 11:23–24 is not a blank cheque for selfish desire. It is a call to the Church to live in the alignment of heaven. Mountains symbolise every barrier that resists God’s kingdom. Faith speaks because it has heard. Faith trusts because it knows His character. Faith thanks because, surely, His word is true. And faith sees because Christ has triumphed.
In Christ,
Godwin.
