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\u201cNow in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21) And Peter, remembering, said to Him, Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.\u201d 22) So Jesus answered and said to them, \u201cHave faith in God.\u201d 23) For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, \u2018Be removed and be cast into the sea,\u2019 and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24) Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.<\/div>\n
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There is always some issue, contest, war, circumstance in this life that test our trust in God\u2019s, Christ and the Holy Spirit\u2019s influence in our lives. These circumstances can challenge our thoughts concerning the Sovereignty of God to address our needs when we pray to Him. Since Jesus is saying that everything that a disciple or taught believer asks of God in prayer could be answered favorably, what inward condition is at the heart of why we doubt His declarations and promises? Each of us struggle with trusting God at various levels for various reasons. In light of this:<\/div>\n
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- What is Faith?<\/li>\n
- What is\u00a0Faith necessary for<\/b>?<\/li>\n
- How\u00a0important is your faith in God to you<\/b>?<\/li>\n
- What is your\u00a0faith compared against<\/b>?<\/li>\n
- What does\u00a0faith in God produce<\/b>\u00a0that nothing else can?<\/li>\n
- Who or what else can we\u00a0confide in besides God for possible life<\/b>?<\/li>\n
- What good\u00a0can\u2019t our faith in God accomplish<\/b>\u00a0for us?<\/li>\n
- What kind of\u00a0influence does doubt in the heart have against a prayer request to God<\/b>?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
As a disciple or taught believer in Christ\u00a0what is possible for you to obtain in your Christian life in this world?<\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhat is a limiting factor that plays into why less progressive possibilities in the activities of a Christian\u2019s life to accomplish? Could it be that some of us in Christ still try to put trust of man or in things on equal footing with trust of God?<\/div>\n<\/div>\nObservations:<\/b><\/div>\nThe next morning as Jesus and His disciples left Jerusalem after addressing the misuse of the Temple, Peter identified as they passed by, that the Fig Tree that Jesus cursed earlier became dry from the roots which indicates complete ruin. Peter witnessed the active faith of Jesus. Upon Peter\u2019s response, Jesus in Mark 11:22, exhorts them to \u201chave faith in God<\/b>,\u201d that is to\u00a0own or possess spiritual faculties, endowments, desires, virtues, affections, emotions, sensations<\/b>, etc., due to a trust in God or Christ based on a welcome conviction of divine truth. Once truth is received, it changes the inward condition to spiritual and guides the faculties of a person. The continual possession of trust in God or Christ should be based on the continual possession of divine truth received from God to worship and practice the Christian life victoriously in this world. It is the basis by which prayers will be answered. In other words, the basis by which Jesus trust the Father is the same basis by which we in Christ trust the Father and the Son. Jesus uses His speaking against the lack of production of the Fig Tree, to represent the Jewish people who practiced their religion without the fruit of godliness, this was evident in how they used the temple of God as a bartering facility, belittling Who the temple represents. Jesus makes the point to His disciples that possessed faith in God could produce the boldness to speak to the mountain being cast into the sea, Matthew 21:21. Faith has\u00a0\u201cDivine Possible Power,\u201d\u00a0<\/b>in it to address any difficulties in life and ministry on any level. In Mark 9:23-29, is another case where Jesus stated to the father who\u2019s child was controlled by a demon \u201cif you can,\u201d\u00a0<\/b>because the disciples failed to cast out the unknown demon controlling his child caused the father some doubt that he could be freed and healed by Jesus, but he still had faith and requested more. The disciples development was progressive and they were not yet complete and while Jesus challenged the father and his faith, He also enlightened His disciples concerning the type of demon that they were dealing with and how to address it in the future. Here it seem to be an occasion that the disciples didn\u2019t lack confidence in addressing this demon, but they lacked information on what kind of demon they were addressing, which was a deaf and mute spirit that they were to confront with \u201cprayer and fasting.\u201d They had to keep learning from Jesus as they practiced the Christian faith in ministry. Here they were powerless because they were prayerless.\u00a0<\/b>Self complacency in that none of them prayed was due to too much faith in themselves or semi magical practices and less faith in Christ. Then Jesus declared to the struggling father that \u201call things are possible to him who believes.\u201d\u00a0<\/b>This declaration challenges the reasoning of unbelief that the father has in mind and calls him to entrust himself in total commitment to the power and nearness of God and Christ to help, being convinced based on His disclosures of truth. Jesus is drawing the father to possess confidence that the Father and Christ Himself are in the position to help him. This is the development of\u00a0spiritual confidence<\/b>\u00a0above carnal resolutions relating to covenant life of faith. Life and ministerial progress can be obtained through divine truth that promotes confidence in addressing God or Christ about our inward struggles and testings from the world. In light of this, could it be that some believers struggle with doubt when believing leadership fail to help for lack of knowledge on effectively addressing the issues or believers lacking confidence in their abilities from God to serve specific or general needs of someone or in public setting. Could this cause the unbeliever to have greater doubts about the life of faith or the church? It\u2019s possible that at times we leaders and members of the church put more confidence in our own limited knowledge rather than just pray for the\u00a0\u201call possible God to do what is impossible for us to do on our behalf or someone else\u2019s?\u201d\u00a0<\/b>Anything done without excellence can be contributed to thoughts from a wavering heart. We all waver at times. Doubt (diakrino) comes from dia, \u201cseparation ,\u201d and krino, \u201cto judge,\u201d meaning \u201cto separate oneself from.\u201d It means in this context \u201cto be a double judge within against oneself<\/b>, to separate oneself from oneself\u201c or \u201cto be in strife with oneself, hesitate, waver.\u201d Having two conflicting opinions will slow down or stop progress of any kind from moving towards completion. The influence of doubt in one\u2019s heart is due to unbelief and promotes lack of confidence, second-guessing oneself concerning God\u2019s faithfulness which challenges a person\u2019s prayer life. This condition creates instability in the mind so that they don\u2019t expect what God would give them without reproach, James 1:6-8. James argues in verse 6 that \u201che who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind<\/b>.\u201d This example depicts the effective force and pressure that an active wind can have on the surface of the sea.\u00a0The pressure of wind directed to the surface of the ocean creates friction that causes water to rise up and then crash down upon itself<\/b>. If I don\u2019t believe that God is sovereign enough to provide what I have asked then, I may stop praying to Him for supplications because I have limited His Sovereignty in my mind. This mindset also limits confidence in my relationships, worship, conduct and outreach for His Name\u2019s sake. This could be the symptom of a greater problem in my heart that says that in my mind God is not Sovereign over every thing or condition in the universe. My unbelief in this case comes crashing down upon my profession that God is the Creator of the Universe and that He is the Savior of those who place their trust in Him. This is different from one who possesses their faith in God. For the person who doesn\u2019t doubt, believes that everything they desire or ask according to godliness is or can be made available by God\u2019s power to provide. Their confidence resides in God Who is beyond our earthly realm. Why is this important for the believer in this world? In Mark 11:23, possessing faith in God should lead to a fruitful and confident prayer, worship and evangelistic life. Jesus says, \u201cwhoever says to this mountain \u2018Be removed and be cast into the sea<\/b>,\u2019\u00a0and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.\u201d\u00a0<\/b>The power that is available in faith is impartial to who uses it or to the circumstances that it is used to address or achieve in classifications. It is that confidence that resides in one\u2019s trusting God that produces within us this bold request to address seemingly impossible problems in life. Continually possessing our trust in God and Christ should cause the boldness to ask for the divinely possible things that are either impossible for us or anyone else. Jesus refutes the falsehood that causes us to doubt God and doubt our life of trusting God in the circumstances that we face in this world. This representation should be antithetical from the Jews who used God\u2019s temple for crooked business practices and politics, Mark 11:15-18. Their religion was barren of godliness (reverence). Politics superseded faith but faith should always rule over politics even though there is a separation of church and state. As the church addresses home and public life our prayers being uttered from a conviction of divine truth that leads us to trust in God could accomplish more than government and policies. This is why Jesus had to distinguish His house from the ill usage being demonstrated by the Jews violating the Temple with extortion and politics. The prophecy of Isaiah concerning the spiritual temple of Jesus would be regarded as Him dwelling among the Jews and Gentiles who petition based on their trust in God\u2019s faithfulness. When we receive ownership of our trust in God and Christ above all other entities, that is, when we become identified as\u00a0His house devoted to petitioning Him on the basis of trust from all nations of people (Mark 11:17), and not any other status. His house should be so confident in God\u2019s faithfulness on the basis of Jesus accomplished works in this life that He speaks to His disciples about in His demonstrations, that the Churches success in fruitful ministry and outreach should be due to the confidence in our prayer life.<\/b>\u00a0The house of prayer is a Theocratic House, a believing house, a fruitful house, a praying house, a house of conviction, a house of divine truth, a reverent house and not a carnal, social, or political house. The way that Jesus\u2019 house addresses the issues among the body and the world is through identifying ourselves as<\/div>\nHis house of truth, praying for divine resolution to the world\u2019s problems that the church must go do and offer the words of Jesus Christ in order to draw all nations of people to\u00a0His house<\/b>.<\/div>\nWe\u00a0don\u2019t want to be found by Christ at His return to be a fruitless house<\/b>\u00a0because we have been conforming to the influence around us rather than through our prayer life go confidently and participate in the works that lead to godly transformation of all nations.<\/div>\nEverything is possible in Christ who provides the\u00a0all possible solutions that come through eternal salvation<\/b>. When the Church trusts God as they are living in Christ, they can proceed with confidence in society to represent Him in providing the eternal answers to a carnal limited world because Jesus is honored as the Head over them all and over all things, (Ephesians 1:22-23). When considering full life in this world we must also consider\u00a0what is possible or impossible\u00a0<\/b>in Marriage relationships, Parenting and Family, Business and Work, friendship and ministry, education and ethics, etc., that is, the success or failure of healthy practices in these relational environments is affected by the matter of belief or unbelief of God\u2019s influential nearness and direction above all purely human resolves.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nConclusions:<\/b><\/div>\n- \n
- A people identifying as the Jesus\u2019 House should be a people who through divine truth own their trust in God and Christ in regard to going to Him for development.<\/li>\n
- Possession of one\u2019s trust in God and Christ means that the one trusting has Developed spiritual faculties, (desires, affections, Emotions, virtues, etc) that are under the conviction of divine truth.<\/li>\n
- \nThe fruitless Fig Tree represents a people claiming to belong to God but barren of godliness in disposition and action.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
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Conviction of divine truth that discloses Jesus as the Author of eternal salvation is the basis of trusting God and Christ for a fruitful active and victorious prayer life.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Jesus states that His house will be called a house of prayer which Identifies as a \u201cTheocratic house, <\/b>Believing house, convicted house, <\/b>Praying house, fruitful house, a house <\/b>of divine truth a reverent house and <\/b>not a carnal, Social or political house.<\/b><\/div>\n<\/li>\n- \n
<\/b>Conviction of divine truth should be the Influence behind a fruitful prayer, Worship, Fellowship and evangelistic life.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Prayers to God from a godly people will accomplish more than politics and Policies will.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Doubt against divine progress and prayer to God from the heart is a condition on some level that unbelief is present in the mind of the doubter.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n- \n
The possibilities for godly success for a persons pursuits, opportunities, relationships, education, career, family, ministry, etc., will be fulfilled based on the promise that Jesus stated concerning our state of trusting the power and nearness of God when we trust Him without doubting.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n- \n
The promised eternal salvation through God in Christ should produce godly confidence that believers should approach every matter with prayer expecting any favorable divine results that God allows or brings about.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n- \n
If the followers of Christ live a life of praying to God concerning any matter from a disposition of reverence and trust in His nearness and ability to help then, every prayer could be answered according to that holy reverence for Him.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n- \n
The effectiveness of any fruitful church congregation is going to ultimately be based on the active and consistent reverence that is conditioned upon the ownership of their trust in God and Christ.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nWhat impossible things can your God cause to be possible for you past the limits in the human realm of life? Is our trust in God complete when we pray to Him? Is holy reverence present in us<\/div>\nand our relationship with the Lord God and His Son.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBy: Gary Patton<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mark 11:20-24 \u201cNow in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21) And Peter, remembering, said to Him, Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.\u201d 22) So Jesus answered and said to them, \u201cHave faith in God.\u201d\u2026 Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[19,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gary-patton","category-motivational-articles"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4DIr4-cS0","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davisparkchurchmodesto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davisparkchurchmodesto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davisparkchurchmodesto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davisparkchurchmodesto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davisparkchurchmodesto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49476"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/davisparkchurchmodesto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49521,"href":"https:\/\/davisparkchurchmodesto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49476\/revisions\/49521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davisparkchurchmodesto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davisparkchurchmodesto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davisparkchurchmodesto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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- How\u00a0important is your faith in God to you<\/b>?<\/li>\n