Was Jesus Just Kidding?
Matthew 21:21-22 The truth is, if you have faith and no doubts, you will be able to do the same as I did to this tree. And you will be able to do more. You will be able to say to this mountain, 'Go, mountain, fall into the sea.' And if you have faith, it will happen. If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer.
For the first half a dozen years or so of my Christian walk, I had a rather low view of prayer. I was always way too busy to stop and pray; racing off doing this and doing that. And anyhow, what difference was prayer really going to make?
Now, I knew that I had no real âpowerâ in my life. I could see that the fruits of my labours werenât what they should have been, given the effort, but that only meant that I had to work harder, right?
I wonder where you sit on all of that. Are you a man or a woman of prayer, or do you, as I used to, just race off and do things, good things, things for God, and then end up wondering why your efforts didnât deliver the results?
Jesus made some very bold claims about the power of prayer:
The truth is, if you have faith and no doubts, you will be able to do the same as I did to this tree. And you will be able to do more. You will be able to say to this mountain, ‘Go, mountain, fall into the sea.’ And if you have faith, it will happen. If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer. (Matthew 21:21-22)
What do you make of that? How does that compare with your experience? Many Christians have such a low view of prayer, that theyâve never really seen the powerful results that Jesus is talking about here. So, based on that experience, itâs easy to mentally strike passages like that out of the Bible, and assume that Jesus must have been talking to someone else ⊠certainly not to me!
When I compared that promise with the results of my feeble prayer life, there was a gap. A huge, yawning chasm of a gap between what Jesus promised and what I was experiencing. I may not be the smartest guy going round, but even I could tell something was drastically wrong.
So I decided to take Jesus at His Word; to believe that His promise was for me too. And since then, weâve seen the reach of our ministry, Christianityworks, grow to impact the lives of millions of people around the globe. Go figure!
If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer.
Thatâs Godâs Word. Fresh ⊠for you ⊠today.
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Berni Dymet
Alicia, I truly feel for you. May the Lord your God comfort and protect you and may you indeed receive s fair outcome. ...
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Alicia, I truly feel for you. May the Lord your God comfort and protect you and may you indeed receive s fair outcome. In Jesusâ Name. Amen.
Alicia Riddles
I love listening to Berni Dymet every morning on radio CCFM here in Cape Town. I lived for 7 yrs in Perth and have dual ...
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I love listening to Berni Dymet every morning on radio CCFM here in Cape Town. I lived for 7 yrs in Perth and have dual citizenship. My husband decided to move back to CT after living in Australia for 34yrs.
After 2yrs back in SA he just decided to leave stating he did not like it here and we’re over. This was devastating and he is currently taking legal action to force me out of our home here in CT. We are both Christians. Please pray for me as its very hard to pay legal fees here and in Australia. I’m trusting God for a fair, just and equitable outcome for both if us.
Carol Bayley
Don’t know just how I feel about “If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer”!! I ...
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Don’t know just how I feel about “If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer”!! I have been praying for two years about the same good thing, but nothing has happened. I am stressed out about it, but still keep praying and also thanking God for all His goodness. Bit confused??
How do you explain all the terrible wars and problems of the world if we are praying?