Mark 11:1-33

(Yes, it is ironic that we are reading Mark 11 on March 11th.)

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” This has become a favorite verse among those who teach about faith as if it were some magic power to enable the user to make things happen and get stuff. Faith “can” make things happen and it can even get stuff, but it does not stand alone in a spiritual vacuum. There are other components attached to faith.

“Whatever you ask for in prayer...” Prayer is obviously a necessary component to cause faith to “do stuff.” That being the case, if this passage is being taught as one of the golden verses on faith wouldn’t it make sense to let Jesus finish speaking? Perhaps we should read the next sentence? Maybe it will tell us something about prayer.

“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” There are any number or reasons why people don’t “get” what they pray for. One of them is listed here. The greatest need any of us have is to be forgiven. We need it more than we need a mountain to move or a new car to drive.

I’m not saying that we don’t need faith, or that faith isn’t incredibly powerful. I am saying that faith doesn’t operate by itself. If you want to be a person of great faith, mountain-moving-fig-tree-withering faith, it requires more than just psyching yourself up. It requires a whole life based on the whole Word.