Thoughts for Life: #46 You Must Use the Command of Faith

Dr. Wesley L. Duewel- Mountains are used in Scripture to symbolize strength and stability. They are also used to represent massive difficulties and seeming impossibilities.

While God promises to move or overcome some mountains for His children, there are others that God commands you to move. He will not move them until you give the command. Thus, there are two types of "mountains" in Scripture. (Google image, Mountains: Crucial ecosystems for wildlife, humanity )

Some mountains of difficulty are meant by God to bless you. "I will turn all my mountains into roads" (Isa. 49:11). These are God's mountains. He permits them. He directs you along a path that leads to them. They are intended for your spiritual good.

They may slow down your progress, but they will build your spiritual muscle, strengthen your faith, and develop your skill in prayer as you learn to prevail until God's answer comes. Some are so massive, so difficult, that they may only be moved when several believers unite with you in a prayer of agreement.

These are God's mountains, even though they do not seem that way to you. He has permitted them temporarily to block your way. He will teach you deep spiritual secrets as you face them persevering in prayer.

At times you may grow weary as you pray, but at the proper time— God's perfect time— you will reap if you faint not

One of my beloved Bible teachers has an oft-repeated saying: "God's clocks keep perfect time." God is never early, never late. His schedule is always best. After God's mountain becomes His highway you may discover why God delayed in answering your prayer.

In some cases you must wait till you reach heaven before your questions are answered. Trust God; He knows what He is doing. But you may be sure of this: When God permits a mountain to block you from reaching His destination, He is preparing a miracle. God turns all His mountains into roads.

Satan often erects roadblocks which become mountains barring your way. This is a very different kind of mountain from the one described previously. The longer you pray about these mountains, the more convinced you become that the delay is not of God.

The more you pray, the more certain you become that you are involved in a spiritual conflict with the demon powers of darkness. It is Satan and his forces that block your way in an attempt to hinder the work of God and dishonor the name of Jesus.

You can almost hear Satan taunting you, mocking you; you can almost see him opposing you. But can Satan stop a child of God? Yes, he may be able to delay you for a time. Repeatedly he prevented Paul from reaching Thessalonica (1 Thess. 2:18), but eventually Paul returned to minister there (Acts 20:1-2).

God may permit Satan to delay you in order to work out some higher purpose, but God does not want Satan to stop you altogether. God wants you to move the mountain. He does not want you to abandon the place He gave you or the advance steps He Pointed out to you. These are demonic mountains, not God's mountains they are to be moved.

But how are you to move them? You would naturally expect Jesus to tell you that, when you face such mountains, you should pray until God removes them. There are some problems which may only be resolved through prayer (Mark 9:29).

But Jesus has given us another tool which, when combined with prayer, will remove obstacles. He says: "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you" (Matt. 17:20).

This truth was so strategic for His kingdom's advance that Jesus repeated in even stronger words: "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer" (Matt. 21:21-22).

In the first instance (Matt. 17:20), a father had brought a demon-possessed boy to the disciples while Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration. Because they were spiritually unprepared, the disciples were unable to cast out the demon, and their failure brought disgrace to the name of Jesus.

— no matter how large or how small— need to be withered up.

(Chapter 15, pp. 109-111, italics added for emphasis)

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Let's pray-

"Dear Lord, Thank you for always being by my side and for giving me your strength and grace when I am simply weak and broken. Please help me look to you in every shattered matter.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen"
Gwen Smith

The Most Dangerous Prayers

by Maureen Hall Puccini

Silhouette of a mother lifting her child high, against a red background with yellow and orange hearts.

"No prayers are more dangerous than the prayers of a mother and a grandmother.

All godly prayers are dangerous to the enemy.

But when the people they love are threatened, mothers and grandmothers become fierce as they seek to crack open Heaven and bring God’s blessing down."

Today's verses:

James 3:17 (NLT) The wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.”

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV) "Praise be to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of compassion and the God of all comfort, (v. 4) who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."

Today's quotes:

~ Max Lucado-

Some sit under a tree, others in the kitchen. Maybe your commute to work or your lunch break would be appropriate. Find a time and place that seems right for you.

How much time should you take? As much as you need. Value quality over length. Your time with God should last long enough for you to say what you want and for God to say what he wants."

~ Dutch Sheets- "Our Designer dreamed unique dreams for each of us before we were even born and desires to share them with us. He even skillfully wove them into our DNA, along with the gifts and abilities to achieve those dreams.

Wisdom for today-

~ When we think of an impossible situation, let's be reminded that through Christ all things are possible; if they're His will and bring Him glory. We can bring our unsolvable problems to Jesus, as they're safe in His care, and trust Him to help us find answers that bring solutions. We find we're unable to solve our own problems, so may we believe that He is able to help us!

Today's question:

How should we respond to tribulations?

First of all, we need to remember that Christ said that we would have tribulations, and to take heart, that He overcame them. The Father's Spirit that was in Him is in us as believers, so we too can be overcomers today!

Ps. 46:1-11 (NIV) tells us that "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. (v. 2) Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, (v. 3) though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging . . . (v. 10) Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

We are not to walk in fear, but to keep our eyes on the King, and to walk in love and self control. It's so important that we daily create a quiet time with the Lord Jesus, so fear will not have a paralyzing effect on us. We can respond well with His help to the troubles that will come our way.