Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, "No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you." And at once the fig tree withered. Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, "How did the fig tree wither all at once?" And Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen. And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." [Matthew 21:18-22 NASB]I'm reminded of an old saying that I used to tell my son when he was being particularly mischievous, "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."
For me, it was just a lighthearted reminder to my son to mind his manners. For Jesus, it was the real deal. The Creator of all things showed that He is also the un-Creator.
For three years, Jesus' disciples saw Him heal the sick, raise the dead, walk on water, calm the storms, and multiply fish and loaves. They were accustomed to His creative miracles, and no longer questioned them. But this was the first time they had seen the power of Jesus' curse, and they were amazed.
Of course, Jesus never did anything without a reason, and the barren fig tree made for a wonderful teaching opportunity.
I'm sure plenty of preachers can apply analogous meaning to the tree itself, "If there is no fruit in your life, you are still dead in your sins." And so on. But Jesus never drew such allusions.
To Jesus, the teaching moment was about faith. He concluded, "All things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."
This is possibly one of the most dangerous and misapplied passages in the Bible. Why dangerous? Because when people speak out in "faith", and nothing happens, they begin to doubt God and, by extension, their salvation.
The first rule of Bible interpretation is to take everything in context. By context, I don't just mean the surrounding verses, but the context of the whole Bible.
Jesus said, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." [John 15:7 NASB] Please understand the meaning here. He is not saying that God is a genie who will grant your wishes. There are conditions: abide in Jesus and let His words abide in you. It can be rephrased to say, "When your thoughts and wishes are the same as My thoughts and wishes, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."
One often quoted scripture reads, "Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart." [Psalm 37:4 NASB] I hear people quoting this verse, saying, "I desire a new car (or a new house, or a new whatever), so that's what God's going to give me." By conveniently skimming over the first part of the verse, we miss what it really means. If you delight in the Lord, then He is your desire. This verse could be read, "If you desire the Lord, then He will give you your desire. "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." [Jeremiah 29:13 NASB]
James said, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." [James 4:3 NASB]
When Jesus said, "if you have faith and do not doubt," it wasn't an isolated statement without context. He didn't mean, "Have faith in faith." He didn't mean, "Have faith in your words," or "Have faith in yourself." Jesus didn't coin the phrase, "Name it and claim it."
He means that we should have faith enough to know God, to know His will and to be able to speak God's words on earth. When you KNOW that it is God's will for a mountain to be moved, then you will have the proper faith to speak to the mountain and see it move.
The only way to know God's will is to know God. The only way to truly know Him is to spend time with Him. I'm not talking about taking your allotted time to pray through the Lord's prayer and offer your petitions, but taking quality time to have conversation.
How would feel about a friend who, every time you meet, says something like, "Hi, it's great to see you, your such a good friend. Say, I need five dollars, oh and can I have your car? I need a new one and see that you have an extra. Oh, and I want to intercede on behalf of my other friend, Arnold. He's in a jam and needs a few hundred dollars. Could you give that to Him? Hey, thanks. Sorry about wrecking your other car, but I know you'll forgive me. Well, gotta go. Bye."
Yet that is how we often approach God in prayer. Why not stop and ask God what He wants? Find out what is on His mind? Take the time to develop a real relationship with God. Put His desires before your own. The rest will work out. You'll see. Jesus said, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." [Matthew 6:33 NASB]
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