Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Mark 11:20-24 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away." So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."
HOLY TUESDAY
On Tuesday of Holy Week Jesus and His disciples again made their way from Bethany to Jerusalem, as they had the day before. The disciples of the Lord must have wondered what would happen that day. The previous day had seen a whirlwind of activity. It began with Jesus cursing a fig tree on the way because it produced no fruit. Then Jesus had with righteous anger sent the money changers scurrying from the temple of the Lord, with the words: "'my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"
As they traveled, they again came upon the fig tree. It had been only a day, but the fig tree showed significant change. It no longer had full leaves, but had withered away, dried up from the roots.
Jesus took the opportunity to teach His disciples about the nature of faith. Faith is living and active, always looking for opportunity to serve God. Faith is powerful, because it looks not to itself, but to God. He reminded them that they could be confident in their prayers.
When we pray, we should pray humbly yet confidently. We come to God with humble hearts, knowing that we don't deserve an open line with God, but we have one through our Savior Jesus. We come to God with humble hearts, because He is our God and Father, and we His children. Even as a child is not afraid to bring his request to a loving father, so we should not be afraid to bring our requests to God. We should not doubt that our prayers are heard, because our Heavenly Father delights to hear our prayers and answer them because of our Mediator, Jesus.
You may not ask that a mountain be removed and cast into the sea, but do not doubt that what you ask in faith, for Jesus' sake, will be heard and answered by the Almighty. Count on it!
