Speaking to Mountains

Can I be perfectly honest with you?  There are some words Jesus spoke that I have always struggled with.  Not because I can't believe He can do anything, but because I never saw Him do what He said we would be able to do. For example:

“Speaking to His disciples one day, Jesus said they could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’, and it will move." (Matt. 17:20)

Why didn't Jesus ever move a mountain from here to there?  If He says we could do it, don't you think he should have moved one first?  Heal the sick? Yes, Jesus did that!  Raise the dead? Absolutely! Jesus did that too!  But move a mountain?  Ahhhhhhhh, OK… but you go first, Jesus!

The problem with mountains is that they are very intimidating large mounds of rock and dirt.  They've been here a long time. But move one?  Maybe Jesus isn't directly talking about real mountains, though He could move one if He wanted to.  When something is standing in your way, it might as well be a granite pile! And then it dawned on me what Jesus was really saying.  Just maybe we're spending too much time talking to God about our mountains rather than talking to the mountain about our God.  

But Pastor George, isn’t prayer talking to God about our circumstances?  Sure it is, but there's more to it when you step into the impossible realm of God’s power and authority.

When I was in junior high and high school I played football.  I was always on defense and our intended purpose was to keep our opponent from scoring points.  If we're not careful, we might begin to see prayer as just a defensive strategy to keep the enemy from scoring big points on us. But in fact, prayer is more of an offensive weapon.  When Jesus said, “the gates of hell shall not prevail," don't forget that the gates were defensive in nature to keep the enemy out.  If I understand this correctly, The Church should be on the offensive.

Don't you think in your prayer time today you should just go on an all-out offensive against the gates of hell which are standing in your way?  Speak to the gates about how big your God is and watch them fall as you prevail. Yes, moving a real mountain or a spiritual one can be just as daunting if you believe your mountain is bigger than your God.  But if God is bigger than your mountain, wow--watch out, devil!  And, hello Mountain Mover!

Honi knew God could and would make it rain.  in his circle he spoke to the drought about how big his God was, and that drought moved aside for the rain. 

I'll meet you at the Throne,

Pastor George