Kingdom Confidence
Opening Prayer
What have you been continually praying for? Take time now to humbly and trustingly ask God to answer your prayer.
Read Mark 11:21–26
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”
22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” [26]
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Reflect on this Bible promise and turn it into a prayer of thanks: “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Heb. 13:5, NRSVA).The cursing of the fig tree and overthrow of the Temple system marked the beginning of the end for the world of Jesus’ contemporaries. The very roots of their culture were withering (20). Within a generation, Jesus’ prophetic actions would be fulfilled and, in A.D. 70, the Temple itself would be dismantled by Roman armies. What do you do when your world falls apart?
Firstly, maintain faith in God (22). When our world falls, God still stands, and when everything is falling apart it is faith in his faithfulness that will sustain us (Luke 22:31,32).
Secondly, keep praying with conviction (24). The confidence to pray for God’s will to be done, when our world is creaking and collapsing, does not come easily. And yet this is what Jesus instructed his disciples to do. Even if corrupt mountains need throwing into the sea (23), don’t doubt that God can do it!
Thirdly, guard your own heart from the sin of unforgiveness. Bitterness blocks God’s blessing (25)—and in a time of pressure you need all the blessing you can receive!
Apply
Are you having doubts about God or his power? Take time now to ask God to increase your faith—even if you can’t believe yet.
Closing prayer
“You are my rock in times of trouble / All through the storm / Your love is the anchor / My hope is in You alone” (Brian Doerksen).
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