Mark 11:12-25

12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And he said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city.

20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”


Withered fig tree: a warning

  • "There will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither. What I have given them will be taken from them.” (Jer 8:13)
  • Jeremiah called the temple "a den of robbers” and said that Jerusalem and its temple would be destroyed. (Jer 7)
  • The withered fig tree was Jesus' warning of judgment upon the fruitless temple, priesthood, Jerusalem, and Jewish nation, unless they repented.


A picture of judgment

Like the fig tree in full leaf but devoid of fruit, the temple, bustling with priestly activity, was all show, with no true fruit for God. Consequently, the Jerusalem temple, which was supposed to be functioning as a house of prayer for Jew and Gentile alike, would soon be destroyed and replaced by a new community of prayer to be drawn from all nations. (David Crump)


Withered fig tree

  • Negative picture of judgment on a faithless, fruitless people.
  • Positive picture of prayer power.


23 And Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”


Slides of Christmas presents, palmy beach, football touchdown, Lamborghini sports car, mansion, beautiful singing star, romantic couple, happy children, megachurch. Can you get each of these by claiming Jesus' promise: "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” No!


A thrilling promise

  • Enthusiastic about Jesus: Christ came to give us abundant life. God is good.
  • Optimistic about our future: Our faith can get us anything we pray for and make each day better than the last.
  • Confident in prayer: God's will is for us to be healthy, happy, and successful. By the prayer of faith, we receive health, happiness, and success into our lives.


A troubling promise

  • Disappointed in Jesus: Prayer doesn't work like Jesus said it would.
  • Ashamed of ourselves: Our faith must be too weak to get what we're asking.
  • Confused in prayer: Does God want us to feel sure that we have received what we request? Or does God want us to feel unsure about the answer and end prayer with, "If it be your will”?

Slides of hospital patient, graveyard, hungry orphans, soldiers with weapons: Many people pray but do not get what they asked, even though Jesus said, "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”


A blank check?

  • Does God promise to do whatever you ask if you're able to make yourself believe that you already have it? No.
  • Faith is trust in God and believing his promise to do some particular thing.
  • God's promise does not originate in our faith; our faith originates in God's promise.
  • Doubt-free faith is not psyching yourself into believing that something must happen.


Psychological gymnastics

We must not encourage in ourselves or others any tendency to work up a subjective state which, if we succeeded, we should describe as "faith,” with the idea that this will somehow insure the granting of our prayer. We have probably all done this as children. But the state of mind which desperate desire working on a strong imagination can manufacture is not faith in a Christian sense. It is a feat of psychological gymnastics. (C. S. Lewis)


Whatever you ask in Jesus' name

I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it... If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you... I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name... Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. (John 14:13-14, 15:7, 16:23-24)


"In Jesus' name” does not mean:
  • In the name of Jesus, who walked dusty roads and had no place to lay his head, I claim a luxury car and a mansion!
  • In the name of Jesus, who says we cannot serve both God and money, I claim wealth!
  • In the name of Jesus, the man of sorrows who was familiar with grief, I claim a pain-free, pleasurable life!
  • In the name of Jesus, who died on a cross, I claim comforts without any crosses!


In Jesus' name

Prayer in Jesus' name is not just believing really strongly that you'll get what you want and saying "in Jesus' name” really loudly.
Praying in Jesus' name means:
  • I rely on Jesus' merit and deny mine.
  • I seek Jesus' aims and not my aims.
  • I pray in Jesus' authority and power.
  • I call for Jesus' supplies to carry on his mission.


Prayers God ignores

  • Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen (Isaiah 1:15)
  • When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen. (Zech 7:13)
  • When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:3)


Have faith in God!

Faith in God Himself comes before faith in particular answers to prayer.

  • Embrace God's Son
  • Know God's character
  • Believe God's Word
  • Trust God's grace
  • Desire God's glory
  • Hear God's promise
  • Count on God's power


Have faith in God!

Believing God is simply looking at God and at what He is, allowing Him to reveal His presence to us. Give Him time and completely yield to Him, receiving and rejoicing in His love... Faith in the promise is the fruit of faith in the promiser... Faith that prays effectively is indeed a gift of God. It is not something He bestows or infuses all at once, but is far deeper and truer. It is the blessed disposition or habit of soul which grows up in us through a life of communion with Him. (Andrew Murray)


Contrasting prayer patterns

  • Get things from God: Power in petitionary prayer depends on visible passion, declared faith, length of prayer, number of prayers, and perhaps posture.
  • Get to know God better: Power in petitionary prayer depends on intimacy in relational prayer. Know God a little, and experience little power in petition. Know God a lot, and experience great power in petition.


Grace-based prayer

  • And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. (Mark 11:25)
  • Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven. (Luke 6:37)


Unhindered prayers

  • Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors... For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matt 6:12, 14-15)
  • Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives... so that nothing will hinder your prayers. (1 Peter 3:7)


Faith to forgive

"If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him.” The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.” (Luke 17:3-6)


Moving mountains

  • Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. (Zech 4:6-7)
  • Every mountain and hill shall be made low... And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed. (Isaiah 40:4-5)
  • And I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be raised up. (Isaiah 49:11)
  • Mount Zion, the temple mount, would be removed when God's judgment came and the Romans destroyed the temple. The mountain that resisted and rejected Jesus would be tossed into the sea of judgment.
  • Persecuted Christians would be comforted that their main early opponents could not permanently hinder Jesus' followers.
  • In the war of faith against the mountain of unbelief, faith in Jesus would triumph.


God's colleagues

Such promises about prayer with faith refer to a degree or kind of faith which most believers never experience...it occurs only when the one who prays does so as God's fellow worker, demanding what is needed for the joint work... the fellow-worker, the companion or (dare we say?) the colleague of God is so united with Him at certain moments that something of the divine foreknowledge enters his mind. (C. S. Lewis)


According to God's will

  • Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)
  • This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him.(1 John 5:14-15)


Faith claiming God's will

  • Andrew Murray: It is often spiritual sloth that, under the appearance of humility, professes to have no will. It fears the trouble of searching for the will of God, or, when found, the struggle of claiming it in faith.
  • Before we can believe, we must find out and know what God's will is. Believing is the exercise of a soul surrendered to the influence of the Holy Spirit. Once we do believe, nothing is impossible.


First things first

  • Relating before requesting: then requests flow from relationship.
  • God's glory before my gladness: then my main gladness is His glory.
  • God's purposes before my priorities: then God's purposes become my priorities
  • Others before myself: then answers to my prayers for others bring as much or more joy than answers to prayer for myself
  • Holiness before happiness: I am more eager to be Christ-like than comfortable


Lord, teach us to pray.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (Matt 6:9-13)


Specific faith

  • Overall faith in God makes possible each prayer of faith in a particular situation.
  • As we relate with God and partner in His mission, God may grant a special gift of knowing what God is about to do.
  • This faith, this knowing of something not yet visible, enables us to pray a completely confident prayer because God has given an extraordinary clarity and assurance of what He is about to do.


Authorized and empowered

  • Jesus' curse on the tree was authorized and empowered by God in answer to prayer.
  • The more we are in tune with Jesus and his mission, the more our prayers bring about things authorized and empowered by God.
  • In the new creation, our words and work will rule reality. We will be perfectly in tune with God, know exactly what he wants, pray with certainty, speak words that always come true, and accomplish all works we attempt.


Getting whatever you pray for

What Jesus doesn't say here:

  • "God factors your requests into His plan.”
  • "God grants requests that are good for you.”
  • "Prayer doesn't change events or God's actions; prayer changes you.”
  • "God always answers prayer. He answers yes, no, or wait awhile.”

Jesus says: "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24)

Last modified: Friday, October 27, 2023, 3:48 PM