HAVE FAITH IN GOD

Pastor James J. Barker

Text: MARK 11:22—26




INTRODUCTION:


  1. I want to preach this morning on the important subject of faith, especially as it relates to the guidance of God and answered prayer.
  2. Over and over again, the Bible teaches us that faith is the way to have our prayers answered (Mark 11:23, 24; cf. 9:23).
  3. In Matthew 21:22, our Lord said, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
  4. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please” God.
  5. George Muller wrote, “Faith is the assurance that the thing which God has said in His Word is true, and that God will act according to what He has said in His Word. This assurance, this reliance on God’s Word, this confidence is FAITH.”
  6. Notice the emphasis George Mueller put on God’s Word.
  7. George Mueller’s faith has influenced Christians all over the world. Hudson Taylor, influenced by George Mueller, went to China and worked there as a missionary for 51 years. He established the China Inland Mission, which established 20 mission stations, brought 849 missionaries to the field (968 by 1911), trained some 700 Chinese workers, and raised four million dollars by faith.

 

I. HOW IS FAITH DEVELOPED?

  1. Some people have the notion that certain people are born with strong faith, or that God only gives the gift of faith to certain believers (such as George Mueller or Hudson Taylor, etc.).
  2. They think the average normal Christian can never hope to have that kind of faith.
  3. But this idea is totally unscriptural.   Notice our Lord says in Mark 11:23, “That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed…”
  4. It is true that faith is a gift from God.  First Corinthians 12:9 says, “To another faith by the same Spirit,” meaning faith is a gift from the Holy Spirit of God.
  5. However, every Christian has some measure of faith.  A Christian is saved by God’s grace through faith.  Then as he grows in the Lord, his faith develops and grows.
  6. There is an important statement found four times in the Bible: “The just shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4; Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).   “Shall live by faith…”
  7. Beloved, we must pray the same prayer the apostles prayed in Luke 17:5, when they asked the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
  8. Now regarding effectual prayer, I John 5:14, 15 says, “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us: And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.”
  9. This is a promise for all believers.  James 5:16, 17 says, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth muchElias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.”
  10. James 1:5, 6 says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”
  11. The Bible says Elijah, “was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly…” George Mueller, Hudson Taylor, and DL Moody were men subject to like passions as we are, and they prayed earnestly and God answered their prayers.
  12. Let me quote George Mueller again.  “Faith has to do with the Word of God…Do not, however, expect to obtain full Faith at once. All such things as jumping into full exercise of Faith in such things I discountenance. I do not believe in it. I do not believe in it. I DO NOT BELIEVE IN IT, AND I WISH YOU PLAINLY TO UNDERSTAND I DO NOT BELIEVE IN IT. All such things go on in a natural way. The little I did obtain, I did not obtain all at once. All this I say particularly, because letters come to me full of questions from those who seek to have their Faith strengthened. Begin over again, staying your soul on the Word of God, and you will have an increase of your Faith as you exercise it.”
  13. George Mueller cared for over 10,000 orphans in his orphanages.  He kept accurate records of his work – especially his prayer journals.  He recorded over 50,000 answered prayers – covering over 3,000 pages!
  14. Regarding the exercise of faith, George Mueller said, “Now, my beloved brothers and sisters, begin in a little way.  At first I was able to trust the Lord for ten dollars, then for a hundred dollars, then for a thousand dollars, and now, with the greatest ease, I could trust Him for a million dollars, if there was occasion. But first, I should quietly, carefully, deliberately examine and see whether what I was trusting for, was something in accordance with His promises in His written Word.”
  15. We can learn much from men like George Mueller.  Notice that his faith was in accordance with the Word of God.  This cannot be over-emphasized.
  16. Great men and women of faith get their faith from the Word of God.  Read the Bible, and study the Bible, and obey the Bible, and your faith will be developed and your faith will be strengthened.
  17. Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
  18. John R Rice said, “How can I trust God for this or that when I do not know enough about God to know whether that is according to His nature, according to His will, according to His promise?  I must read the Bible to know what God has promised to do.  I must read the Bible to see what He has done for others. I must read the Bible and meditate therein to know what God is like and what His holy and merciful nature requires Him to do for His children.  As I learn the Bible, I learn what I may depend upon God to do” (“Whosoever and Whatsoever When You Pray”).

 

II. GOD ANSWERS OUR PRAYERS THROUGH FAITH.

  1. One of the sweetest words in the Bible is “whosoever” (Mark 11:23).
  2. John R Rice said, “The ‘whosoever’ in Mark 11:23 is as universal as the ‘whosoever’ in John 3:16.  God’s universal promise to answer the prayer of faith is as broad and all-inclusive as His promise to save one who trusts Him for salvation.”
  3. Our Lord may have been pointing toward the Mount of Olives (11:1), when He said in Mark 11:23, “That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed…”
  4. But the statement is obviously figurative.  Our Lord did not go around moving mountains.  Neither did His disciples, or the apostle Paul, etc.
  5. But though our Lord is using figurative language, this can be taken literally.
  6. Back in 1973, a church in Netcong, NJ faced an insurmountable problem.  They had just built a new church building on their recently acquired property, half of which was mountain and woods.  They were told they would not be granted permanent occupancy until they had sufficient parking in the rear.  The trouble was, 40 feet of sheer mountain rose abruptly at the back of the church, leaving insufficient space for the legally required parking lots.  The cost to remove the mountain was prohibitive for the church.  One Sunday the pastor quoted Mark 11:23 and asked the church to come out Wednesday night to pray.  The next morning the phone rang.  It was the telephone company.  They were planning to erect a new building and needed fill for a large swampy site.  They had learned that the mountain in the back of the church had the correct proportion of sand, clay, and rock for the required fill.  Within a month the phone company hauled away 40,000 square yards of fill, for which they paid the church $5,400, not only removing the mountain but leveling the ground for the required three parking lots and preparing them for paving (19 Gifts of the Spirit, Leslie B. Flynn).
  7. For this church, a literal mountain was moved in answer to prayer.  What mountain do you need moved?  A stubborn unsaved loved one?  A mountain of difficulties and worry and care?  A mountain of debt?  
  8. In John 14:13, 14, our Lord said, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”
  9. How sad that so few Christians truly believe this!   I remember a former member (she has since moved to another state) who I led to the Lord.  She worked on Sundays and was convinced by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that it was wrong.
  10. She asked me for advice and I told her to pray and ask God to give her a better job with Sundays off.  She had a difficult time believing that, but she tried it and God answered her prayer.
  11. James 4:2 says, “Yet ye have not, because ye ask not.”
  12. Our Lord wants us to pray, and He wants to answer our prayers so that “the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
  13. Our Lord says in Luke 11:9, 10, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
  14. William Carey said, “Attempt great things for God; Expect great things from God.”
  15. Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”
  16. “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
    All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”

 

III. SIN HINDERS OUR PRAYERS FROM BEING ANSWERED.

  1. The greatest sin, whether in church or out of church, is the sin of unbelief.   Our Lord promises to answer our prayers, but there are certain conditions.  He said in Mark 11:23, “and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe…”
  2. Jesus says, “but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” (11:23).
  3. If we believe (trust God), then it “shall come to pass” (11:23).
  4. This reminds me of Psalm 37:5, “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.”
  5. It doesn’t say, “might come to pass.”  No, God says, “He shall bring it to pass.” 
  6. So the sin of unbelief hinders us from getting our prayers answered.   Also, an unforgiving spirit hinders our prayers from being answered.
  7. In Mark 11:25, 26 our Lord says, “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.  But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
  8. One night DL Moody was up on the platform getting ready to preach when he saw a man walk into the meeting.  Moody ran down to greet the man because they had had a disagreement and Moody wanted to make things right before he preached.
  9. First John 3:22 says, “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.”
  10. But if we do not keep his commandments, and we don’t do those things that are pleasing in his sight, then we will not receive whatsoever we ask.
  11. Here is where many Christians fail.  And many backslidden Christians are so stubborn and unteachable they will not acknowledge it.
  12. Some people do not get their prayers answered because their motives are selfish and worldly.  James 4:3 says, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”
  13. The Psalmist said in Psalm 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”
  14. But the Psalmist did not regard iniquity in his heart, so he goes on to say, “But verily God hath heard me; He hath attended to the voice of my prayer.  Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me” (Psalm 66:19, 20).
  15. Isaiah 59:1, 2 says, “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.”
  16. Some husbands do not have their prayers answered because they are not in a right relationship with their wives.  First Peter 3:7 says, “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.”
  17. There is a word here for the wives too; that same chapter says, “Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands” (3:1).
  18. Some wives do not get their prayers answered because they are not submissive to their husbands.  Unfortunately, there are too many bossy unruly wives and too many weak hen-pecked husbands.
  19. The Bible is clear about this.  Proverbs 28:9 says, “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.”

 

CONCLUSION:


  1. In the year 1854, Hudson Taylor was a 22-year-old missionary heading toward China in a sailing vessel that was becalmed in the vicinity of New Guinea. Seeing the distressed look on the captain’s face as he peered intently into the sea, Hudson Taylor inquired as to the cause of his anxiety.
  2. The captain replied: “A four-knot current is carrying us swiftly toward some sunken reefs over there. Our fate seems to be sealed.”  On the shores of the island, cannibals were rushing about and lighting fires in great glee.  They were anticipating a great feast.
  3. The captain was worried and spoke again: “We have done everything that can be done.”  “No,” responded Hudson Taylor, “there is one thing we haven’t done. Four of us on board are Christians. Let each of us retire to his cabin and in agreed prayer ask the Lord to give us a breeze immediately.” 
  4. This was agreed upon and done. After a few minutes of earnest intercession, Hudson Taylor came up on deck confident that the petition had been granted. Finding the first officer, a godless man, in charge, he requested him to let down the corners of the mainsail.
  5. “Why?  What would be the good of that?” he asked. Hudson Taylor told him that he and three others had been asking God to send a wind, that it was coming immediately and that there was not a minute to lose, since they were so close to the reefs.
  6. With a look of contempt, the officer replied with an oath: “Nonsense! You can’t pray up a wind.” Noticing a few moments later that the topmost sail was beginning to tremble, he said: “That is only a cat’s paw – a mere puff of wind.” 
  7. Hudson Taylor said, “Never mind what you think.  Let down the mainsail quickly.”
  8. This he was not slow to do. Hearing the heavy tread of the men on deck, the captain came up from his cabin and saw that the breeze had indeed come. In a few minutes they were sailing away from the dangerous reefs, much to the disappointment of the native cannibals on the beach.
  9. Writing of this and similar experiences, Hudson Taylor later said: “Thus God encouraged me, ere landing on China’s shores, to bring every variety of need to Him in prayer, and to expect that He would honor the name of the Lord Jesus and give the help which each emergency required.”
  10. J. Hudson Taylor had great faith in God. He believed what Jesus said. One of his biographers said that John 14:13 was woven into the fabric of his life and into the texture of his stupendous achievements: “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”


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