Matthew 17 - 4.1.25

SCRIPTURE:  “Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, Because you have so little faith.  Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:19 - 21

OBSERVATION:  In this portion of Scripture, we see a man who brought his son to Jesus, pleading for Him to have mercy on his son who had seizures and was suffering greatly.  It got so bad, the son would often fall into the fire or into the water.  The man had originally gone to Jesus’ disciples and had asked them to pray, but when they did, they were not able to heal him.  So, the man went straight to Jesus, and… after Jesus rebuked the demon, the boy was instantly healed!

So what went wrong? What was keeping the disciples prayers from going through?  They had been given authority by God to pray for healing, but something was blocking their prayers from going through!  They had been given full access to God’s power, but Jesus told them that it was their lack of faith that kept them from receiving what they were praying for.  

Could it be that the disciples thought this prayer was too big to ask for?  Were they praying in their own strength?  Did they lack the faith to speak out and proclaim healing in Jesus’ name?  Jesus said, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:22).  

“To be fulfilled, our requests must be in harmony with God’s kingdom.  The stronger our belief, the more likely our prayers will be in line with God’s will, and then God will be happy to grant them. (Footnotes: 21:22).

APPLICATION:  The more we read God’s Word, the more faith we will have to believe that God’s power can move in and through us as we pray.

PRAYER:  I pray for mountain- moving faith!  I pray God will give me courage and boldness to pray for things that appear impossible to man.  I pray God will teach me to pray according to His will, and that He will use my answered prayers to demonstrate His wonder working power, and help me to point people to Jesus through them.

- Robin Orefice