Matthew 21:19-22 Mark 11:19-26 Luke 21:37-38

Matthew 21:19-22 19 Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.20 Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” 21 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Mark 11:19-26 19 When evening came, they would go out of the city. 20 As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up.21 Being reminded, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. 23 “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. 24 “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. 25 “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. 26“But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”

Luke 21:37, 38 37 Now during the day He was teaching in the temple, but at evening He would go out and spend the night on the mount that is called Olivet. 38 And all the people would get up early in the morning to come to Him in the temple to listen to Him.

Jesus was all about teaching people the Word of God and revealing the Father to them.  We see Him teaching in the temple during the days and then as He leaves the city at night, He continues to teach His disciples through parables and illustrations.  We have seen this episode with the fig tree in an earlier post.  I assume it is repeated here to provide context for this teaching on prayer.  Jesus wants to make sure the disciples understand the importance of prayer to their ministry and relationship with God.  The religious leaders that were in charge at the temple had, like the fig tree, become fruitless and were therefore condemned to wither.  Jesus wants His disciple’s ministry to be much more effective and productive.  Prayer will be vital to that fruitfulness because it demonstrates our dependence on God.  It also helps to resolve the issues that may arise is our relationships with one another.  Bearing fruit depends on having a right relationship with God and others.  Prayer is essential for both of these issues.

FAITH IS VITAL TO EFFECTIVE PRAYER: When the disciples saw that the fig tree Jesus had cursed was all dried up, they were amazed and asked Him how it happened.  Jesus answered by saying that the same power that dried up the tree was available to them, if they would pray in faith.  Jesus exhorts them to pray without doubting and they would be able to do far greater things than just curse trees.  What is the key to having faith?  I believe that there are essentially two factors to having an unwavering and powerful faith.  The first is a conviction that God is able to do what we are asking.  We generally know in our heads that God can do anything, but in our hearts, we tend to wonder if He can deal with whatever crisis we are facing.  The second factor is a conviction that God wants to do what we are asking.  This is where doubt often creeps into our minds and hearts.  When we ask for selfish things that are not in line with the will of God, we will not have faith that God will actually do it.  This is why it is important our prayers be informed by the Word of God.  Since the will of God is revealed by the Word of God, we can be assured that God wants what is in His Word to happen.  In other words, if I pray for a million dollars to fall from the sky, it will be hard for me to have faith that this is God’s will so that prayer will be filled with doubt that God desires this for my life.  However, if I pray for the Gospel to advance to an unreached people group; I know from God’s Word that this is His will so my pray will be full of faith.  The time we spend in prayer should focus on praying for those things we are convinced to be aligned with God’s will.

FORGIVENESS IS VITAL TO ANSWERED PRAYER: Perhaps one of the biggest mountains we face in life is forgiving the sins of others against us.  Pride and bitterness are spiritual weeds that sprout naturally in our hearts.  We often become deluded into thinking we can have a close relationship with God while having a broken relationship with other men around us.  Jesus makes it clear that this is not the case.  We must forgive others of their sins against us if we want to receive forgiveness from God.  This truth has been taught multiple times throughout the Gospels.  It is hard for us to consider that God’s forgiveness in dependent upon anything but, it is clearly taught.  It is important for us to remember that there are two types of forgiveness spoken of in Scripture: judicial forgiveness and relational forgiveness.  Our judicial forgiveness before God, also known as justification, is solely dependent upon God’s grace through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Jesus is speaking about relational forgiveness in this passage.  My relationships with others impact my relationship with God, especially my prayer life.  It is also important for us to remember that those who claim to have judicial forgiveness or salvation should readily practice relational forgiveness.  In other words, the forgiven forgive.  The religious leaders of Christ’s day were proud, self-righteous and looked down on those they deemed to fall short of their own level.  Those who might have offended a Pharisee in a business dealing or some other way would be shamed and often thrown out of the synagogue.  Forgiveness was not a part of their M.O. Jesus wants to make sure that His disciples realize that if they want to produce fruit, they must maintain a close relationship with God by readily forgiving other people.

APPLICATION: Make sure that our prayers are in tune with what God has revealed in His Word, either by principle or command, that He wants to do.  Seek to understand the Spirit’s leading in prayer so we can pray in faith that God both can and wants to do what we ask.  Don’t allow pride and bitterness to prevent us from forgiving others because it will certainly hinder our relationship with God and our prayers.  If we want our lives to produce figs instead of just leaves; faith and forgiveness are vital.