Faith And Authority

Devotional Reading: For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Mark 11:23 KJV

Faith is not a title or a qualification that we gain, our faith is there to be put into practice and, like a muscle, the more we use it the more it will develop. It is our faith in action that allows the reign of God to come so that what is accomplished in the heavens becomes a reality on Earth.

It is our faith that makes us men and women who do not give in to circumstances but instead write history. This is what the apostle John declares in the verses that we have already read. To believe that Jesus is the Son of God is to act in a way that His kingdom comes and that His will be done by establishing His victory, everywhere we go…

When reading the Gospels, you will discover that Jesus did not perform miracles by asking the Father to do something. Rather He simply took authority over the circumstances, even death. And it is exactly what we are also called to live out in our daily lives. In the passage from Mark which our anchor text, Jesus says, “If you SAY to this mountain, ‘be thou lifted up and thrown into the sea…” Jesus doesn’t say, “If you pray, please can you take away this mountain…” No! He tells us to take authority. May I suggest that sometimes, by which I mean often, we don’t see the awaited miracles because we pray too much instead of using the authority that God has given us.

What Jesus asks of us is to address ourselves to the mountain, to the circumstance (including sickness), giving it a direct order. Whatever it is that needs to be moved or changed, faith is not happy with simply begging or pleading. It commands.

Faith allows us to know what God has already accomplished in the heavens and to simply command that it becomes a reality on Earth, in the visible world. We can always plea to God, and sometimes it is good to do this for specific situations, however, we cannot ask God to do something that He has already accomplished! Our faith is therefore linked to what we declare with our mouth.

Prayer and Confession
Begin to speak to whatever be a mountain before you. Take authority over them in Jesus name.

Further Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:13, John 11:41-43