Text: Matthew 17.20 “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."
Icebreaker:
What words do you use to describe the challenges that you face in life? Maybe you call them giants, hills to climb or mountains to be moved? The good news that we’ll hear today is that Jesus will help us to face and overcome those challenges because in Him, even our little faith becomes a powerful force.
Introduction
One of the greatest challenges Jesus continually gave his followers was to have faith. He knew that having faith held the power to make amazing things happen. Peter had a little faith and walked on water (Matthew 14:29). A woman who suffered from bleeding had a little faith and was healed after 12 years without hope (Matt 9:20-22). A little bit of faith enabled the blind to see (Mark 10:46-52) and brought the dead back to life (Hebrews 11:35).
How can we tell when there’s an absence of faith in our life? We stop believing that the impossible is possible with God, and we settle for living a ‘small’ life, confined by our feelings and by what we can see around us.
If today, we want to go deeper in our relationship with the God of all things impossible, it is necessary that we take the following 5 steps:
Acknowledge your mountains
If we are going to let God move these mountains, we need to acknowledge that they exist. We can’t pretend that the mountain that is dominating our life is not real, or that it does not produce feelings in us– we need to name it and acknowledge it for any kind of emotional healing or journey of peace and health in Jesus to begin. God wants us to be honest with Him about our mountains.
The thing I’ve been learning is that the mountains I need to move in my life aren’t necessarily the circumstances I see in front of me. My biggest mountains are usually inside me: fears in relationships, doubts about whether I can change, disappointing moments when I tried to have faith but still suffered defeats in my life that didn’t only impact me but also had an impact on friends and family around me.
If I am going to let God move these mountains, the first step I need to take is to acknowledge that they exist.
Deal with denial
Do you believe that the mountain can be moved? Don’t deny it if you don’t – but run to God instead. Remember the story of the man who came to Jesus to ask for healing for his son (Mark 9:24). In one moment he confesses his faith that his son can be healed, but he also realises that his faith is small and says “Help me with my unbelief”. This is the amazing love of Jesus, that allows us to be honest so that we can say to Him “I believe, help me with my unbelief”. We have to remember that it doesn’t help to ignore or to try to hide something or to pretend that it isn’t there – denying reality keeps us trapped.
Don’t be afraid of the difficult facts
In the Old Testament Abraham received a word that He would have a son, but when he heard that, he wasn’t able to think beyond the fact that he was really old to have one and so was his wife. Frankly he thought that it might be impossible, but even with that thought he expressed His faith in God. At the right time, God kept the promise and showed Abraham, and all of us who read his story, that by God’s word the impossible will happen. Don’t put facts before faith, God can do what He plans and desires, no matter what the facts of a situation are.
Ask God for help
We are becoming a generation that murmur and complain to God, to our friends and on-line, but who rarely ask for help. Do you know that there is a difference between the two? Complaining and asking for help are two very different things. When we complain we are simply rehearsing the problem over and over again. When we ask for help we are recognising that something needs to happen to change the situation.
Are you committed to your prayer list? Let’s pray and seek until we hear His voice in every situation!!!
Decide to walk by faith and in obedience instead of by feelings.
Feelings are a roller coaster and our hearts are deceitful, so we shouldn’t walk based in what we feel, but in what the word of God says to us. We should be a people who walk in accordance with His word. When we do that, miracles happen according to His will and purpose. Sometimes we might not be able to feel anything or sometimes we can be overwhelmed by a complicated combination of feelings and that’s why it’s so important that we walk by what we know in Jesus because He will always tell us the truth.
Conclusion: Today is a new opportunity to seek God as never before! Would you like to go an extra step in His direction today? Let’s surrender everything to God and pursue Him. It might seem difficult today to even have a tiny bit of faith, but God can change that if we are honest – He is able to do the impossible. He is able to transform us, transform our situation and he can fill the emptiness that is in us with the peace and joy that can only come from knowing Jesus.
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