Jesus Cursed the Fig Tree (Mark
11:12-14)
The next day as they were leaving
Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went
to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but
leaves, because it was not the seasons for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May
no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.
The Withered Fig Tree (Mark
11:20-25) NIV
“In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree
withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The
fig tree you cursed has withered!” “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell
you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, “Go, throw yourself into the
sea, and does not doubt in his heart but believes what he says will happen, it will
be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe
that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if
you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven
may forgive you your sins.”
Jesus showed his disciples that there is no such thing as
impossible when we ask God in faith and proclaim our faith in prayer. In this
passage Jesus demonstrated the key elements of an answered prayer:
1. Have Faith in God
a. Faith - “Have faith…”
We need to have faith when we pray. We need to believe and
hope that our prayer will be answered. We need to believe that it will be done.
b. God - “…in God”
Notice that Jesus
specifically said to pray in God. Not to any saints or anyone else but God.
Because it is only God who can answer our prayers. He is the only one who can
see our hearts and hear our prayers even when we pray in silence. Therefore, we
must have faith in God alone.
2. Believe and not doubt
a. Believe- “believes what he says
will happen” This is very important. Now that we
know that we need to have faith in God, we must believe that God can do it and
that our prayers will happen. That is why Jesus says it again by saying “believe that you have received it”. We
must know who our God is. God is not just anybody, God owns the universe and
everything we see. There is nothing impossible for him. So, whatever you need,
believe that God is able to give it to you.
“and it will be yours.” How wonderful it is to know that someone like our
God would give extra special attention to our needs even the things that we
want. God made us special and he wants us to know that as a Father, we can call
on him through prayers and tell him what we need in our lives and believe that
he can provide everything to us, even the most impossible things we can ever
think of.
b. Doubt - “Does not doubt in his
heart” Aside from our sins and wrong
motives, this is one of the main reasons why so many of our prayers get
hindered or delayed. This is because we are playing hide and seek with God.
Sometimes we believe but sometimes we doubt our prayers. Doubting God is a sin
and we must ask for his forgiveness every time we think that God is not able.
For doubt is the absence of faith and without faith how are we able to believe
that God can help. Therefore, doubt must be eliminated. We can do this, by
counting our blessing, by giving thanks to God and by sharing our faith and
blessing with others. So, when times comes that you feel like not doubting,
there will be more things to remind you of God’s faithfulness.
3. Forgive – “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against
anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Forgiveness is not easy, we need more than courage to
forgive. We need to be selfless and humble. Moreover, we must lay it all to
Jesus. We may think that a lot of people do not deserve forgiveness especially
when they have done terrible things we cannot even imagine. But God said, we
must forgive so that our sins must also be forgiven. We must pray for those who
have wronged us, for Jesus will be our reconciliation.
If we go back to the story of the
fig tree and the example of Jesus of the mountain throwing itself to the sea.
We may wonder why he would use these kinds of examples. The mountain throwing
itself to the sea seems so silly and humorous. But with wisdom, Jesus is just
trying to imply that there is nothing impossible for God. That God has no
boundaries and that even the mountain will obey him. Therefore, pray in faith
in God.
SOMETHING TO DO:
If there’s anything today that you
would like to ask God, come to him in prayer and tell him everything that is in
your heart. Tell God everything that you are longing for. It could be about a
job, a broken relationship that you would want to be fixed, a dying marriage
that you would want to be revived, or a tragedy that you want to move forward
from. However big or small it is, God is always there to listen and yes! He
would love to help you, just pray with faith in God, believe and not doubt,
believe that you receive it and it will be yours. And when you pray, remember also
to forgive. These are the words of Jesus. Pray and receive his answers today.
