Jesus
answered them, “Have faith in God. For most certainly I tell you, whoever may tell this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and doesn’t doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is happening; he shall have whatever he says. Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them.
Mark 11:22-24
Mark 11 [19.] When evening came, he went out of the city. As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away from the roots. Peter, remembering, said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered away.”
Mark 11 [22.] Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. For most certainly I tell you, whoever may tell this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and doesn’t doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is happening; he shall have whatever he says. Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them. Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father, who is in heaven, may also forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your transgressions.”
Mark 11 [27.] They came again to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders came to him, and they began saying to him, “By what authority do you do these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things?”
Meaning:
Peter had pointed in amazement at the fig tree that withered after Jesus spoke to it (Mark 11:19-21). Jesus did not explain how the miracle happened. Instead he turned the disciples’ attention to God and to prayer. The temple, which should have been “a house of prayer for all the nations”, had failed in its purpose (Mark 11:15-17). Now Jesus teaches his followers the kind of believing prayer that God honours, and he goes straight on to speak of forgiveness (Mark 11:25-26).
- “Have faith in God”
The first words set everything else in order. The power is not in faith itself, or in the person praying, but in God. Faith is simply trust in who God is and what he can do. The withered tree showed that God was at work through Jesus’ word, and the disciples were invited to share that same confidence in God. Hebrews explains why this matters: “Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
- “Whoever may tell this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea’”
Jesus and the disciples were walking from the Mount of Olives toward the temple mount, so “this mountain” may have pointed to one of them, perhaps the temple mount itself, whose system was about to pass away. Among Jewish teachers, “removing mountains” was also a common way of describing what seemed impossible. Long before, God had encouraged Zerubbabel as he rebuilt the temple: “‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says Yahweh of Armies. Who are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you are a plain” (Zechariah 4:6-7).
Jesus was not teaching his disciples to perform tricks of nature, but to trust God with obstacles too great for them. He had said to a desperate father, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23).
- “And doesn’t doubt in his heart, but believes”
Doubt in this sense is a divided heart, one that prays while expecting nothing. James uses the same picture: “But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed” (James 1:6). Yet Jesus is gentle with weak faith. The father who cried, “I believe. Help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) received what he asked for. Faith does not need to be perfect; it needs to be directed to God.
- “All things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them”
Jesus invites bold, expectant prayer: believe that God has already granted it, and it will be yours. This promise is not a blank cheque for selfish wishes. James warns, “You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives” (James 4:3). John links answered prayer with a life that pleases God: “whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments” (1 John 3:22). Faith that prays like this wants what God wants.
Jesus immediately adds a condition that is easy to forget: “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone” (Mark 11:25). Faith in God and an unforgiving heart cannot live together.
The Significance of Mark 11:22-24
- Faith rests on God
Our confidence in prayer does not come from the strength of our feelings but from the character of God, who is able and willing to act.
- Prayer that expects an answer
Jesus wants his followers to pray with expectation: “Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you” (Matthew 7:7).
- Mountains in our lives
Every believer meets obstacles that seem immovable. Jesus calls us to bring them to God in faith, rather than give up or rely on our own strength.
Cross-References:
Hebrews 11:6: "Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him." Faith is the way to come to God.
Mark 9:23: "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Jesus’ words to the father of a sick boy.
James 1:6: "But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed." Praying with an undivided heart.
1 John 3:22: "whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight." Answered prayer and obedience.
Conclusion: When Peter pointed out the withered fig tree, Jesus answered, “Have faith in God.” He promised that whoever trusts God without a divided heart can see even mountains removed, and that whatever we ask in prayer, believing that we have received it, will be ours. These words call believers to bold, expectant prayer grounded in God’s power and goodness, offered from hearts that want his will and, as Jesus goes on to say, are ready to forgive.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible