Jesus and the fig tree

I've long been fascinated with the story of Jesus and the fig tree.

It tells me that followers of Christ can also issue commands of faith if their commands align with God's will and they trust the Lord to act.

You may recall the story of the fig tree in Mark 11 and Matthew 21. 

Initially, the story seems trifling - maybe even strange.  Jesus and his disciples pass a fig tree and Jesus walks up to pick figs to eat.  But there are no figs on the tree so he says: "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." (Mark 11:12-14)

The next morning, they pass the fig tree and Peter says to Jesus: "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!"

Then, Jesus follows up with a profound lesson from this seemingly trivial incident.

"Have faith in God," Jesus answered.  "Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart but believes what they say will happen, it will be done for them.

"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 them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

I admit that my heart reaction to this story is: "Jesus, you can't really mean this!  That's impossible!"

But Jesus did say in John 14:12: "I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father."

Jesus issued commands of faith on other occasions.  In Mark 4, Jesus and the disciples were in a boat when the winds whipped up the sea while Christ slept.  The disciples were terrified but Jesus woke up and simply told the blustery wind, "Silence! Be still!", and the wind stopped and the waters became calm.

Christ also rebuked demons and ordered them to leave afflicted people.

In the Old Testament, Joshua told the sun to stand still to enable the Israelites to win a battle - and the sun stood still. (Joshua 10:12)

Indeed, believers today have had remarkably similar experiences.

Derek Prince, author of Secrets of a Prayer Warrior, tells of a teenaged Zambian girl bicycling to one of his meetings in Africa, suddenly being confronted by a huge cobra, emerging from a 20-to-30-foot high anthill. 

She stopped before the snake, trembling.  Then, says Prince, the "Spirit of God came upon her, and she said, 'In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, go back into your hole.'"

The cobra stopped and turned its head towards its hole but remained motionless.  The girl repeated her command and it turned around and went back into the hole.

"When she got to our meeting place, she was still trembling," Prince writes. "In that command, God's strength was made perfect in weakness."

The passage about the fig tree indicates that these commands succeed when we have faith and we are right with God.  We do not depend on our own power, but on the power of God.

As well, we know our requests will be heard and answered if we ask according to what God wants.  (1 John 5:14-15)

There is much for me to ponder in this great story of the fig tree.  May the Lord increase my faith.

Pausing before praying

Do you consult God before you pray?

I admit that much of the time, I just plunge in and pray without asking the Lord to direct my prayers.

But seeking God's leading in prayer is important.

Why?  Because God's will always prevails.  And we find out God's will by asking him.

I am not saying that asking God what we want is wrong.  God listens to our prayers and responds to our heart cries.

But there is a chance we will miss what God wishes if we don't listen to him first.

What prompted this post was something a friend told me about a prayer experience he had at a conference on church renewal recently.

The conference leader asked those attending to break into groups of two and pray for each other's needs.

My friend and a young man presented their prayer requests to each other.  Then, my friend immediately prayed for the young man's requests - just as I would have done.

But the young man spent several minutes in silence before he prayed.  He was asking God for leading.

Did the young man pray what God wants?  I don't know, but I believe he had a good chance of so doing.

Inviting the Holy Spirit into our prayers is widespread these days - especially, in healing prayer groups.  But it is easy to forget the importance of the Spirit's guidance.

The apostle Paul urges us in Ephesians 6:18 to "pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion".

There are debates about whether this means speaking in tongues or not.  But what it surely means is that we should should seek the aid of the Holy Spirit in our prayers.

The great Norwegian Christian, O. Hallesby, writes in his book Prayer that we should "pray for the Spirit of prayer".

He notes that we often feel that our prayers are inadequate or that we are praying wrongly.  If so, we should ask God for the Spirit of prayer.

"He will not only show you the meaning and purpose of prayer; he will also lift you up in all your helplessness to the very heart of God where you will be warmed by his love, so that you can again begin to pray according to his will, asking for nothing except those things which are in harmony with his plans and purposes."

King David sought God's leading often during his life, even in battles.

The Philistines decided to attack Israel shortly after they heard David had become king (1 Samuel 5).

David asked God: "Shall I go and attack the Philistines?  Will you hand them over to me?"

God told David he would give him the victory.  David won an initial battle, but the Philistines marched against the Israelites again.

So David "inquired of the Lord" and God responded by giving him specific directions on how to defeat the Philistines including circling around them and attacking from behind.  The sign to attack was to be the "sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees".  David obeyed and won decisively.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to hearing what God wants is our own self-will.  Once we have elected to follow God's will, we are assured he will follow through (1 John 5:14-15).

So, the first step for me is to say to the Lord: "I will pray what you want, not what I want."

Then, I must pause and listen before I pray.

Praying in the moment

My wife and I were chatting about various people we know yesterday and found ourselves praying for them on the spot.

I mention it because more often we think of friends and their needs and resolve to pray for them later.  And we forget.

I realize I need to make a practice of praying in the moment.

It's all part of what the apostle Paul calls "praying continually" (1Thessalonians 5:17).

On the surface, it seems an impossible task - praying all the time.

I don't think Paul meant that we were to stop doing anything but praying.  But I do believe he meant we should pray often during the day - as we work, eat, and relax.

Brother Lawrence, a French monk who lived in the 17th century, said in his little classic The Practice of the Presence of God that he conversed silently with God as he washed dishes in the monastery kitchen.  He kept God in his mind and adored him as he worked - and he listened to his promptings.

Many people use prayer prompts to ignite prayers as they go through the day.

Janet Benlien Reeves says in her book Parachute Prayer: The Practice of Praying Continually that she uses everyday things around the house to remind her to pray.

"As we work with various items around our homes, let's pray for their owners," she writes. "As we fold laundry, let's thank God for the ones who wear the clothes."

If she sees her husband's keys on a table, Reeves prays for him at work.

When people come to the door, she prays silently for them - sales people or friends.

She prays for political leaders whose names come up in the news.

When someone from the past edges into her mind, she prays for him or her.

She thanks God for his provision as she pays the household bills.

There are all kinds of daily reminders that can spark prayer.

Decades ago, I attended a prayer seminar where the speaker asked us to choose something we were wearing or carrying and use that as a springboard to prayer.

I was wearing a watch and thought of God as creator of time.  I thought of him as eternal - beyond time.  Thoughts like these can lead to worship of our great God.

As I have said before, I find walking outdoors a great way to offer prayer to God.

For example, rocks can prompt us to think of God as the "rock of our salvation", the eternal one who never changes and can always be counted on.

And shoots of green grass poking up through dead lawns in the springtime can remind us that God wants to renew us spiritually.

There is no end to prayer possibilities if we keep our eyes and our minds open.