We Need Real Faith
Mark 11:22-25
Message #43
We need real faith. We need real, mountain-moving faith. We need unshakable, rock-solid, confident faith in God. I’m not talking about the faith required for salvation (although that’s the beginning of this real faith). I’m talking about the faith we need for today.
The faith we need to overcome the circumstances we face today
The faith we need to see God move in the midst of the situation we’re in today
We need real, life-transforming faith.
There is so much that the Bible says about faith. I use a digital library called LOGOS, and in my library, I have about 4,000 books. Of those 4,000 books, 700 of them have the word “Faith” in the title. So, I obviously cannot scratch the surface of the full spectrum of faith in this one message. All I can do is teach the verses before us, and through these verses encourage each of us to continue to grow in our real faith.
So, we left Jesus and the Disciples last week with the Disciples being shocked that the fig tree Jesus had cursed had actually withered and died.
This is Passion Week, about two days away from the arrest, and the cross is right there. After three and a half years, the Disciples are clearly amazed that Jesus cursing this fig tree actually worked. That’s a faith issue.
And Peter seems to speak for all the Disciples when we read the following in Mark 11:21.
Mark 11:21 (NLT)
21 Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you cursed has withered and died!”
He exclaimed! With an exclamation point! There’s obviously surprise in Peter’s voice. “Jesus, what you said to the fig tree – actually worked.”
And so, in the following verses, it seems Jesus is going to remind the Disciples of something he has been teaching them over and over again for three and a half years, and that is the need for us to have real, life-changing faith. Have you ever had Jesus do that for you? “Oh yeah, I forgot, Jesus. I forgot you are God. I forgot you are able. I forgot you know. I forgot you care.”
Well, the Disciple forgot that when Jesus speaks, something happens. And so, what he’s been teaching the Disciples for the last three and a half years – probably on a daily basis – he wants to remind them of. Here’s what it is. We have a desperate need for real, life-changing faith, faith that actually changes how we view things and what we expect from God.
Jesus is only a few days away from the cross here, and he’s been teaching the Disciples about having real faith since the first day he called them. Think about it. Jesus has been putting them in situations since the very beginning, forcing them into situations that caused them to have to grow in their real faith. Just like Jesus has been trying to teach us about having real faith since the first day he called us.
Since the day that you committed your life to Jesus Christ, he has been working to grow your faith in him. He has been. You exercise the faith he gave you, (Ephesians 2:8-9 says), to be saved, you receive salvation, and then it started. Then your path of faith, your journey of true faith started.
The Lord wants to grow your real faith right where you find yourself today. And the more difficult place you are in today, the more the Lord Jesus wants to grow your faith. The Lord wants to grow a life-changing, real faith in you right in the midst of your current situation. If you’re between a rock and a hard place, if you have a mountain in front of you, Jesus wants you to learn how to have real faith right there. It’s not intellectual. It’s not educational. It is relational in the sense of right where you’re at, right in the circumstance that you face, right in the situation, right there – Jesus wants your faith to grow. Right there. He wants us to grow in our real faith right in the midst of the situation that we find ourselves in.
The Disciples were just days away from facing their greatest faith test because Jesus was just days away from being arrested, falsely tried, and crucified. And everything is about to go differently than how they thought it was going to go and everything was about to go differently than how they thought it should go. And so, I think Jesus is using this moment to remind the Disciples (and us) of the power of real faith. Those kinds of days are coming when the rug is going to be pulled out, the foundations are going to be shaken, and we’ve got to have faith going into that. At the very least, we’ve got to be open to Jesus teaching us about real faith when we get there.
So again, in Mark 11:21, Peter says to Jesus, (basically), “It’s amazing that what you did to that fig tree actually worked.”
And then Jesus responds in Mark 11:22,
Mark 11:22 (NLT)
22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God.
The phrase, “have faith” is in my favorite Greek verb form. It is present, active imperative (tense, voice, mood).
Present means – You do it, you keep doing it and you always do it. If it’s in the present, then you keep on going.
Active means – This is your choice; this is your action to take. It means you choose to have faith; you choose to keep having faith, and you choose to always be having faith.
Imperative means – this is a command. Not a suggestion, not an encouragement. Having faith is a command from the Lord.
So, in two words, (in the Greek), Jesus says always have faith, and always keep having faith, and no matter what you see, or feel, or think, always be choosing to have faith – and having faith is not a suggestion, but instead, your Lord commands it.
So, how do we define this faith that Jesus is commanding us to always choose to have? Well, the faith that allowed you to receive salvation was you putting your trust and belief in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. And that is the Bible’s only method of salvation – you trusting and believing in who Jesus Christ IS.
Romans 6 explains that when you put your faith in Jesus Christ in this way (fully trusting and fully believing), that you become so identified with him that his payment for sin becomes your payment for sin. And if you don’t have payment for sin, you’ve got to pay for your sin yourself. So, you put your trust and faith in Jesus, you become so identified with him that his payment for sin becomes yours, it’s the only way the Bible says you can be saved.
Let me tell you the definition of faith (in Greek PISTIS), it is so simple. So, what would be the simplest way to explain this level of faith we’re calling real faith? Simply put, real faith is an ever-increasing trust and an ever-increasing belief. It’s simply an ever-increasing trust and belief in who God IS in YOUR life, in what God is doing in YOUR life, in what God is able to do in YOUR life. This is not a different kind of faith. This is a different level of faith. This is an ever-increasing faith and trust in God. You need more of that belief and trust. You need to trust God more. You need to believe God more. You need to choose to have faith more. And you need to act on your faith more.
And then, the thing that separates real faith from the self-centered, “get me what I want” faith that some preachers get rich selling, the thing that makes this faith real faith, are the next two words in verse 22.
Jesus says, Have faith in God! Real faith is faith – in God. Real faith is faith in who God IS and in what God is doing.
Real faith is not us trying to control God, trying to demand something from God, or trying to force God to do something. Real faith is a continual growth in us completely trusting and fully believing who God IS and what God is doing in our lives with a growing confidence that our God knows what is best and our God can bring about what is best in any situation. God can and God will bring about what is best for our good and for his glory right in the middle of the situation that we find ourselves in today.
Real faith is an ever-increasing trust and belief in God. It’s a faith that creates in us an ever-increasing confidence, and ever-increasing peace that comes from us knowing without a doubt that God is at work in our present situation – for our good and for his glory.
Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)
1 Faith . . . is the evidence of things we cannot see.
Evidence is what proves something in a courtroom and our real faith is the evidence. It’s what proves to us that God is at work for our good in our present situation. That is real faith. Again, Mark 11:22.
Mark 11:22 (NLT)
22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith - in God.
And then, Jesus gives us an example of this real faith, and he uses a well-known Hebrew idiom. An idiom is a figure of speech – a type of hyperbole.
Mark 11:23 (NLT)
23 (Jesus says, “if you have this REAL FAITH in God”) I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.
In Bible times, a mountain was a well-known figure of speech for a problem that seemed insurmountable, and a mountain is still used today as a figure of speech for an insurmountable problem. And maybe you have a mountain like that in front of you that you don’t know how you’re ever going to get over. And casting that mountain into the sea is a word picture for completely removing that seemingly insurmountable problem.
So, here’s how real faith works. This mountain is an insurmountable obstacle to you. You can’t see any way around it. It consumes you. It stops you dead in your tracks. But, by real faith in who God IS in your life and in the good that God is at work for, you begin actually trusting God more than you trust the mountain – and you begin actually believing God more than you believe the mountain.
And by that ever-increasing trust and belief IN God, you begin living in increased confidence in God, in the increased peace of God, and in the increased power from God. All of which ultimately leads to that mountain being lifted up and cast into the sea.
Because by your real faith in God you give that insurmountable problem to the One who actually can lift up a mountain and throw it into the sea, and by your faith IN God, God will remove that problem one way or another, at one time or another.
But, remember, Jesus doesn’t say that it will happen how you want it to or that it will happen when you want it to. But he does promise it will happen.
And isn’t that having real faith in God? Not demanding God do it our way or in our time, but having real faith that God will take us through that seemingly insurmountable problem and he will bring us through it victoriously.
And then in the next verse, Jesus doubles down on the life-changing power of having real faith in God.
Mark 11:24 (NLT)
24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.
The word used for “pray” here, means to ask earnestly or with urgency. And the word for “believe” is the verb form of faith. This belief is faith in action. Jesus says IF you pray earnestly and with urgency, IF you put your faith into action, believing that you have already received what you’ve prayed for, it will be yours.
But, please listen. We cannot take this verse out of context and make it mean whatever we want it to mean. We can’t take this verse out of this immediate context and we can’t take this verse out of context of the whole Bible. Which means, this verse cannot be a magic incantation for you to get whatever you want.
Jesus is talking about a prayer that is based on completely trusting God and fully believing God and in line with the context of the full New Testament – which is praying according to the name of Jesus (meaning according to his character and nature), and praying in line with the will of God, which is what the prayer of real faith will seek.
And when you pray that prayer with this real faith, you can believe that you’ve already received what you prayed for.
And finally, there is one other condition for God hearing and responding to your prayer of real faith.
Mark 11:25 (NLT)
25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.”
Numerous times in the New Testament, God makes it clear the sin of unforgiveness breaks our fellowship with God and prevents God from forgiving us – not in the sense of salvation, but in a relational sense which is what these verses about real faith are all about.
So, Jesus calls out this particular sin, just like he does in a number of other places, to say “If you refuse to forgive others, then your Father in Heaven will refuse to forgive you.” In fact, some translations add a verse 26 here in Mark 11 quoting the words of Matthew 6:14-15. These are the first words after the Lord’s Prayer.
Matthew 6:14–15 (NLT)
14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.
15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
There are conditions to this “Prayer of Faith” and the one Jesus wants to make really clear is, “If you are holding unforgiveness against someone, the Bible says your relationship with God (in every way) is also on hold.”
We’ve done a ton of teaching on Divine Forgiveness. To hear what God has to say about this critical subject, search “Divine Forgiveness” in the search bar under “Teaching” on either the Calvary Chapel Nuevo or Word By Mail websites or on the phone app.
So, finally, how do we grow in this real faith? First, we walk with Jesus through this life just like the original Disciples did, and we allow Jesus to put us into real situations that require us to grow in our real faith, and then we do what Mark 11:22 says here: “Have faith in God.”
Always have faith.
Keep having faith.
Always be having faith in God.
And choose to have faith in God – no matter what you see, no matter what you feel, no matter what you think.
Have faith in God!!
And the more you have faith in God, the more you will have faith in God.
The more you trust God, the more you will trust God.
The more you believe God, the more you will believe God.
And the more your life will be transformed because of your real faith in God.
The faith we need to overcome the circumstances we face today
The faith we need to see God move in the midst of the situation we’re in today
We need real, life-transforming faith.
There is so much that the Bible says about faith. I use a digital library called LOGOS, and in my library, I have about 4,000 books. Of those 4,000 books, 700 of them have the word “Faith” in the title. So, I obviously cannot scratch the surface of the full spectrum of faith in this one message. All I can do is teach the verses before us, and through these verses encourage each of us to continue to grow in our real faith.
So, we left Jesus and the Disciples last week with the Disciples being shocked that the fig tree Jesus had cursed had actually withered and died.
This is Passion Week, about two days away from the arrest, and the cross is right there. After three and a half years, the Disciples are clearly amazed that Jesus cursing this fig tree actually worked. That’s a faith issue.
And Peter seems to speak for all the Disciples when we read the following in Mark 11:21.
Mark 11:21 (NLT)
21 Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you cursed has withered and died!”
He exclaimed! With an exclamation point! There’s obviously surprise in Peter’s voice. “Jesus, what you said to the fig tree – actually worked.”
And so, in the following verses, it seems Jesus is going to remind the Disciples of something he has been teaching them over and over again for three and a half years, and that is the need for us to have real, life-changing faith. Have you ever had Jesus do that for you? “Oh yeah, I forgot, Jesus. I forgot you are God. I forgot you are able. I forgot you know. I forgot you care.”
Well, the Disciple forgot that when Jesus speaks, something happens. And so, what he’s been teaching the Disciples for the last three and a half years – probably on a daily basis – he wants to remind them of. Here’s what it is. We have a desperate need for real, life-changing faith, faith that actually changes how we view things and what we expect from God.
Jesus is only a few days away from the cross here, and he’s been teaching the Disciples about having real faith since the first day he called them. Think about it. Jesus has been putting them in situations since the very beginning, forcing them into situations that caused them to have to grow in their real faith. Just like Jesus has been trying to teach us about having real faith since the first day he called us.
Since the day that you committed your life to Jesus Christ, he has been working to grow your faith in him. He has been. You exercise the faith he gave you, (Ephesians 2:8-9 says), to be saved, you receive salvation, and then it started. Then your path of faith, your journey of true faith started.
The Lord wants to grow your real faith right where you find yourself today. And the more difficult place you are in today, the more the Lord Jesus wants to grow your faith. The Lord wants to grow a life-changing, real faith in you right in the midst of your current situation. If you’re between a rock and a hard place, if you have a mountain in front of you, Jesus wants you to learn how to have real faith right there. It’s not intellectual. It’s not educational. It is relational in the sense of right where you’re at, right in the circumstance that you face, right in the situation, right there – Jesus wants your faith to grow. Right there. He wants us to grow in our real faith right in the midst of the situation that we find ourselves in.
The Disciples were just days away from facing their greatest faith test because Jesus was just days away from being arrested, falsely tried, and crucified. And everything is about to go differently than how they thought it was going to go and everything was about to go differently than how they thought it should go. And so, I think Jesus is using this moment to remind the Disciples (and us) of the power of real faith. Those kinds of days are coming when the rug is going to be pulled out, the foundations are going to be shaken, and we’ve got to have faith going into that. At the very least, we’ve got to be open to Jesus teaching us about real faith when we get there.
So again, in Mark 11:21, Peter says to Jesus, (basically), “It’s amazing that what you did to that fig tree actually worked.”
And then Jesus responds in Mark 11:22,
Mark 11:22 (NLT)
22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God.
The phrase, “have faith” is in my favorite Greek verb form. It is present, active imperative (tense, voice, mood).
Present means – You do it, you keep doing it and you always do it. If it’s in the present, then you keep on going.
Active means – This is your choice; this is your action to take. It means you choose to have faith; you choose to keep having faith, and you choose to always be having faith.
Imperative means – this is a command. Not a suggestion, not an encouragement. Having faith is a command from the Lord.
So, in two words, (in the Greek), Jesus says always have faith, and always keep having faith, and no matter what you see, or feel, or think, always be choosing to have faith – and having faith is not a suggestion, but instead, your Lord commands it.
So, how do we define this faith that Jesus is commanding us to always choose to have? Well, the faith that allowed you to receive salvation was you putting your trust and belief in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. And that is the Bible’s only method of salvation – you trusting and believing in who Jesus Christ IS.
Romans 6 explains that when you put your faith in Jesus Christ in this way (fully trusting and fully believing), that you become so identified with him that his payment for sin becomes your payment for sin. And if you don’t have payment for sin, you’ve got to pay for your sin yourself. So, you put your trust and faith in Jesus, you become so identified with him that his payment for sin becomes yours, it’s the only way the Bible says you can be saved.
Let me tell you the definition of faith (in Greek PISTIS), it is so simple. So, what would be the simplest way to explain this level of faith we’re calling real faith? Simply put, real faith is an ever-increasing trust and an ever-increasing belief. It’s simply an ever-increasing trust and belief in who God IS in YOUR life, in what God is doing in YOUR life, in what God is able to do in YOUR life. This is not a different kind of faith. This is a different level of faith. This is an ever-increasing faith and trust in God. You need more of that belief and trust. You need to trust God more. You need to believe God more. You need to choose to have faith more. And you need to act on your faith more.
And then, the thing that separates real faith from the self-centered, “get me what I want” faith that some preachers get rich selling, the thing that makes this faith real faith, are the next two words in verse 22.
Jesus says, Have faith in God! Real faith is faith – in God. Real faith is faith in who God IS and in what God is doing.
Real faith is not us trying to control God, trying to demand something from God, or trying to force God to do something. Real faith is a continual growth in us completely trusting and fully believing who God IS and what God is doing in our lives with a growing confidence that our God knows what is best and our God can bring about what is best in any situation. God can and God will bring about what is best for our good and for his glory right in the middle of the situation that we find ourselves in today.
Real faith is an ever-increasing trust and belief in God. It’s a faith that creates in us an ever-increasing confidence, and ever-increasing peace that comes from us knowing without a doubt that God is at work in our present situation – for our good and for his glory.
Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)
1 Faith . . . is the evidence of things we cannot see.
Evidence is what proves something in a courtroom and our real faith is the evidence. It’s what proves to us that God is at work for our good in our present situation. That is real faith. Again, Mark 11:22.
Mark 11:22 (NLT)
22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith - in God.
And then, Jesus gives us an example of this real faith, and he uses a well-known Hebrew idiom. An idiom is a figure of speech – a type of hyperbole.
Mark 11:23 (NLT)
23 (Jesus says, “if you have this REAL FAITH in God”) I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.
In Bible times, a mountain was a well-known figure of speech for a problem that seemed insurmountable, and a mountain is still used today as a figure of speech for an insurmountable problem. And maybe you have a mountain like that in front of you that you don’t know how you’re ever going to get over. And casting that mountain into the sea is a word picture for completely removing that seemingly insurmountable problem.
So, here’s how real faith works. This mountain is an insurmountable obstacle to you. You can’t see any way around it. It consumes you. It stops you dead in your tracks. But, by real faith in who God IS in your life and in the good that God is at work for, you begin actually trusting God more than you trust the mountain – and you begin actually believing God more than you believe the mountain.
And by that ever-increasing trust and belief IN God, you begin living in increased confidence in God, in the increased peace of God, and in the increased power from God. All of which ultimately leads to that mountain being lifted up and cast into the sea.
Because by your real faith in God you give that insurmountable problem to the One who actually can lift up a mountain and throw it into the sea, and by your faith IN God, God will remove that problem one way or another, at one time or another.
But, remember, Jesus doesn’t say that it will happen how you want it to or that it will happen when you want it to. But he does promise it will happen.
And isn’t that having real faith in God? Not demanding God do it our way or in our time, but having real faith that God will take us through that seemingly insurmountable problem and he will bring us through it victoriously.
And then in the next verse, Jesus doubles down on the life-changing power of having real faith in God.
Mark 11:24 (NLT)
24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.
The word used for “pray” here, means to ask earnestly or with urgency. And the word for “believe” is the verb form of faith. This belief is faith in action. Jesus says IF you pray earnestly and with urgency, IF you put your faith into action, believing that you have already received what you’ve prayed for, it will be yours.
But, please listen. We cannot take this verse out of context and make it mean whatever we want it to mean. We can’t take this verse out of this immediate context and we can’t take this verse out of context of the whole Bible. Which means, this verse cannot be a magic incantation for you to get whatever you want.
Jesus is talking about a prayer that is based on completely trusting God and fully believing God and in line with the context of the full New Testament – which is praying according to the name of Jesus (meaning according to his character and nature), and praying in line with the will of God, which is what the prayer of real faith will seek.
And when you pray that prayer with this real faith, you can believe that you’ve already received what you prayed for.
And finally, there is one other condition for God hearing and responding to your prayer of real faith.
Mark 11:25 (NLT)
25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.”
Numerous times in the New Testament, God makes it clear the sin of unforgiveness breaks our fellowship with God and prevents God from forgiving us – not in the sense of salvation, but in a relational sense which is what these verses about real faith are all about.
So, Jesus calls out this particular sin, just like he does in a number of other places, to say “If you refuse to forgive others, then your Father in Heaven will refuse to forgive you.” In fact, some translations add a verse 26 here in Mark 11 quoting the words of Matthew 6:14-15. These are the first words after the Lord’s Prayer.
Matthew 6:14–15 (NLT)
14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.
15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
There are conditions to this “Prayer of Faith” and the one Jesus wants to make really clear is, “If you are holding unforgiveness against someone, the Bible says your relationship with God (in every way) is also on hold.”
We’ve done a ton of teaching on Divine Forgiveness. To hear what God has to say about this critical subject, search “Divine Forgiveness” in the search bar under “Teaching” on either the Calvary Chapel Nuevo or Word By Mail websites or on the phone app.
So, finally, how do we grow in this real faith? First, we walk with Jesus through this life just like the original Disciples did, and we allow Jesus to put us into real situations that require us to grow in our real faith, and then we do what Mark 11:22 says here: “Have faith in God.”
Always have faith.
Keep having faith.
Always be having faith in God.
And choose to have faith in God – no matter what you see, no matter what you feel, no matter what you think.
Have faith in God!!
And the more you have faith in God, the more you will have faith in God.
The more you trust God, the more you will trust God.
The more you believe God, the more you will believe God.
And the more your life will be transformed because of your real faith in God.