“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 that what they say will happen, it will be done for them." - Jesus (Mark 11:23)
One day Jesus was walking outside Jerusalem with his disciples. He was hungry, and went to look for something to eat. He saw a fig tree in the distance. When he approached the tree, He saw that there was no fruit on it. Jesus spoke to the tree and said, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”
The next morning, the disciples were walking with Jesus outside Jerusalem. Along their way, they saw the barren 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.
Jesus taught many Kingdom principles via the withered fig tree; however, the one we are focusing on today is that by saying and believing what Jesus tells us to say, there is power in Jesus to dictate to and radically change things; natural and super natural.
The day after The Lord spoke withering to a fig tree, He exhorts us to speak to the mountains we face in our lives. Jesus is telling us to follow His example, and speak to our mountains of impossibility, and command them in His Name to be removed, and be cast into the sea of no longer.
Say Amen!
Jesus begins His "Speak to the Mountain" exhortation with, "Truly I tell you." The word "truly" at the beginning of this Verse is the Greek word, "amen". It means to apply what is said to our lives and situations of life, to reckon as already have been accomplished, and to make the substance of what is said our own. It is the opposite of the old wives tale, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch." NO! Come into agreement with God's Word and say, "Amen!". Say, "Amen" at the beginning, AND at the end. It is way to join our faith with The Word of God from the very beginning of anything; essentially to say to God, whatever You say, I will take into my life as truth, and will apply it for Your Glory.
Whoever Speaks
Tragically, most Christians have bowed down to the woke/cancel culture’s demand to be silent and sidelined, and many churches promote quiet pacifism. But neither are what God calls us to. Instead, The Lord calls us to speak with Godly conviction, power, and authority. In fact, the Greek word for "speak" is "lego", which means to exhort, affirm over, command, direct, point out with words, intend, call by name, speak out, or boast. The implication is to apply Godly force to our situations, for His glory, and for His Kingdom, with our spoken words.
The notion borders on Godly defiance of and taunting our mountains with The Word of God. Since He is His Word, by obeying and saying The Word of God to our mountains, we are invoking God Himself to battle for us. That's why The Word says, "the battle belongs to The Lord." It's why The Word says The Kingdom of God (Mt 11:12) advances forcefully, and why the fervent prayers of a righteous man avail much.
In 1 Samuel 17:45-47, David spoke forcefully to the mountain called Goliath. David said to him, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. “This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. “Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give you into our hands.” The result was a decapitated and humiliated Goliath, an annihilated Philistine army, a victory for God's Glory, and a kingship for David.
At a noon showdown (1 Kings 18) between Elijah's God Jehovah, and an evil Baal god - confronting a mountain of evil, its prophets, and its god - Elijah taunted the evil. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he (your Baal god) is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” In God annointed speaking, the Kingdom of God advanced as the Baal prophets were annihilated.
Following God's instruction, the people of God shouted victory to the walls of Jericho,. The walls collapsed, and following His command, God's people plundered the city and it's people. (Joshua 6:20)
Do you need some Goliaths to fall? Do you need some evil coming against you to be annihilated? Do you need some walls to fall and the plunder that's behind them to come into your possession? Do you need some control over what has been controlling you? If the answer is yes, submit to Jesus' exhortation, and speak to those mountains in The Name of Jesus.
Speak TO..... THIS MOUNTAIN
It cannot be a coincidence that The Lord commanded us to speak to a mountain. What is unique about a mountain? A mountain is massive, immovable, and daunting. A mountain blocks the light, casts a great shadow, creates its own turbulence, and stands between you and and your destiny. Some mountains are so towering and enormous that they cannot be scaled or journeyed around. They must not only be moved, they must be be removed, which is exactly what Jesus told us to say to the mountain, "Be removed!".
It is also interesting that Jesus said to speak to "this" mountain. The Greek word for "this" is "touto"; referring to a specific person or thing. I believe The Lord is telling us to speak very specifically to our mountains of sins, dysfunctional relationships, addictions, ugly family histories, thought patterns, lacks and shortfalls, failures, disappointments, hardships, abuses, illness, etc. that stand between us and our God ordained destinies.
Lastly, The Lord exhorts to speak TO the mountain. The perspective we speak from "TO", is key, suggesting that in Jesus' Name, we have authority over the mountain. If we speak from WITHIN the mountain, it is surrounding us. If we speak AROUND the mountain, we may be pretending it does not exist. If we speak from ON the mountain, we are too close to it. If we speak from UNDER the mountain, we are obscured by it. If we speak ABOUT the mountain, we may be adding to its size. Jesus exhorts us to speak TO the mountain.
"Mountain, Be removed!"
The first thing Jesus tells us to say to our maintain is, "Be removed!". The Greek word for remove is "airo"; meaning to elevate, lift up, raise from the ground, raise upwards, take upon one's self and carry, bear away what has been raised, move from its place, take off or away what is attached to something, to appropriate what is taken, take by force, to take from among the living by natural death or violence, cause to cease, to weigh anchor, put away, to loose.
Whatever your mountain is, it is heavy and has been there a long time. By its very presence it has been blocking your access to light, destiny, and freedom. Jesus tell us to acknowledge the weighty and active influence the mountain has had in our lives, and then to forcefully render its influence null and void; by first dislodging it, then removing it, and then casting it into the sea.
"Mountain, Be cast into the sea!"
The next thing Jesus tells us to say to our mountain is, "Be cast into the sea!". The Greek word for "cast" is "ballo", meaning to violently throw a thing without caring where it falls, giving over care about the result. Our mountains of dysfunction not only need to be dislodged, moved, and removed; they must be violently thrown into the sea of forgetfulness.
God partners with us in our mountain victories. Micah (Micah 7:19) says, "He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. He casts all our sins into the depths of the sea."
Don't doubt. Believe in your heart!
In addition to speaking, there is another condition for our mountains to be removed. That condition is refraining from doubting. The Greek word for "doubt" is "diakrino", meaning to desert, be at variance with oneself, or to separate oneself in a hostile spirit. In other words, to doubt is to desert and separate from the Truth, to put yourself at hostile odds with yourself.
The opposite of doubting is believing. The Greek word for "believe" is "pisteou"; meaning to place confidence and trust in a moral prerogative of law and soul; to trust in God at His Word for attaining or doing something. The believing, the deeply internalized conviction, must take place in your heart; the epicenter of your being and soul.
There is a spiritual law connecting our heart and mouth. The Word in Luke 6:45 teaches us that, "out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." If there is an abundance of belief in our heart, it will overflow into our speech. The opposite is also true.
Sometimes my belief is so strong that it naturally overflows into bold, circumstance changing statements of faith for healing, prophecy, or exhortation. Other times I am frustrated with my struggling search for that same deep faith. In those times I am reminded of the man who brought his demon possessed boy to the disciples for deliverance (Mark 9:14-29). When they were unsuccessful, the man took his son to Jesus. The father said to Jesus, "if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Jesus was astonished at the man's lack of faith, and said, “ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” The boy's father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Jesus had compassion on the father and son, and healed the boy. Whatever belief the man had, placed in the Hands of God, was sufficient for a supernatural and natural healing. Like that man, I often pray, "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief."
What you SAY will happen. It will be done for you.
If it wasn't clear enough already, The LORD reminds us again that what we SAY will happen. It's not enough to think it, to wish it, or to hope it. We have to SAY it. What we SAY will happen; not because of our own doing it, but because God blesses our obedience and does it for us. He lovingly looks to hear us and see us in obedience, and He comes to our aid and blesses us.
Once I learned this teaching, I have obeyed and believed Jesus, and spoken to mountains that have been dislodged, removed, and cast into the sea of no more. There was a mountain of my family of origin dysfunction - comprised of abuse, licentiousness, deceit, mental illness, criminality, sexual perversion, and hypocrisy - that by the grace of God has been dislodged, removed, and cast into the sea of no more. There was a mountain comprised of manipulation, control, and anger within me that has been dislodged, removed, and cast into the sea of no more.
Sometimes someone else made the mountain(s). We have to forgive them, and speak to the mountain(s). Sometimes we made the mountain(s). We have to confess our sin, repent, forgive ourselves, and speak to the mountain(s).
PRAYER
Please be very specific in naming and acknowledging the mountain, it's composition, and weight. If it's not clear, ask The HOLY SPIRT to reveal it and name it. If someone else established the mountain, renounce what they did, and forgive them. If you established the mountain, confess it, renounce it, ask The Lord to forgive you, forgive yourself, and repent. Then, pray along these lines.
"Mountain of ______________. In Jesus Name, you do not and will not stand between me and my God appointed future and destiny. In Jesus Name, be dislodged, removed, and cast into the sea of no more. Lord, I believe. Please help my unbelief, and fill it in until I have it. Amen in The Name of Jesus."
The mountains could be themselves and could be comprised of many different elements. Those mountains are often themselves and are often comprised of the following historical family dysfunctions - abuse, sexual perversion, cover up, deceit, idol worship, contention, conflict, dysfunctional relationships, addiction, gambling, theft, failure, poverty, control, manipulation, magic, occult involvement, and/or violence. Those sins often are accomplices in our own mountains of unGodly thought patterns, strongholds, and the like.
NOTES
1. When the disciples were in the middle of a severe storm on Lake Galilee, Jesus spoke to the storm, and it immediately stilled. When a soldier asked Jesus to heal his daughter, Jesus spoke healing to her, and she was healed. In Genesis, Jesus spoke the earth and heavens into existence.
