{"id":2459,"date":"2015-10-02T06:29:08","date_gmt":"2015-10-02T10:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/?p=2459"},"modified":"2015-09-28T06:29:20","modified_gmt":"2015-09-28T10:29:20","slug":"prayer-as-speaking-to-the-mountain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2015\/10\/prayer-as-speaking-to-the-mountain.html","title":{"rendered":"Prayer as Speaking to the Mountain"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIf you say to this mountain\u2026\u201d<\/i> (Mark 11:23)\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

There is something odd about some of Jesus\u2019 prayers: They are not \u201cprayers\u201d in a literal sense. They are directives aimed not toward God but toward situations or objects in the world. Once you see this, you see it everywhere in the Gospels. Mmm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And Jesus isn\u2019t alone. Evidently Jesus apprenticed his followers to leverage the same process. In Acts 3, Peter and John heal a lame man by saying to the man, \u201cIn the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.\u201d<\/i> They are directing Jesus\u2019 authority \u2013 that\u2019s what \u201cName\u201d in the Bible represents \u2013 right at the broken condition in this man\u2019s body. And with those words they reach down and pull the man to his feet and he begins to dance and run about.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This kind of authority-word is sometimes called a \u201cprayer of faith\u201d <\/i>(James 5:15). It seems bold, even presumptive to us. Yet we are to \u201cbe like Jesus,\u201d which we must accept means doing life the way he did life. We are to exercise this kind of boldness in our everyday existence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You may be tempted to say, \u201cWell, that was for Jesus and his all star team of disciples, not me.\u201d Honestly, that\u2019s what we all imagine. I can pray and ask something of God, but do I have the audacity to be directive, to speak \u201cto\u201d a situation that is not as God intends it, and instruct \u201cit\u201d to change? Crazy as it seems, it\u2019s Biblical. Take a look through the Gospels at Jesus\u2019 encounters and note how often he uses human words to solve a problem in this way. If I\u2019m going to be his apprentice, then I must mimic his M.O.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0What does this look like here and now?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Using the grid we learned from the Lord\u2019s Prayer, \u201con earth as it is in heaven,\u201d<\/i> audit the challenges you are facing now. Is there a physical hurdle you are facing, health perhaps? Is there a financial barrier? Is there something you know is an attack of the enemy? Is there cloudiness in your thinking or bondage in your emotions? If you see something out of order then take up Jesus\u2019 challenge and humbly \u201csay to this mountain\u2026\u201d<\/i> be \u201con earth as it is in heaven!\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

User warning: <\/i>You may feel shy about this, as if you are trespassing into strange territory. Press on! You have been made an \u201cAmbassador of Christ\u201d<\/i> (II Cor. 5:20), and with that assignment, God\u2019s word in your mouth is as God\u2019s word in His. Be bold. Be humble. Be-lieve!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIf you say to this mountain\u2026\u201d (Mark 11:23)\u00a0 There is something odd about some of Jesus\u2019 prayers: They are not \u201cprayers\u201d in a literal sense. They are directives aimed not toward God but toward situations or objects in the world. Once you see this, you see it everywhere in the Gospels. Mmm.\u00a0 And Jesus isn\u2019t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,7,4,25,3,1],"tags":[859,1389,764,810,1388,1096],"class_list":["post-2459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-bible-prayer","category-daily-prayer","category-god","category-jesus","category-prayer","category-uncategorized","tag-emotions","tag-enemy-attack","tag-financial-trouble","tag-health","tag-mountain","tag-moving-mountains"],"yoast_head":"\nPrayer as Speaking to the Mountain<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2015\/10\/prayer-as-speaking-to-the-mountain.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Prayer as Speaking to the Mountain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cIf you say to this mountain\u2026\u201d (Mark 11:23)\u00a0 There is something odd about some of Jesus\u2019 prayers: They are not \u201cprayers\u201d in a literal sense. 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