Real Faith Determines the Right Priorities

Scripture Passage: Mark 11:22-25

"It's my liiiiiife, it's my life, it's my life" was the scream of a little girl. She was in the doctor's office and my sister-in-law was helping the nurse hold her as the doctor gave her a vaccination. She needed the vaccination to avoid a life-threatening illness. But what she wanted was to avoid the pain and get out of the doctor's office.

Life holds many such situations for you. There are a continual stream of choices to make. Your priorities determine the course you take in any given situation.

Q: As a Christian, is life a series of choices as well?

Your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:16, NIV)

Q: As a Christian, is your life on a predetermined course?

Psalm 139:16 indicates that God knows all of your days and every one of your choices.
Knowing something will happen is different than causing something to happen.
God has given us certain freedoms to choose within the context of His sovereign reign and will.
So you life is not predetermined, from your point of view. It is a steady stream of choices.

The Bible uses another word to talk about our priorities and the choices we make. It is the word "faith."

²²"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. ²³"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.²⁴Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." (Mark 11:22-25, NIV)

Main Point:

Faith is not a tool for your good pleasure but a trust relationship in God alone. This necessitates a change in your priorities because He becomes your priority.

Outline:

Faith in God is THE priority.
Faith is believing and continuing to believe in God.
Faith involves prayer and leaving the results to Him.

1. Faith in God is THE priority

Have faith in God," Jesus answered. (Mark 11:22, NIV)

Q: Can you have anything you want as a Christian - health, prosperity, a Rolls-Royce car?

Hmmm... this passage looks promising.
It seems to suggest that you can have whatever you want by faith and prayer. You need to be kind-hearted and forgive other people. But that is a small price to pay for getting whatever you want.
Jesus said this so it must be so, right?

If such talk makes you uncomfortable or angry, then your feelings are correct.

How is this for a definition of faith?

Faith is a force and words are the container of the force and through the force of faith one creates their own reality. ¹

There are quite a few self-professing "Christian Bible Teachers" that teach that faith is something that the Christian can use to:

Become healthy, wealthy, and wise
Turn away all negative events
Make your dreams come true

It sounds great and it is a very popular teaching. One man in South Korea has used this message to attract over 700,000 members into his church, not counting satellite churches planted in his country. This definition of faith is woven into the world-view of many teachers you see on television. Not all of them, but there are many.

Just who are these "word of faith" teachers?

For you and I, the names are not important. The names will change and the lies will be repackaged for each new generation. What is important is that you recognize the truth of what the Bible teaches regarding faith. Only in that way will you be able to discern whether one is teaching the Bible or their own fanciful doctrines. Only God's word will remain (Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 5:18).

As Jesus approached Jerusalem, He saw a fig tree and used it as a teaching tool regarding the people of Israel. It was a tree with leaves but no fruit (Mark 11:13). Furthermore, it was not the season for fruit to be growing. Nevertheless, Jesus cursed the fig tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again" (Mark 11:14, NIV). The next morning the disciples saw the fig tree withered and remembered Jesus' words. When they asked about this remarkable event, Jesus responded:

Have faith in God," Jesus answered. (Mark 11:22, NIV)

Q: What is the object of our faith?

God, who is the Creator of all and our Savior, the LORD Jesus Christ.

Q: What does it mean to have faith in God?

The word faith is from a Greek word indicating trust, conviction, or belief.
To trust in God means that He is the object of your trust. He is the One you trust, not yourself or your actions.
Trust in God is to trust in His wisdom, timing, power, love, and His will for you.

The health and wealth prosperity gospel is all about you. One popular teacher who was trained at a health and wealth gospel seminary now leads a non-profit ministry with more than $70 million in assets and over $10 million of that in cash reserves. In the wake of all that money, thousands of believers have been left absolutely crushed by their own lack of faith - because they are still poor, sick, and without any positive change in their circumstances. It is a popular teaching but one that is empty and devoid of the power to change lives for time and eternity.

God is THE priority for us. Your faith is to be in Him alone. Your faith in Him, living in a trust relationship with the Almighty God, results in His leading you through life.

But this priority on God changes your priorities in life.

Q: When God leads you to get married, a sacred institution given to us by God (Genesis 2:24-25), how do your priorities change?

You spend more time together than before.
You check with each other before doing things.
You work together to make plans and achieve them.
It is no longer "my life" but "our life."

Q: Why do you change your priorities when you get married?

Because your faith is in God - meaning you believe and trust Him - you submit to His word and His will.
Submission means you arrange yourself under His authority and care.
You do not have to worry or be concerned about it because God is the One with the wisdom, love, and power to care for you best.

2. Faith is believing and continuing to believe in God.

So how does trusting in God work for you? In verse 23, Jesus continues and introduces this teaching with "I tell you the truth," (NIV). This indicates something that is really, really important so pay attention!

"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. (Mark 11:23, NIV)

Q: Have you ever thrown a mountain into the sea?

No - why not?
Imagine the crowd I would draw if I announced to the media that next Saturday I was going to throw Stone Mountain into Lake Lanier.
This would be an extraordinary miracle and surely many people would listen to me share the good news of Jesus Christ after doing such a miracle.

If your "faith is a force and your words are a container of the force" then you should be able to move a mountain as easily as you change a light bulb. But that is simply not the nature of the faith that Jesus was teaching. It is not faith in your power or what you want but faith in God and what He wants.

The "mountain" is used figuratively here because what a life it would be for us in this world if people were tossing mountains all over the place! It is speaking of removing the large obstacles in your path. Jesus was speaking from or near the Mt. of Olives and it was a visual picture of what He was teaching. Depending on the direction the group was at the time, the Mt. of Olives could have been in their way to get to Jerusalem or to the Dead Sea. In any event, it was a huge obstacle to their journey.

Q: What causes you to doubt God?

Circumstances that do not change as you think they should change is the most common reason.
Tragedy strikes and causes you to question God's goodness and compassion.

Q: What is the role of faith when circumstances are bad and seem insurmountable?

If by faith you mean trusting and believing God, then you continue to trust and believe God.
By faith you live with peace, hope, and joy (the fruit of the Holy Spirit, Galatians 5:22-23) in the midst of difficulties no matter how bad they may be.

Q: What would you say to a friend who was going through a really difficult time?

A friend comes to you and says, "My husband just left me with no warning nor reason. Now I'm a single mother with two children and no job. How am I going to survive?

Faith is not a magic formula to turn reality into whatever you desire. It is a trust relationship with the One true and living God who loves and cares for you as no other (John 3:16; 1 John 4:8-9). In spite of the difficulties you face in life, faith in God can see you through it. But you must continue to trust, believe, and be convinced of God's wisdom, love, and power because some obstacles in life remain with you for a very long time.

3. Faith in God means believing Him and leaving the results to Him.

²⁴Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." (Mark 11:22-25, NIV)

The word, "therefore," indicates that faith also depends on prayer. The trust that you have in God prompts you to pursue a relationship with Him through prayer. There are two things Jesus points out that are needed in your prayers of faith: forgiveness of others and belief.

Q: Why is forgiveness of others so important in prayer?

Lack of forgiveness has incredible side effects for you: bitterness, stress, distraction, worry, etc.
Lack of forgiveness indicates a lack of gratitude for the complete forgiveness the LORD has already given to you.
It is impossible to relate properly to the LORD who is willing to forgive anyone of everything when you are unwilling to forgive someone of just one thing.

Q: Why is belief (faith) so important in prayer?

For one thing, God is not visible to us. If you are mouthing empty words to an invisible being, what is the point?
You come to the Creator and Sustainer of all things with a request. If you do not exercise faith in that request, to whom are you praying?
God will not share His glory with another. If you are asking in prayer without faith, you are essentially asking a false god for something. Our righteous God will not honor such a request.

Q: So if you believe you have whatever you ask for in prayer, then you can have whatever you want?

Remember, faith is in God - His wisdom, His agenda, His power, His timing.
Also, keep in mind that any verse of Scripture is never stand-alone. The Bible all hangs together as one. So if one verse is unclear, you must use other clear Scripture passages to help interpret the unclear one.

¹⁴This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. (1 John 5:14-15, NIV)

So you see in this verse that asking in prayer must be in line with God's will. Sometimes you may know God's specific will in a situation but many times you do not.

Q: What are some situations where you know God's specific will for you?

When tempted to engage in some immoral activity, you know God's specific will for you because righteousness is specifically taught in the God's word, the Bible.
Suppose you have told a lie to your boss to avoid getting in trouble. We are commanded to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). In this case, you have committed a sin and God is very specific about what the Christian should do in that situation.
When you have sinned against God (thinking/saying/doing what you should not, not thinking/saying/doing what you should), you know that God's will is that you repent and forsake such actions (Proverbs 29:18).
When you repent and ask for God's forgiveness, believe that you have received it because that is His will (1 John 1:9).

Q: What are some situations where you do not know God's specific will?

Perhaps a job opportunity presents itself. Maybe this is an open door from God. Then again, maybe it is a test that God wants you to examine and then pass up this opportunity.
I recall a situation where I ran into an old supervisor. He was excited to see me and asked what I was doing. He told me he had a job for me at my previous company. I struggled with what to do in prayer for several days. Was this God's will or not?
Finally I talked to my wife (Ephesians 5:21,28; 1 Peter 3:7). After a brief discussion with her, it was clear that this was not the direction the LORD wanted me to go. If you are married, decisions like this need to be made together - God desires an open, united relationship (Genesis 2:24-25).

You know God desires His best for you - He loves you (Exodus 34:6). Do you believe that God loves you and wants His best for you? Can you trust Him when circumstances are bad and do not change? This is the measure of your faith. Do not waver in your belief that God can do anything. "All things are possible with God" (Mark 10:27, NIV).

Prayer is not simply an "ask" but a receiving of fellowship, strength, direction, and resolve. And, yes, God does answer your prayers. In His time and in His way, He answers every prayer. It may be an immediate "Yes" or "No" but may also be a "Wait and see."

If you have a loving trust relationship with the LORD Jesus, then you can leave the results to Him.

Conclusion

Faith is not a tool for your good pleasure but a trust relationship in God alone. This necessitates a change in your priorities because He becomes your priority. When we walk by faith (in God alone), we prioritize His will over our own. We make the necessary adjustments to pursue the righteous path He desires.

It's what we trust in but don't yet see that keeps us going. (2 Corinthians 5:7, MSG)

End Notes

1. Christianity in Crisis: The 21st Century’ by Hank Hanegraaff. ChristianTelegraph.com. Retrieved 2/7/2010 from http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue5188.html.