Can Faith Really Move Mountains?

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Faith has been wonderfully described in the Bible, used by great people who loved God and would do anything and everything for him. Even Abraham, the father of faith, had such faith in God to the point of sacrificing his son (God intervened and blessed Abraham as the father of nations).

Faith in the gospel, which is accepting and trusting the one we cannot see, knowing that he died and rose and will come again — that is the faith of salvation in Christ Jesus, which every believer who has confessed Christ has received redemption for their souls.

Faith, as the gift of the Spirit, is another example of faith we have read and even seen; the apostle worked tremendously with this gift through the power of the Holy Spirit with signs following.

We have seen and read of the great miracles that seemed impossible but done by the Holy Spirit trough great evangelists of our time, both past and present because of their faith in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Faith to Move Mountains

Mountains come to us in diverse forms, such as obstacles, opposition, sickness, death, difficulty, impossibility, and insurmountable situations.

What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel, you will become level ground (Zechariah 4:7).

Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain (Isaiah 40:4).

The mountain here is not a literal mountain that we see as we drive through our hometown, this mountain is a figurative mountain as expressed above. Faith removes them from our way, it makes them plain and they become as nothing before us. For nothing can stand in the way of a man or woman of faith (Mark 11:23; Matthew 21:21).

Jesus was telling the disciples, who were marveled because the fig tree dried up, that even this mount, the Mount of Olives if you say to it be thou cast into the sea, it will literally be cast into the sea because you believe it can be done.

Why? Because we have faith, that whatever we say believing shall be done. Just as we believe that Jesus is the Savior. So, therefore, no matter how little our faith is, even if it is as small as a mustard seed, inasmuch it has the backing of faith as we make our declarations, it will be, just as we say it should.

That is why speaking and praying in faith is important for us as believers, we are not just ordinary people, Christ says whatever you believe it shall be established unto you, the Matthew Henry’s commentary puts it better.

Whosoever shall say to this mountain, this Mount of Olives, be removed and cast into the sea. If he has but any word of God, general or particular to build his faith upon, and if he shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he said, according to the warrant he has from what God hath said, shall come to pass, he shall have whatever he said through the strength and power of God in Christ Jesus, the greatest difficulty shall be gotten over and the thing shall be effected.

Buttressing on this, Jesus went further in verse 24 telling them of the importance of believing while making a request in prayer, and Hebrews 11 tells of how men and women of old used faith to move obstacles seen and unseen.

Seemingly Unmovable Mountains

We have been able to discuss faith as it applies to salvation and also as the gift of the spirit; we have also seen how faith no matter how small can move mountains, figurative mountains or literal mountains.

How then does our faith move mountains?

Having identified your mountain (mountains in the form of difficulty, failure, and sickness, etc.). Anything you can think of that serves as an obstacle to enjoying the best life God has for you, how then can you exercise your faith in moving them.

Using Matthew 17:14-21, the disciples could not cast out the demon, and then Jesus pointed out some factors that hindered them:

• Unbelief; lack of faith
• Payers
• Fasting
• *And I add, to be deeply rooted in the Word

Having these we can move any form of the mountains, which was buttressed in Matthew 17:21 because most times, as recorded in 2 Corinthians 10:4, the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. They have divine power to demolish strongholds.

Most of the time our unbelief restricts the manifest power of God in our lives, it is because of our unbelief that we bring little to pass if you have but a grain of true faith, though little as mustard seeds, you shall speak and it shall stand.

Note, an active faith can remove mountains, not of itself, but in the form of a divine power engaged by a divine promise (Word of God), both of which faith fastens upon.

Jesus, in all his teachings, always taught his disciples the importance of faith and why they needed to be in faith, any time his disciples fell short of this, he would ask, “Where is your faith? You faithless generation?” (Luke 8:25; Mark 9:19; Mark 4:40; Matthew 14:31).

But to anyone who shows his or her faith, he would commend, like the woman with the issue of blood (Matthew 15:28), the Centurion (Luke 7:1-10), etc. This shows that when we apply our faith to our difficulties, God is always pleased because this shows we trust in him to make all impossibilities possible.

What Does This Mean?

Fear, doubt, unbelief, and prayerlessness hinders the working wonders of faith in our lives, whenever we show the above, we are saying, “God, this situation is bigger than you, you just cannot solve this,” forgetting that he is the God of all possibilities.

Trusting in God is leaving all to him in faith, knowing that everything will work out just fine for you. But that does not mean we should not do our own part, for faith without works is dead.

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Jolaade Olatunbsoun is an experienced Christian writer, having written for clients, local churches, and youth fellowship. Jolaade’s focus is on expounding biblical passages and expressing God’s love through writing. Her writing infuses faith into daily life, helping readers grow in the knowledge and love of God and His words. Desiring to help people understand the Bible, maximize their potential, and have a deeper fellowship with God, Jolaade develops content for Sunday school materials, Christian material for books, devotionals, eBooks, articles, short stories, and poems. Her blog may be found here. 

This article originally appeared on Christianity.com. For more faith-building resources, visit Christianity.com.