Move That Mountain!

Day 20 MOVE THAT MOUNTAIN!

 FAITH MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO “MOVE MOUNTAINS”

GOD’S WORD: “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. ” (Matthew 17:20-21, NIV)

REFLECTION-DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. Would Jesus describe me personally as a man or woman of “little faith” or “big faith”? 2. What is the significance of Jesus’ comparing “little faith” to that of a mustard seed? 3. What are some “mountains” I really need to move by faith in order to become fully victorious in my spiritual life? 4. When were some times when I feel like I really saw some significant “mountains move” by faith? 5. How might fasting help me, in a powerful way, to develop “mountain moving faith”?

 FASTING MAY “INSPIRE FAITH & PATIENCE” BEFORE THE MOUNTAIN MOVES

GOD’S WORD: I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting. When my prayers returned to me answered, I went about mourning as though for my friend or brother. I bowed my head in grief as though weeping for my mother. (Psalm 35:13-14, NIV)

REFLECTION-DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. Why was David “feeling so much grief” when he wrote this particular psalm? 2. How does David tie together spiritual grief with the ancient “symbols of mourning with fasting”? 3. What did David mean by saying he was mourning in the same way he would “for a dear friend or close brother”? 4. What is the significance of David’s saying that his spiritual grief was like a “dependent child weeping for his mother”? 5. How might “mourning and grief” become like tall mountains to move for which I might choose to fast?

GOD’S WORD: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. (Hebrews11:1- 2, NIV)

REFLECTION-DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. What would it really mean for me to acknowledge that my faith is “being sure and certain”? 2. How can I wholeheartedly “hope” for something I cannot see, claim something certain when it seems to be so uncertain from the perspective with which I am seeing things in a moment of time? 3. How can I possibly be “certain” of what I cannot experience as tangible even when it seems intangible? 4. If Hebrews chapter 11 were being written today, “whom do we know personally” we might feel would or should be mentioned on the list of examples of those with great faith in the Lord throughout all ages of divine history? 5. What do I feel it might take for my own personal faith to qualify me so I could “make the list” of the faith heroes? GOD’S WORD: God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” R Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. (Hebrews 13:7, NIV)

REFLECTION-DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. How might choosing to fast relate to the desire to focus my confidence on the eternal promise of the Lord: “I will never leave or forsake you”? 2. How did Jesus, my Chief Shepherd, “model the greatest faith,” even during his times of fasting and total dependence upon his Father? 3. Can I see great spiritual power in the “teaching and examples of our pastors” and other spiritual leaders in the congregation? 4. What is the main reason for my being able to have just “as strong a faith as the many earlier saints of the Lord” mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11?

 PERSISTANT “PRAYER OFTEN INSPIRES PATIENCE” WITH GODLY POWER

GOD’S WORD: Since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you & asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14, NIV)

REFLECTION-DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. In the place of great hunger for food, “with what filling should I be praying” for myself and for all my fellow-believers? 2. Do I often or seldom keep praying “until the filling comes” both for myself and others? 3. What do these terms mean: “filled with the knowledge of his will, spiritual wisdom and understanding”? 4. For what kind of spiritual work might this kind of “filling” equip me? 5. How important might this kind of spiritual filling be for me in order to become “strong in the Lord’s power and might”? 6. How might really sincere fasting and prayer help me “grow in great endurance and patience”? 7. What things has the Lord already done for me which should deeply “inspire me with great patience with godly power”?