Just believe, and you will receive?

Matthew 21: 18 - 21 NIV
18 Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.

20 When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.

21 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

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This morning, I posted a critical review of Joel Osteen's book, "Break Out", that points out significant twisting and misquoting of scripture and some serious false teachings. A brother who probably felt uncomfortable with the review asked me what was so wrong about Joel's teachings, particularly the one about believing and receiving. He referred to the account in Matthew chapter 21 above and pointed out to me the simple lesson:

If you have faith ---> No doubt ---> Say --->it will be done.

I have read the passage from Matthew 21 many times over the last 30 years, and I have always wondered what our Lord Jesus meant in 21:21, "If you have faith, and not doubt, you can do what was done to the fig tree . . ."

A similar verse is found in Mark 11:24, ". . . whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

I'd like to point out several observations about this verse:

Firstly, this was the only incident recorded in the Gospels ( Matthew 21:18-22; Mark 11:12-14 and 11:20-25) where our Lord commanded a fig tree never to bear fruit again. He did not go everywhere commanding other trees, mountains, rivers, rocks, to wither, move into the sea, dry up or break open etc throughout the three years of His ministry. It was only that one particular single special incident and I think this special incident was done to teach the disciples one single unique lesson.

Secondly, this unique lesson is found in the last verse of the passage, Matt.21:22 and also in Mark 11: 24. Both of these verses DO NOT say

"If you have faith, say it, it will be done". 

Instead, the verses say,

"If you believe, ask for it in prayer, you will  receive it" 

Many people read this passage and ignore the "prayer" part. Our believing must be carried out as part of our praying, not just believing alone.

Thirdly, there is one more part to this special lesson for the disciples which is not recorded in Matthew 21:22 but is recorded in Mark 11:24, 25. Please let me quote below:

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

Yes, believing alone is not enough. We must also forgive others who have done wrong against us. If not, our Heavenly Father will not forgive us. And if God does not forgive us, He will not answer our prayers. In that case our believing will be no use at all.

Fourthly, a similar teaching is also found in the letter of Hebrews. In Hebrews 11:6, we read that anyone who comes to God must believe that God IS (i.e. God exists) and that God rewards those who seek Him earnestly.

From this verse, we can see the complete meaning of Jesus' words in Matt. 21:22, "If you believe . . .". It means our believing is not just about something we want to see happen. Instead, it is about our genuine, honest, sincere trust in God our Father. We Christians are powerful people because we trust in the Only True God who really exists and who really rewards us when we seek him with all our hearts.

Finally, in the letter of James, the brother of our Lord Jesus, we can learn one more teaching that helps us understand Matt.21:21 better. It is the teaching that we must not boast about what we plan to do.

James 4: 13-16 NIV
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

Here, we see that we must be careful not to boast about tomorrow. We must not say "I believe my business will expand, I believe my money will increase, I believe, I believe . . ." After all, our Lord Jesus did not go around believing and saying various things to all kinds of trees, mountains, rivers, stones or sea! He commanded only ONE fig tree to stop bearing fruit in all his years of ministry.

Conclusion:
Our Lord Jesus' teaching in Matthew 21:18-22 is a single special lesson to teach his disciples to believe God when they pray. This believing in prayer can only be carried out if we are willing to forgive others, so that God will also forgive us of our sins. It also requires believing that God really exists, that God really rewards us when we seek him.

Furthermore, we must be careful not to boast about tomorrow. Instead, we must say in our believing hearts, "If it is the will of the LORD, then I will . . ."

Yes, if it is the will of God our Father, then we can move mountains into the sea. Perhaps in our lifetime of 50, 60 or 70 years we may move only one small mountain, or maybe none at all.

Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, let us believe God when we pray.