And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Mark 11:22-24 KJV
And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, 15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. 16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. 18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. 19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. Matthew 17:14-21 KJV
1. Mustard Seed Faith – small, little.
a. Faith as big as a mustard seed – the smallest of seeds.
b. Speak to the mountain – Mark 11:23; Matthew 17:20
c. This kind cometh not out, but by prayer and fasting – Matthew 17:21
2. The Gift of Divine Grace – The Story of the One-Eyed Shoemaker.
a. The unabridged writings of Marco Polo – a story from a province of Persia (Iraq) in the thirteenth century.
b. Approximately 100,000 Christians lived and worked in this area – many were wealthy. A Saracen Caliph, who came to power in 1225, sought continually to convert, dispossess, and/or kill the Christians. He found the passage where Jesus said that if you have faith like a mustard seed you can move a mountain. He told the Christian to move the mountain or be considered reprobates and killed. He gave them ten days.
c. The Christians were afraid for their lives, but confident that Jesus could deliver them, so they all began to fast and to implore God’s mercy. After eight days of fervent prayer, a pious Bishop had a divine revelation that a certain one-eyed shoemaker had the divine grace to move the mountain.
d. He was one-eyed because he took his own eye out based on the scripture in Mark 9:47 (KJV) “And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.”
e. When the day came, the Caliph had men standing by to kill the Christians, for he that was sure that they would fail. The Christians came, carrying the cross before them. The one-eyed shoemaker prayed to His Creator to show His compassion to them, and for the glory and excellency of His Name, and for the support and confirmation of the Christian faith, that He would lend assistance to His people to accomplish this task, and in so doing, manifest His power to the revilers. Then, in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost he commanded the mountain to move. There was a great earthquake and the mountain moved!
f. The Caliph and his men were struck with terror, and remained in a state of stupefaction. The Caliph secretly converted to Christianity. He wore a cross under his garments, which they found when he died, so he was not buried with his predecessors.
3. Fasting and Prayer Today
a. Acts 13:1-13 – verse 3: “And when they had fasted and prayed…”
b. The wrong reasons to fast – Isaiah 58:3-5
c. The right reasons to fast – Isaiah 58:6-12
d. How to conduct yourself while fasting – Matthew 6:17-18
e. Not like the hypocrites – Matthew 6:16
4. Fasting Positions You to Hear from God and to Receive Answered Petitions, Without Delay or Hindrance.
a. Come in faith – Hebrews 11:6
b. When you fast, come to God on the basis of His word.
c. Don’t wait only for emergencies before you pray and fast.
Psalms 84:7a KJV “They go from strength to strength…”
Romans 1:17 KJV “…the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith…”
2 Corinthians 3:18 KJV “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
d. Three days
e. Read the word and pray. You can pray the prayers laid out in Ephesians.
f. Set goals and objectives – write down what you are believing for.
g. Do not boast or be like a religious Pharisee.
h. Keep your motives pure.
5. Method
a. One to three days
b. Liquids – water, pure juice, broth. Avoid tea and coffee.