Devotion:
For an audio version of this devotion, click here.
Read Mark 11:12-19.
On Monday morning, Jesus saw a fig tree without any fruit on it as he was leaving Bethany for Jerusalem. He cursed the tree, saying that no one would ever eat of its fruit again. Without further explanation, one might assume that Jesus is teaching a lesson about bearing fruit, but it was not the season for the tree to be bearing figs. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, liked to say that “Scripture teaches Scripture,” and that is certainly true here. In Mark 11:20-26, we learn that the apostles discovered the fig tree completely withered the next morning. When they pointed that out to Jesus, he told them to have faith in God.
Matthew 21:18-22 tells this story also with the same lesson…have faith, and we can do things even greater than causing a fig tree to wither. I have been guilty at times of praying without really believing that God would do what I was asking, and that is the wrong way to pray! Jesus says that we are to pray, believing we have already received that for which we are asking.
Personal Worship Option:
Almighty God, help me increase my faith. I confess that I pray sometimes without really believing you will answer. Help me to know you always answer and to see that is true even when the answer is different from my request. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment