DAY 12: Mustard Seed Faith

Scripture: Matthew 17:20

Key Verse: 20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, 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.”

Spiritual B3

Your heart is what makes the difference, when it comes to belief. Listen to what Jesus says in Mark 11:22-24, “So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. ²³ For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. ²⁴ Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” 

When you combine the above verses with the explanation that Jesus gives the disciples in our key verse, you discover the difference maker: when you have faith not in yourself—but in God, and when that faith takes hold and grows—in your heart! If you get nothing else when it comes to belief, please get these two points: 1) you can have supernatural belief when you stop making it about you and start making it about God, and 2) when your faith and belief grow out of a heart for God anything is possible! The connecting thread that weaves these two truths together—is God. The God thread helps to answer the question I always hear, “Does the Bible really mean, ‘Nothing will be impossible, and I can have ‘whatever I ask in prayer?” Before you begin misapplying this Biblical principle, ask yourself, “does what I am praying and asking for have anything to do with God and can I find anything in the Bible that supports it?” If it does, I have great news for you: ask, believe and you shall receive. 

This is a difficult concept to accept for most people, which is why we don’t see more healings, miracles, signs, and wonders the way God has shown me God wants His people to see them. On my journey from recovery to spiritual rediscovery two concepts took hold in my heart. First, if Jesus needed healings, miracles, signs and wonders to confirm His word and draw people to God, how do we expect to do the same without doing what He did? Maybe that’s why there has been a great falling away from the church, because there is no evidence and confirmation that Jesus can make a difference not just in the afterlife for salvation, but in this life as well. 

Second (as we’ll learn more about in Week 4), what good father or parent who had it in their power and ability to do anything beneficial for their child, would just arbitrarily choose not to do it? Especially when that child is doing the right thing, being obedient through submission, and advancing the Father’s plans and purposes as outlined in the Word of God. We don’t serve a God who would deny us the petitions of our sincere hearts just because He can. Think on that for a minute and begin to cast out any spirit that would make you think otherwise, because that is the spirit of unbelief and doubt that defeat you before you even get started on the journey! Hear me when I tell you, if I be a man of God, God is about to expose the false teachings and false teachers who have crippled the belief capacity of His children, because God is (metaphorically) sick to His stomach at the gross levels of unbelief that run so rampant in His church because in this critical hour His namesake is on the line! 

Three quick points I learned on my journey about the power of “faith as small as a mustard seed.” 

First, you must consciously plant the seed in the soil of your heart for it to grow, or else you are simply fooling yourself. You must name and identify that seed, open the soil of your heart and deposit that seed, then cultivate and protect that seed through prayer, meditation, and speaking the Word of God in affirmation. 

Second, just like we do not fully understand how seeds planted in the ground grow into fruits, vegetables, vines, herbs, plants, or trees—you don’t have to know how, just know that it will. In my experience trying to figure out the how was a waste of time and a subtle tactic of the enemy to sow doubt and disbelief in my heart. Again, you don’t have to know how, just know that He will! Just know that in the soil of our heart those seeds go through God’s supernatural growth process— underground and out of sight for a season. Then one day, that seed which has undergone a supernatural growth explosion underground and out of sight burst onto the grand stage of manifestation for you and all the world to behold the majesty and splendor of God’s growth process. 

Finally, refer to Matthew 13:31-32 for Jesus’ description, but as I mentioned in Day 11, the only thing that grows fast are the weeds of doubt and deception, not the tall trees of faith and belief. Even in our primary story of study, the boy’s father had sown seeds of belief that took time to come to full fruition. God has revealed to me, that many people don’t make it past this part of the journey because they grow impatient rather than protecting, nurturing, and cultivating that seed of belief! I pray that is not your story, but today you will make a conscious decision that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living through belief in Jesus’ name!

CPR Kit for the Soul:

• Centering Theme: Unless I’m being selfish or insecure, when I have the power, resources, and ability to do things for the people I love—don’t I do it? If I know how to do that, wouldn’t God do the same? 
    
• Prayer Topic: The soil of your heart and asking God for the strength to trust that although you can’t immediately see it, believe that God’s supernatural explosion of growth is happening right now!
  
• Reflection Thought: Do I want to live a life surrounded by the weeds of quick things, or access the forest of faith which is full of the tall trees of belief?

T3 Prayer Booster:

• Dear Lord, please open my eyes to see that it’s not about me, it’s all about belief in You.
  
• Lord, open my heart for seeds of faith to be sown, grant me the patience to trust what I can’t see.
  
• Father God through prayer, meditation, and reflection, please expose the weeds of unbelief that have been sown in the spiritual garden of my life and have attempted to choke the life out of the spiritual fruits You desire to grow out of my heart! 

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