Is this a promise we can claim?

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Is this a promise we can claim?

 
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lesterb
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Is this a promise we can claim?

Post by lesterb »

[bible]mat 21,21-22[/bible]

What do you see in this passage? Is this a promise we can claim?
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Josh
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Re: Is this a promise we can claim?

Post by Josh »

Jesus used a rhetorical style where he often made an extreme statement to make a point, such as telling us that we must hate our mother, father, wife, brother, etc. in order to be his disciple.

I think this is no different. His point is that faith can accomplish great things. Jesus was not trying to establish a principle that great faith is a good tool for engaging in mountaintop-removal mining.
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Heirbyadoption
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Re: Is this a promise we can claim?

Post by Heirbyadoption »

lesterb wrote:[bible]mat 21,21-22[/bible]
What do you see in this passage? Is this a promise we can claim?
Are you asking particularly about mountain moving, or that we are promised what we ask for in faith?
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silentreader
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Re: Is this a promise we can claim?

Post by silentreader »

lesterb wrote:[bible]mat 21,21-22[/bible]

What do you see in this passage? Is this a promise we can claim?
In context, He had just got done commanding the fig tree to wither, which was an unusual miracle for Him to perform in the course of His ministry. I don't know if this needs to be considered along with the two verses you quoted Lester?

Certainly we should consider
James 4:3English Standard Version (ESV)
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
and
1 John 5:14English Standard Version (ESV)
14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
in looking at these verses.

Miracles of faith are from the power and hand of God, so our prayer of faith needs to be within God's will to be effective. I'm not sure that moving literal mountains would fall within that category. Spiritual mountains, on the other hand...
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lesterb
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Re: Is this a promise we can claim?

Post by lesterb »

Heirbyadoption wrote:
lesterb wrote:[bible]mat 21,21-22[/bible]
What do you see in this passage? Is this a promise we can claim?
Are you asking particularly about mountain moving, or that we are promised what we ask for in faith?
I was thinking of v. 22 in particular...
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Hats Off
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Re: Is this a promise we can claim?

Post by Hats Off »

Yes, but not necessarily according to our timing and only if it fits His purposes. I remember a time when a young brother was dying from cancer. A group of his friends formed a round the clock prayer vigil, asking God to spare his life. I was not comfortable with that - will God respond like the unrighteous judge who answered the woman's petition so she would no longer bother him?
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RZehr
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Re: Is this a promise we can claim?

Post by RZehr »

Seems to me that is exactly the comparison we see in Luke 18. God/Judge and persistence may be rewarded.
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