When I began to study prayer in earnest – particularly Christian prayer – there was a passage that I found simultaneously inspring and vexing. It was the so-called move mountains lesson in the New Testament (Mark 11:23). Jesus – having cleansed the temple of those who bought and sold there – is teaching his disciples about the power of prayer. It can do anything, he assures them, and the measure of their faith in it shall be the measure of its power.
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. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
There is no equivocation in this passage. Jesus is making a promise about the effect of prayer. It doesn’t matter what we ask for – how big, how little. If our faith is strong, then it shall be done for us precisely as we ask.
The disciples don’t buy it. They are still amazed that the fig tree cursed by Jesus en route to Jerusalem has withered.You can sense the frustration in Jesus. How can these followers be amazed at a stunted tree – prayer can do so much more than that!
This passage inspires for that reason – it is a whole-hearted endorsement of the power of prayer. Prayer works and it works wonders. You don’t have to worry about that. So long as you trust in God to hear you and respond to you then it’s all done. It’s the ultimate God-has-your-back promise.
I have seen this biblical passage in many settings. Twentieth century Christians who were moving in the direction of the law of attraction – Ernest Holmes, Norman Vincent Peale – often referred to it. For that matter, plenty of new age Christians and other spiritual practitioners of the present age are fond of referring to it. Why not? It doesn’t hedge. It seems to literally assure us that if we want a million dollars, it’ll be delivered up to our doorstep.
That is precisely why I find these words of Jess so vexing. It is almost like we’re being give a spiritual blank check. Want the Jaguar in the driveway? The winning lottery ticket? The biggest house on the block? Just ask. It’s like Jesus is a Wal-Mart. All we have to do is show up.
As I tried to sort through and understand this promise I often found myself wondering why exactly would anyone want to move a mountain? I mean that literally. I know mountains – I love certain mountains. If you tweak them even a little you would wreak havoc on deer and bear and squirrels and crows. You would destroy birch trees and maple trees and whole forests of red pine. To give a man power like that . . .
I pictured Jesus grasping for a metaphor to make the point clear for his disciples. He sees this mountain . . .
I began to realize that it matters what our prayer is for. Jesus never – never – encourages selfishness. Indeed, his whole message is about undoing this sense of a personal self. We are moved to think of our brothers and sisters, to envision a radical new order in which all men and women are equal. Was it possible that we could pray against it?
I do not mean to suggest that our prayers are evaluated and those that conform to God’s will are granted while those that aren’t are ignored. Rather, I want to suggest that the true power of prayer lies in is natural alignment with God’s will. In other words, we would not actually move a mountain – unless we were certain it was God’s will. But we are quite likely to pray for – and be answered – in seeking forgiveness or peace within our families. Or when we seek to know how precisely we can help make the Kingdom of Heaven manifest in the world.
The power of prayer is the simple fact that it is a channel for God’s will – and the more closely it lines up with that will (which is also our will, our true will), then the more powerful it will be. Our job is not to enrich ourselves, to build up our tiny material kingdom but to shed that as we step closer and closer to God.
As he entered Jerusalem – as he stepped into the temple – Jesus was coming closer and closer to his death, to the ultimate teach lesson that was the crucifixion. The power of his prayer in those moments was powerful indeed. Yet recall what he asked for – not to be freed of any ordeal, not to have dominion over men – but for forgiveness and understanding. He begged God to forgive those who did not know what they were doing as they nailed Jesus to the cross.
That is prayer – the kind of prayer that indeed can move a mountain.
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