Jesus said mustard seeds were the smallest seeds and a measure of the faith we need for God’s promises to come true in our lives.
We’ve all prayed for people who did not get well. This is a topic I talk about in my book looking at some specific issues that arise; however today I want to focus on the one that really encompasses all the others. IT IS OUR FOCUS WHEN PRAYING.
Most of the time we are timid about the promises of God for healing and have little concept of HOW TO MAKE THE PROMISES OF GOD SURE IN OUR LIVES.
Scriptures repeatedly tells us that our “salvation” must be of FAITH by GRACE.
Romans 4:16
Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all…
We MUST realize that the original language for “salvation” is the Greek “SOZO” which means WHOLENESS OF BODY, SOUL, AND SPIRIT.
What is GRACE? (Unmerited, undeserved favor)
What is Faith and how much do we need to make the promises of God sure in our lives?
Jesus clearly explained “faith”, “Truly I tell you, IF you have faith as small as a mustard seed, (THEN) you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Mt 17: 20-21)
And, again, Jesus Mk 4:31 “mustard seed, which is the smallest of seed”
Luke 17:6 — The disciples asked Jesus to “increase our faith”. (v5) Jesus replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”
The above tree and mountain scenarios are not “natural happenings” but faith does not take natural facts into account. Facts change. Truth does not change. Faith ALWAYS brings God on the scene and He is the same now as when He made the promises we have just observed in Scripture.
Romans 4:16 is cited above but deserves another look: “Therefore, the promise (of salvation/SOZO) comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law (Jews) but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
Romans 5:1-2 says it yet again, “There, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (2) through whom we have gained access (SOZO) by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God)
Ephesians 2:8 also assures this promise: “For it is by grace you have been saved (SOZO) through faith through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not works
The promise of salvation is not just “fire insurance” but a promise of wholeness (sozo) and it is given because of God’s GRACE (undeserved favor and not our works). We tend to struggle with this concept and want to earn the outcome of the promise.
SOZO is not just being saved from hell but from sickness, disease, poverty, evil spirits, curses, etc. We jump to conclusions because of words used by translators “saved” and we don’t meditate fully on these verses like Ephesians 2:8. It means having ALL Jesus secured through His body, soul and spirit through His blood spilled from the cross and His too often ignored resurrection.
AND
When we misunderstand modern translations, we think we have to DO SOMETHING to conjure up the faith mentioned. Faith IS the currency of heaven but Jesus said we only need faith as small as the smallest seed…the mustard seed. We all surely have that much faith and we get it as a gift from God. [NOTE: Mark 11:22-23A, in the original language although, sadly, not in many modern translations, says: “And Jesus answering saith to them, ‘Have faith OF God; for verily I say to you that whoever may say to this mount . . .” (Young’s Literal Translation) He is saying, “use the faith you received by God’s grace when you first believed”. We needn’t be proud of our level of faith because we haven’t created it. God has.
My point is this. When praying for healing (or any other need) to manifest, the focus MUST NOT be on our own faith. Our focus must be totally, completely, earnestly on God’s amazing grace NEVER asking ourselves, “Do I deserve this from God?” The answer is always NO! I don’t deserve it and never could do anything to deserve it. The enemy of our souls wants us to ask such questions. Jesus has stood in for us and made His righteousness our own so that this question is moot. God wants us to have it or He would not have given His only son to establish it for us.
This point is illustrated in Scripture: the woman with the issue of blood (Luke 8:42b-48), the Roman centurion’s servant (Luke 7:1-10), the Canaanite woman whose daughter was demon possessed (Mt 15:21-28), and others including the paralytic lowered through the roof. (Mark 2:1-5) I urge you to look these stories up and read them with new perspective of the principle focus with which each person approached the Lord.
In every case, the person seeking healing focused ONLY on the compassion and power of Jesus and NEVER on their own level of faith. Jesus saw their faith but they were not anxious about their level of faith. They were persistent because they believed in His grace.
We EACH must say, “I have a mustard seed and I’m not afraid to use it because God promised and Jesus is my righteousness. Jesus got what I deserved and I get what He deserves. It’s bold but it’s THE basis of prayer that moves the mountains (troubles) out of our lives.