One thing that completely changed my prayer life is what I found in Matthew 17.
A man brought his son to the disciples and they could not cast out the demon. This is important because these disciples were not beginners. They had cast out demons before. They had seen power before. They had walked with Jesus before. Yet this time nothing moved.
So the father went to Jesus and said Your disciples could not heal my son. And Jesus cast out the demon instantly.
Later the disciples asked a very honest question in private. Why could we not cast it out
Jesus answered them with something that should shake every believer who assumes closeness automatically equals power.
Because of your unbelief.
Matthew 17:20
That sentence stopped me.
How do you walk closely with Jesus and still function in unbelief
How do you serve God and still lack authority
How do you have history with power but fail in the present
Then Jesus said something that shifted my entire understanding of prayer.
If you have faith as a mustard seed you will say to this mountain Move from here to there and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you.
Matthew 17:20
I paused at the word say.
Jesus did not say pray about the mountain.
He said speak to it.
That means there are moments when prayer is not asking but commanding.
Moments when faith does not kneel but stands.
Moments when God expects you to use the authority He already placed in your mouth.
I realized how many times I carried everything back to God when He had already empowered me to speak to the mountain in my life and it would hear and move.
Behold I have given you authority.
Luke 10:19
But Jesus did not stop there.
He said this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.
Matthew 17:21
This verse is often quoted but rarely understood.
Jesus was not saying prayer and fasting are tools to make God move.
God was already willing.
Power was already available.
What prayer and fasting do is strip self reliance and sharpen spiritual sensitivity.
Fasting quiets the flesh so the spirit can hear clearly.
Prayer aligns the mind with heaven so wisdom can flow freely.
Prayer and fasting do not always remove the mountain immediately.
Sometimes they reveal how to deal with it.
Because not every mountain is handled the same way.
Some mountains are climbed.
Some are gone around.
Some are pierced through.
Some are leveled down.
Who are you O great mountain Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain.
Zechariah 4:7
The mistake we make is assuming that what worked for the last mountain will work for this one.
I learned that when I pray and fast my mountain does not always disappear.
But something else happens.
I receive wisdom.
Discernment.
Strategy.
Clarity.
If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives generously.
James 1:5
That is what the disciples lacked in that moment.
They had authority before but this situation required new authority.
And authority is maintained not assumed.
Jesus had just come down from the mountain of prayer.
Intimacy preceded power.
Very truly I tell you the Son can do nothing by Himself He can do only what He sees His Father doing.
John 5:19
Closeness to Jesus is not the same as intimacy with God.
Activity is not the same as alignment.
Experience is not the same as authority.
Power does not respond to methods.
Power responds to authority.
And authority responds to intimacy.
That is why Jesus could speak and the demon left.
That is why the mountain moved.
That is why the disciples had to be taught again.
So now when I face a mountain I do not panic.
I do not repeat old formulas.
I do not assume yesterday’s victory guarantees today’s breakthrough.
I go back to intimacy.
I pray.
I fast.
I listen.
Then I speak.
Truly I tell you whoever says to this mountain Be taken up and thrown into the sea and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen it will be done for him.
Mark 11:23
Speak to that mountain.
It can hear you.
But only when your voice is backed by intimacy.
And when it moves it will not be because you shouted louder.
It will be because you stood in authority that was formed in the secret place and you received the specific method to handle the mountain at hand.
shalom!
#pstnath
Jesus is Lord
