12 The next day as Jesus was leaving Bethany, he became hungry. 13 Seeing a fig tree in leaf from far away, he went to see if it had any figs on it. But he found no figs, only leaves, because it was not the right season for figs. 14 So Jesus said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And Jesus’ followers heard him say this.
20 The next morning as Jesus was passing by with his followers, they saw the fig tree dry and dead, even to the roots. 21 Peter remembered the tree and said to Jesus, “Teacher, look! The fig tree you cursed is dry and dead!”
22 Jesus answered, “Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, fall into the sea.’ And if you have no doubts in your mind and believe that what you say will happen, God will do it for you. 24 So I tell you to believe that you have received the things you ask for in prayer, and God will give them to you. 25 When you are praying, if you are angry with someone, forgive him so that your Father in heaven will also forgive your sins. [ 26 But if you don’t forgive other people, then your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.]”
Read Mark 11:12-14, 20-26 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
During one of the times when Jesus was teaching the disciples about prayer and faith, He shares a very startling truth that might be the reason some of our prayers have not been answered. In Mark’s gospel, following Jesus cursing the fig tree and it withering up, Jesus makes this bold statement about faith: “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, fall into the sea.’ And if you have no doubts in your mind and believe that what you say will happen, God will do it for you. So I tell you to believe that you have received the things you ask for in prayer, and God will give them to you.” (v. 22-24)
This is powerful, but Jesus doesn’t stop there. Many people might stop reading here, but Jesus has something else to tell us, this time specifically about prayer in verses 25 and 26: “When you are praying, if you are angry with someone, forgive him so that your Father in heaven will also forgive your sins. [ But if you don’t forgive other people, then your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.]” (Sidenote: Verse 26, which is in square brackets, is not in many early manuscripts, but I include it here because it simply repeats verse 25 using a different angle.)
I find this statement about forgiveness in prayer powerful because in the context Jesus shared these words, it is possible that forgiveness – or at least a forgiving attitude – is crucial for having complete faith and trust that our prayers will be answered. It is also powerful to think that when we are praying, and a name of someone comes to mind that we are angry with, this might have happened because God brought it to us. While Satan would love to distract us from praying and we might blame him for bringing that person into our minds, in this case, God is probably responsible.
When we pray, Jesus wants all of His followers to know that God has called us to forgive others because He has forgiven us. Forgiveness is the path to emotional and spiritual freedom, and God knows that holding resentment or hostility towards someone is spiritual poison in that person’s heart. In the context of Jesus’ message, praying with faith might even be the only way we can truly forgive those who have hurt us the most deeply!
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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