Jeff Schreve - Mountains and Mustard Seeds
Summary:
In this sermon, the preacher uses the story from Matthew 17:14–21 where the disciples fail to cast out a demon and Jesus teaches about faith the size of a mustard seed moving mountains. He explains that when big problems—especially strongholds of sin—don’t budge despite prayer and Scripture, Christians should examine three areas: the quality of their faith (true, growing, persistent), their connection to God through prayer and spiritual disciplines, and whether the request aligns with God’s will. The key takeaway is to persist in faith and obedience, trusting that God will either remove the mountain in His timing or use the struggle to strengthen us.
The Bar Story: A Tough Day
I heard a story about a man who was at a bar. He was sitting there on his barstool, looking very sad and forlorn, with a drink in front of him in a shot glass. He stared at that drink for 30 minutes. Finally, another guy, a burly man, had been watching him. He walked up, assessed the situation, and then just approached the guy, stared at him for a minute, grabbed his drink, downed it, and put the glass back on the counter. The man burst into tears.
The big burly guy said, «Hey man, I didn’t mean to make you cry. I can’t stand to see a man cry. I’ll buy you another drink.» The guy replied, «Ah, it’s not that; you don’t understand. Today has been a terrible day—it’s been the worst day of my life. I got up late; my alarm didn’t go off, and I missed a very important meeting. My boss told me that if I was late again because I had already been late, he was going to let me go. I was late, and he fired me. I cleared out my desk, went to my car to drive home, and my car had been towed away. I had to park in a hurry and parked in a no-parking zone, and they towed my car away.»
He continued, «I had to get a cab to the tow truck place to get the car out and pay some money. Then, when I got home, there was a note on the kitchen table. My wife said, 'I can’t take it anymore. I’m out of here. I’m done. See you! ' Everything was falling apart. I came here to the bar, and I was seriously contemplating killing myself, and you show up and drink my poison.»
Life’s Molehills and Mountains
Life is filled with problems. Sometimes, there are little problems we can all relate to. You know, when we talk about problems, everybody’s in because, as it says in the book of Job, «Man who is born of woman is short-lived and full of trouble.» We all have trouble. Some of the trouble, some of the problems, some of the trials are small; they’re just irritations. They’re just molehill-type problems. You know, you stub your toe in the middle of the night, you have a cold that just lingers, maybe you have computer problems, or car problems—just those things that happen in life that make things harder, but they’re just kind of molehill problems. They come and go, and you don’t remember them a few weeks past the time.
But then there are other problems that are not molehill problems; they are mountainous problems. They are big problems that hit your life and hit my life. Everybody deals with irritations in life, the molehill problems, and everyone faces that big problem or those big problems in life. Maybe you’re here, and you’re single, and you don’t want to be single. You want to be married, but there’s nobody on the horizon, nobody on the radar screen. You start thinking, «Man, is this ever going to happen?» and that becomes a big mountain in your life.
Or maybe you’re married, and you’re thinking, «This isn’t what I signed up for. This isn’t anything like what I thought it was going to be. This is so hard.» You think, «I liked it a lot better when I was single.» You know, because there are worse things than being single, and that’s being in a bad marriage. That’s not any fun at all. One lady who was in a bad marriage told her single friend, «You know the way I look at it, you can be single and be lonely all your life, or you can be married like me and wish you were dead.»
I mean, it’s just one of those things where it sits on you, and that can be a big mountain. You know, marriage problems, family problems, the prominence of other people, physical disabilities—those are all mountains in their lives. But I think for the majority of us, when we talk about big problems in the Christian life, it’s a mountain that’s a stronghold of sin. When you face a situation in life, maybe it’s lust, greed, bitterness, insecurity, or constantly comparing yourself to others, and you can never really enjoy others because you’re constantly sizing them up: «Am I better than them, or are they better than I am?» You’re always in comparison mode, competition mode, and that becomes this mountain in your life. It becomes a stronghold of sin.
When Prayer and Scripture Don’t Move the Mountain
When we deal with mountains that are strongholds of sin, we say, «Well, I’m going to pray about this,» and we pray about it, but you know what? The mountain doesn’t move. Then we say, «Well, I’m going to memorize some scripture about this particular issue,» and we memorize scripture about it, quoting it—but you know what? The mountain doesn’t move. We say, «What’s the deal, God? Why is this so hard? Why is this mountain not moving? Lord, didn’t you say that if I had faith the size of a mustard seed, I could say to this mountain, 'Be moved, ' and it would be moved? And that nothing would be impossible for me?» Then why is this mountain not moving?
I think every Christian has wondered about that, even if we haven’t verbalized it. There are certain things in the Christian life—I think back to my Christian life—when I first became a Christian, certain things dropped off really quickly. I used to like to drink and get drunk. The Lord began to deal with me as a young Christian, saying, «Jeff, that’s not what I have for you,» and so I quit doing that. I quit partying. Then it was, «Now, Jeff, we’re going to work on your x-rated mouth.» The Lord began to work on my filthy language, and then he started to clean that up. So it’s like, «Okay, Lord, I got this whipped, and we whipped this in the power of the Holy Spirit.»
Then you hit another area. For me, like so many other guys, there was lust. I thought, «Ah, Lord, that doesn’t go out as easily.» The other ones were kind of molehills; we mowed them over. But then I hit a mountain, and the mountain wasn’t moving. «What gives, God?»
The Biblical Backdrop: Matthew 17
Well, there’s a situation in the Bible that serves as the backdrop for Jesus talking about mustard seed faith moving mountains. It’s found in Matthew chapter 17, verse 14. The scripture says this: «And when they came to the multitude,» they being Jesus, Peter, James, and John—who had been up on the Mount of Transfiguration—where Jesus revealed his glory to those guys, and Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus. He pulled back the veil of his humanity to let them see the glory of his deity. His face, the scripture says, began to shine like the sun, and his garments became as white as light, and they heard the voice of the Father saying, «This is my beloved Son, in whom I’m well pleased. Listen to him.»
Peter, James, and John were scared to death as they heard the voice of God; it was holy and majestic. They spent time up there, and then they came down to a large multitude. A man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before him, saying, «Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic; he is moonstruck and is very ill, for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him.»
Jesus answered and said, «O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to me.» Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out, and the boy was cured at once.
Then the disciples came to Jesus privately—the other nine guys, while the three guys who were up on the Mount of Transfiguration were left behind. The nine came to him privately and asked, «Why could we not cast it out?» He said to them, «Because of the littleness of your faith. For truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there, ' and it shall move, and nothing shall be impossible for you. But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.»
The Disciples' Failure
The nine guys didn’t understand why the mountain wouldn’t move; they didn’t understand why they couldn’t cast out the demon. In Matthew chapter 10, verse 1, we read these words: «Having summoned his twelve disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.»
So, when Jesus is up on the mountain with Peter, James, and John, this father, who has a son being terrorized and possessed by a demon since childhood, came to Jesus for help. This demon was causing the child to go into convulsions and was trying to kill him. The father was heartsick and didn’t know what to do. But he heard that Jesus can heal and cast out demons, so he goes to where he thought Jesus was, but Jesus wasn’t there—only the disciples were there.
Now, one of them was a loser—that was Judas. But the other eight had real faith. They came to pray over this child and cast out the demon, but it didn’t work. They didn’t understand. The scripture says that the scribes came and began to argue with the disciples of the Lord, no doubt making fun of them, saying, «You guys are supposed to have all this power, but now you can’t do anything!»
Three Areas to Check When the Mountain Won’t Move
What do you do when the mountain won’t move? What do you do when something you know that you have from the Lord—a power given to you—doesn’t seem to work to move the mountain before you? There are three areas you need to check when the mountain is not moving.
Area 1: Check Your Faith
Area number one: check your faith. They asked point-blank, «Why could we not cast it out?» Jesus said in verse 20, «Because of the littleness of your faith.» You know it takes faith to please God. Without faith, as the scripture says in Hebrews 11, verse 6, «it is impossible to please God.»
It takes faith to move mountains. Why could we not cast it out? Because of the littleness of your faith. You ask, «What exactly is faith?» Hebrews 11:1 gives us the definition of faith, and I love it in the amplified version: «Now faith is the assurance (the title deed, the confirmation) of things hoped for, things that have been divinely guaranteed, and the evidence of things not seen; it’s the conviction of their reality.»
Faith comprehends facts that cannot be experienced by the physical senses. That’s faith. Faith is something God says, and then you say, «Okay, Lord, I don’t see it, but I believe it because you said it, and I’m stepping out on what you said.» That is faith.
Okay, so here’s the mountain: for these guys, it was this son who had a demon. They had been given authority to cast out demons and had the power to do that from the Lord, but it didn’t work. They’re thinking, «What gives, Lord? You’ve got to check your faith when the mountain won’t move.»
Three questions to ask yourself:
First of all, is your faith true or false? Do you have real, genuine faith, or do you have false faith? You say, «What is false faith?» The multitude is there, a huge crowd. In that crowd, you had people who said they believed in God, but they didn’t have faith in Jesus. Just like in church, you have people coming who would call themselves Christians, but when you really pin them down on what they’re trusting in to get to heaven, they might say they trust in themselves.
«Yes, I’m a good average guy on the street. Hey, do you think you’re going to go to heaven when you die?» «Well, I don’t know. Maybe. I could possibly. I think so. I feel like I have a pretty good chance.» «Why do you think you’re going to get to heaven?» «Because I’m a good person, and I’ve been baptized, and I go to church at least twice a year, and I give some money every now and again, and I’ve never killed anybody.»
They come up with lists of things they’ve done. What are they trusting in to get to heaven? Themselves—trusting in their good works, which aren’t very good. But that’s what they’re trusting in; that’s false faith. The scribes and religious leaders had a false faith; they were trusting in themselves that they were righteous. Jesus said they viewed others with contempt.
So, is your faith true or false? True faith is when you put your complete trust in Jesus and Jesus alone for salvation. It’s by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. As the song says, «In my hand, no price I bring, but simply to that cross I cling.»
The first question you ask yourself when the mountain won’t move is, «Do I have genuine, true faith? Am I really trusting in Jesus? Do I really know him? Have I been born again?»
The second question: Is your faith growing or diminishing?
Jesus said in verse 20, «If you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there, ' and it shall move.» Faith as a mustard seed—the thing about a mustard seed is that it was the smallest of seeds that the people knew about.
People have said that you only need a little bit of faith to move mountains. I don’t think that’s what Jesus is saying because He has already chided them on the littleness of their faith that prevented them from casting out the demon. The mustard seed is the smallest of seeds that becomes the biggest of the garden plants.
So, it starts really small and grows to the tallest of garden plants. What the Lord is saying is, «Listen, I want you to have a growing faith.» You ask yourself, «Is my faith growing, or is it diminishing?»
At Man Up last Thursday, Mack Reynolds preached on Abraham and his faith. Matt talked about how faith is on the move. To believe God, you have to have movement. God called Abraham and said, «Go,» and Abraham said, «Where?» God said, «I’ll show you when you get there.» So, Abraham, a man in his 70s, picked up with his wife and left to a land he didn’t even know where he was going.
He made this statement: «Faith is either moving toward God, or it’s going away from God, but it never stays stationary.» Because listen, we have a force against us as Christians—those who say they love God and want to walk with God. We have the world, the flesh, and the devil coming against us. That’s why the scripture says, «Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold.»
There’s pressure coming against you and me. If we just say, «Well, I’m going to coast for a while; I’m just going to stand still,» you’re not; you’re going to start going backward. We need to constantly grow and move forward. Your faith will either grow and glow, or it will dry and die, but it will not stay the same.
So, is your faith growing? Because Jesus said it was the littleness of their faith that caused them not to be able to cast out the demon.
The third question: Is your faith persistent or fragile?
Now, these guys—Jesus doesn’t say to the disciples when they ask why they couldn’t cast it out, «Well, because you don’t have any faith.» He didn’t say that; he said, «Because of the littleness of your faith.» They regressed in their faith while He was on the Mount of Transfiguration, and they were by themselves.
So this is how I see it in my mind: the father brings the demon-possessed boy, and he’s terribly demon-possessed. He’s brought to the disciples who knew Jesus had given them authority to cast out demons. They knew they could do it. They try twice, three times, four times, five times—nothing’s happening—and they quit.
They quit! It worked before, but it’s not working now; they stopped trying. Hey, is your faith persistent, or is it fragile? If something doesn’t go right, do you try a couple of times and just say, «Well, forget it. I quit. I can’t do this. It doesn’t work?»
It says in the Bible that it works; it doesn’t work. The Lord values persistence; persistence is an indicator that you really believe God. When Elijah was told by God in 1 Kings chapter 18 that it was going to rain after it hadn’t rained for three years and six months, he knelt to pray and sent his servant to look at the clouds.
He said, «Do you see anything?» «No, it’s clear.» «Go again.» «Do you see anything?» «No, it’s clear.» «Go again.» He kept sending him back, and finally, he said, «I see a cloud about as big as a man’s fist.» Elijah said, «That’s the rain cloud! Let’s tell Ahab it’s getting ready to pour!»
Well, he wasn’t going to quit just because he didn’t see the cloud the first time, the second time, or the third time. He knew God had promised, and he had faith to see it through. I love what Jerry Falwell said from this pulpit some years ago, about a year and a half before he died: «It’s always too early to quit.»
Let’s say that together: «It’s always too early to quit.» I love the motto of the French Foreign Legion: «If I stumble, push me on. If I falter, pick me up. If I retreat, shoot me; there is no retreat. I’m not quitting; I’m in this for the long haul.»
So, if I stumble, push me on. If I falter, pick me up. But if I retreat, shoot me. It’s always too early to quit. The first area you check is your faith.
Area 2: Check Your Connection with God
The second area: check your connection with God. When I was in college, I had a 1970 Camaro, which sounds really old, but it’s been a long time ago since I was in college. I was in college in the early '80s, and my Camaro had a lot of miles; it had been worn out when I got it from my dad. One of the problems with the Camaro was that the battery cables didn’t connect very well. The battery was good; I had changed the battery, but the cables had a short in it.
So, periodically, my car wouldn’t start. I’d have to go out, pop the hood, get a wrench, and start tightening down the terminals and beating on the battery and terminals, trying to get them to connect. Then it would finally start working. That was okay until I was on a date, and I was driving down MLK in Austin at a red light, and my car died.
The cars behind me—I used to have to put it in neutral a lot and keep the gas on so it wouldn’t die—but it died. I’m popping the hood, beating on the battery terminals, telling my date, «Hey, turn the key. See if it will work.» She was not impressed. What was the problem? The power source—the battery? No, the problem was with the connection.
Hey, when the mountain’s not moving, check your connection. Am I connected well to God? I think it’s interesting how Jesus is away from these guys while they have the power failure. He is up on the mountain, they are down in the valley. He is experiencing the glory of the Father and showing His glory, and they’re down in the nasty now and now, dealing with the broken-heartedness of the boy’s father.
They’re separated from the Lord, and when they’re separated from the Lord, they start to lose connection with Him. Check your connection. Are you abiding in the Lord? Jesus said, «I am the vine; you are the branches.» He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing.
Maybe these guys thought, «Hey, Jesus isn’t here, but we have what we need. He gave us the authority and power,» and so they think they can handle it on their own. Reminds me of Samson in the Bible. Samson was the Israeli strongman that God had given strength to. You remember he hadn’t cut his hair as part of his Nazarite vow.
He had broken two of them, and the last strand of the Nazarite vow was not cutting his hair. Delilah was trying to extract his secret because she wanted to betray him. Finally, he told her, «It’s because of my hair; if you cut my hair, I’ll be as weak as any man.» So, he fell asleep on her knees, and she cut off the seven locks of his hair.
She said, «Samson, the Philistines are upon you.» Samson said, «I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.» He did not know that the Lord had left him. He was on his own, and apart from me, the Lord says, «You can do nothing.» They got hold of Samson, bound him, and gouged out his eyes. That is what it means to gouge out someone’s eyes. They led him away in chains, and he became a grinder in the mill—all because he thought he could do it on his own.
The nine disciples couldn’t do it on their own; you have to stay connected to the Lord. Are you abiding in Him? Are you growing in your prayer life? Jesus said, «This kind of demon, you know, their hierarchies of demons—the most powerful of demons is Satan, Lucifer. He was the most powerful of angels until he fell.»
There are hierarchies, and somehow this was a very powerful demon. Jesus said, «This kind does not go out except by prayer.» He says that in Mark’s Gospel. Here in Matthew, he says, «Except by prayer and fasting.»
So, we know that prayer is involved. The question when you check your connection is: how’s your prayer life? Are you growing in your prayer life? Your prayer life is a reflection of your faith. When we realize we can do nothing apart from Him, we stay connected to Him, abiding in Him—like the vine and the branch.
We talk to Him often, and we grow in our prayer life. Listen, I’m not talking about growing in your canned prayers. I’m not talking about memorizing prayers and then, before you go to sleep, you say, «Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.»
That’s what my parents taught me as a kid, just as a lot of parents teach their kids. It’s a frightening prayer! At six years old, I might die? I’m praying right now that this could be it; this could be my last meal. I’m getting ready to take a dirt nap!
Well listen, I’m not talking about those kinds of memorized prayers. I’m talking about praying from your heart. My daughter Amy, when she was little, used to say when sermons weren’t connecting, I’d ask her, «Amy, what was the sermon about?» She’d say, «Ah, blah blah blah, just blah blah blah.»
There are always some sermons that she could connect with, but that’s the way some of us pray. God says, «Cut out the blah blah blah.» You have to talk to me from your heart, tell me what’s going on.
Prayer is so critical. Prayer links our nothingness with God’s almighty-ness, and we need to pray. We meet every Saturday night in our church for years just to pray for Sunday. It’s not about guilt, but not many people come. We have a prayer room open 24/7. You might feel guilty but not many people show up to pray.
If you’re having trouble in your marriage, here’s a marital tip that will help your marriage. Guys, grab your wife by the hand, especially at night, and pray together. It doesn’t have to be long; it doesn’t even have to be out loud.
Ferguson told me that when he first started praying with his wife and over her, he would just pray silently, and when he was done, he’d squeeze her hand to let her know he finished praying for her. It made a world of difference in their marriage.
Check your prayer life. Are you growing in your prayer life? Are you growing in personal discipline? This kind only comes out by prayer and fasting. Fasting is a discipline. Prayer is a discipline; Bible study is a discipline.
The disciples said in Acts chapter 6, verse 4, «It’s not good for us to spend our time waiting tables. We will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.» Those two things are critical.
Spiritual disciplines in your life—how are you doing with that? The Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 7, «Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.» The word for discipline is interesting—it’s where we get our English word 'gymnasium' from. It means to train vigorously.
Literally, what that means is to train naked, because that’s how those guys did that back then. I’m glad I live now; I’d never go to the gym if that’s what they did back then! What it means in the spiritual sense is you train and you’re open before the Lord. You’re not holding onto secrets; you have everything exposed to the Lord.
He sees it all; He knows everything about you and me. He knows all your failures and your secrets, but there’s something about bearing those to the Lord—something about opening your heart to the Lord—that makes a difference in your life and in mine.
To draw us near to Him, discipline yourself. Train yourself for the purpose of godliness. If you’re going to be a professional athlete, you’ve got to train yourself.
When we had Chad Hedrick here some years ago—the Olympian who won five medals, one gold, two silver, and two bronze in speed skating—he had been training for the Olympics since he was 15 years old. He had been in three different Olympics. I remember asking him during his last visit, he expressed how glad he was to be retiring from the Olympics.
I asked, «Why?» He said, «Since I was 15, I’ve been on the ice for six hours a day, six days a week, pretty much every week of my life training to be an Olympic athlete.» You know, it’s not just any old guy that can be an Olympic speed skater. You can’t just go ahead and say, «I’ve gone to the Galleria; I can do this now.» You have to work at it. If you’re going to be on top in any field, it doesn’t come by being lazy.
The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:3, «Suffer hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.» A good soldier trains himself. Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.
Hey, check your connection: Am I abiding in the Lord? Am I growing in my prayer life? Am I disciplining myself for the purpose of godliness?
Area 3: Check the Will of God
Lastly, check the will of God. The will of God says in verse 20, «If you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there, ' and it shall move, and nothing shall be impossible to you.»
Does that 'nothing' mean nothing? Like I can run a two-minute mile? Can I broad jump the Grand Canyon, or play golf and break ninety? No. It means nothing in the will of God is impossible for you. See, the scripture says in 1 John chapter 5, «And this is the confidence which we have before him: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
If we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request which we have asked from him—but it’s according to his will.»
So, when the mountain is not moving, you have to ask: Is this a mountain God wants me to move? In the case of the disciples with the demon-possessed boy, is it in the will of God to cast out that demon? Yes! Yes! There’s no question about that. Does God want people to be possessed by demons? No! So, that was the right thing; that was the will of God.
We know it’s the will of God because when Jesus came on the scene, He cast out the demon. So, you ask yourself: Is this the will of God? How is my faith? How is my connection? Am I operating in the will of God?
Let me give you an example of some things that aren’t mountains. Certain physical situations—I don’t know from Scripture if that’s a mountain or if that’s a thorn in the flesh. Paul had some kind of ailment that he didn’t want, but it wasn’t a mountain that the Lord wanted to move.
It was the thorn in the flesh given to him to keep him from exalting himself. When he prayed three times, Lord, take this from me. The Lord said, «Paul, my grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.» This situation is being used in your life to keep you humble, connected, and a man of faith.
So now, I’m not going to remove that. You’ve got to find out in this situation what is this: Is this a mountain God wants to remove, or is this something He wants to use in my life in a different way?
Check the will of God. What has God promised? What’s He promised? Because if you can find a promise in the Word of God, then you cling to that promise and say, «God has promised this.»
Now, we started off this message by talking about the issue for most Christians having to do with sin. The mountain for so many Christians has to do with sin—whether it’s selfishness, anger, addiction, drugs, alcohol, pornography, whatever it might be. It could be bitterness; it can get its tentacles around your heart and start to squeeze the life out of you.
Whatever it might be, that’s a mountain God wants removed, and so that’s where you pray according to His will, saying, «God, I know it’s your will that I walk in victory over this area in my life. I’m claiming Your promise here.»
Peter said in Acts 2:39, «For the promise is to you, and to your children, and all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.»
2 Corinthians 1:20 says, «For as many as may be the promises of God in Him, they are yes.» In Jesus, they are yes. The promises of God are yes! We say Amen to those promises.
We say, «That’s right, Lord! I’m claiming that promise.» Now you hear sometimes in Christian circles about «name it and claim it.» Name it and claim it doesn’t exist. That’s not biblical; it’s not scriptural. You can’t name things and claim things.
God has to name it for you and me to claim it, and when God names it—when there’s a promise to be claimed—then you claim it. God has named victory for the life of the Christian, and you and I can claim that even though that mountain is slow to move.
What has God promised? And then the second question: What does God want? Because we have issues that we don’t know if God wants this. Suppose you’re here, and you’re a single girl in your 20s or 30s, and you so want to be married. You want to have a family; your biological clock is ticking, and nobody’s on the radar screen.
You have the radar screen up, and there are no planes flying overhead. There’s nothing, and you’re saying, «God, what’s the deal? Lord, don’t you want this for me?» There’s not a verse of scripture that says, «Yes, God is going to provide a spouse for you.» What do you do?
I tell girls and guys this who struggle with it. When I was in my early 20s, I wanted to get married too. I wanted to have a family; I wanted children. I didn’t know if God would provide that for me, but that’s what I wanted. Psalm 37:4 says, «Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.»
Delight yourself in the Lord; make yourself soft and pliable in the hands of the Lord. It’s soft clay in the hands of the potter. If you make yourself soft clay in the hands of the potter, you can claim the promise that God will give you the desires of your heart because He’ll make your heart like His.
So when you have something you’re not sure if God wants this for you, delight yourself in the Lord and trust that He’ll give you the desires of your heart. This mountain that I’m facing, Lord, I’m trusting you with it.
Closing Story: Pushing the Rock
I’ll close with this story: A man had a dream. He lived in a little cabin house out in the forest. One night, the Lord came to him in his dream and said, «Son, I have an assignment for you; I want you to push against the rock that’s in the back part of your house.»
That big, massive rock in the back part of your house—I want you to push against that rock. The man awakened, and the next morning he said, «God wants me to move this rock.» So, he began to push against the rock.
He pushed against the rock, and pushed against the rock, and pushed against the rock, but the rock didn’t move an inch. The next day, he went out early in the morning, and at evening, pushed against the rock; it still didn’t budge. He did it the third day, the fourth day, the fifth day.
He continued this for two weeks, for four weeks, and for six weeks—three months—pushing against this rock, but the rock didn’t move an inch. The devil moved in, and began to whisper to him, «What a fool you are! Why are you spending your time pushing against this rock? Look and see how much the rock hasn’t moved at all! You are a total loser; you have wasted all your time and energy. Nothing is happening; you need to quit!»
The man believed because that’s how he felt. He was so discouraged. He said, «Yeah, I need to quit.» But before he quit, he went before the Lord. He said, «Lord, I don’t understand. You asked me to push against this rock. I’ve been pushing against this rock, and it hasn’t moved at all! I’m a failure, and I need to quit.»
The Lord said to him, «Son, I called you to push against the rock, not to move the rock. I told you to push against the rock, and you say that hasn’t done any good? Look at your arms, son! Look how much stronger your arms are now because you’ve been spending time pushing against the rock. Look how strong your back is; look how mighty your legs are because you’ve been pushing against the rock. You’ve been faithful and obedient to me, and now I, in my timing, will move the rock.»
Hey, remember as you face the mountain, pray until something happens. Push, and push, and trust God, and keep praising and keep praying and keep worshiping, keep reading, keep meditating, keep memorizing, keep giving! Thrust into God, who can do anything. You don’t just pray and quit; you keep going and going and going, and God will give the victory.