Speak to the Mountain…Oh Really?

We are encouraged to “speak to the mountain”. But sometimes, that mountain is meant to stay-put and we are to navigate our way around it, or over it, according to the will of God. This is why patience and longsuffering are aspects of love and fruit of the born-again spirit.

Bearing Ill Treatment

There are times when we want to call down fire from heaven to consume our “enemies”. But during those times, it is more likely that God wants us to bear the ill treatment they are giving us and to walk in love towards them. Jesus told us that we were to love our enemies, go the extra mile and turn the other cheek. How are we to win souls for Christ if we want God to smite those people who seem to oppose us?

The Tale of Mary

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was not given the VIP treatment when she was to give birth to the Saviour. There were no chariots of fire; there was no fanfare from an angelic host. Mary was thrown on the back of a donkey whilst heavily pregnant and had to travel quite some distance for a census. When Mary reached her destination, she was not treated to a five-star hotel; there was no supernatural provision of money that would enable Mary to give birth to the Son of Man in a place of dignity and comfort. No, Mary had little choice but to give birth to the Saviour in a lowly cattle shed.

If Mary was a modern-day Christian, I think she would be on a serious guilt-trip: did she pray enough? Did she miss going to church for a while? Did she miss going to the latest conference? Perhaps she did not read the right Christian books and apply the “principles” and formulas that they provide? Mary might have checked herself for hidden sin or considered increasing her offerings to the church. For goodness sake – they didn’t even have church buildings in those days – let alone pastors touting for your hard-earned cash!

Is There Scope for Speaking to the Mountain?

There is scope for speaking to the mountain, which is an opposing thing – but it is an expression of faith. We cannot force an expression of faith; faith is something which expresses itself spontaneously. The irony of teaching that encourages practices such as speaking to the mountain is that it makes such things into a formula or principle that a believer must make an effort of the will to do in order to be blessed by God - such formulas do not work.

I am of the belief that teaching on speaking to the mountain is not required, because if you had that kind of faith, then that faith would simply express itself, regardless of whether you read a book about it or not.

In Matthew 17:20, Jesus said, “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.” Jesus did not say, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you should say to this mountain…” A lot of Christians would say that there is little or no difference – but I believe that there is. I believe that Jesus is telling us that if we have faith it will just express itself naturally. Just consider all the books on faith that tell us the kind of things that faith does – more than how to actually get faith.