Our college ministry recently faced a trial up on campus. As we were preparing for our student government to vote on our status of being an officially recognized club, I revisited some popular scriptures about partitioning God. I eventually visited the verse about ‘moving mountains’ and discovered an important truth that I’d never previously considered…
Matthew 17:20 is a verse popularly taught or preached about the power of the believer’s faith. Jesus teaches his disciples in the wake of their failure to perform a physical healing; “…assuredly, I say to you, 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.”
The teaching I’ve always heard on this passage is certainly true. Taken at face value, the verse speaks of the power of having even a little bit of faith, and how that faith can make impossible situations very possible. It was a great comfort as I was praying and preparing for the big meeting up on campus. However, the power of this verse became even more apparent when I read the next verse.
“However, this kind does no go out except by prayer and fasting.” This got me thinking; Jesus said that the kind of faith that makes the impossible possible is activated by prayer and fasting. As I was in prayer this week in preparation for the big meeting on campus, I was thinking about one of the purposes of prayer and fasting; to position ourselves as dependents on the power of God. With this in mind, I received a powerful word from this passage: it’s not by merely stirring up enough faith that mountains are moved- impossibilities are made possible only by dependently putting our faith in our God.
As we round third base this semester, with the end in sight, I want to encourage you to dream big about the time that you have left with your students. What would be impossible without the power of God on your campus? There’s still time left. Commit that time to Him, align your faith in dependence on His power, and watch those mountains move!