The Prayer Of The Anointed
According To Your Faith
Matthew 9:29 NIV
Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you";
When was the last time someone said to you, “according to your faith”? You go to a job interview and you are told that your salary will be according to you faith. You take an exam and your professor announces that your score will be based according to your faith. The power company sends you a notice and it reminds you that your payments are now determined according to your faith. Could you run a red light and tell the judge that you did so according to your faith? What would she say to that? Would you be taken seriously by a bank if you told them you wanted a loan and that they should give it to you solely according to your faith? No one judges us according to our faith in any legitimate parts of our lives and yet the truth is the significant parts of the Universe must answer to the faith we possess.
When the disciples failed to cast out a demon from a poor child suffering from seizures, Jesus told them it was because they lacked faith. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:19-20 NIV) Jesus responded almost exactly the same way when his disciples asked Him how He was able to make a fig tree wither with just a verbal curse. Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." (Matthew 21:21-22 NIV)
We trivialize the importance of faith because we don’t understand the ramifications of little faith. Two stories from the Bible illustrate its importance. The first comes from the New Testament. Jesus had made his way back to his home town of Nazareth, returning to the synagogue where several months before he infuriated the town leaders with His indication He was the Messiah. This time, his teaching wasn’t quite as inflammatory but many wondered where He got His insights. He was after all just the son of a carpenter and they all knew his mom and siblings. Jesus’ family members apparently weren’t all that great because nothing about his family history seemed to impress them. Despite it being his old neighborhood and all of his childhood friends were there, Jesus we are told did very few miracles while with them. Why? Matthew tells us that it was because of their “lack of faith.”
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