Move Your Mountain

I am sure you have heard this phrase before, maybe you have said it, maybe you have it hanging up somewhere in your home, or maybe you have it written across your mirror as a daily reminder…"Faith can move mountains!"

It’s a great phrase to call to mind when faced with things that seems difficult or impossible. So beautifully written is the actual bible verse about faith moving mountains: "He said to them, 'Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you'"(Matthew 17:20). 

We hear it, we say it, we see it, we repeat it, and hopefully, we believe it, too.

I do believe we can believe with a faith big enough and bold enough to move mountains. I do believe that with God all things are possible. But there is a bit I have learned along the way when it comes to praying with mountain-moving faith.

The first thingI have learned, know which mountain is your mountain. I cannot tell you how many times I am just praying, praying, praying for that mountain to move. I look up, and it is still there. I pray and pray and pray some more, I look up, and that mountain is still in the same place. This is the part where I start telling myself, “Oh, ye of little faith!” This is the part where I start to wonder how much patience one is supposed to practice. This is even the part where I get frustrated with God and frustrated with my prayer and frustrated that mountain hasn’t moved. But I know better and I just put my hands together and I pray some more.

What I have found is sometimes that mountain I keep trying to move, well, sometimes that is just not my mountain.

When I prayed and prayed we would move back home and no doors were opening, turns out my mountain was to make my home right where I was, right where God had planted us.

When I prayed and prayed not to miscarry again, and then I did, turns out, my mountain was not for that pregnancy but for the healing I needed afterwards.

When I prayed and prayed for the promotion, only to learn we were about to have another baby, turns out my mountain was no longer growing in my career but how to grow at home.

When I prayed and prayed in my marriage for my spouse to see things the way I saw things, turns out, my mountain was making changes in my own heart.

When I prayed and prayed for my kids to always do the right thing, turns out, my mountain was finding understanding and offering forgiveness.

I have learned that it’s not that my faith is too small or that God is not listening, it just may be that I am trying to move a mountain that wasn’t mine to move in the first place.

The other thing I have learned when it comes to mountain-moving faith, is to give that mountain time. I mean think about it, mountains are HUGE! And what a great comparison, because I hope your prayers are HUGE as well! 

If you have ever been anywhere near mountains, you know that because they are so big, it takes quite a bit of change before it is ever noticeable down below.

I think the best way to gauge whether or not your mountain has moved is to close your eyes, look away from it, and give it time. If that mountain is going to move, it will be a long time before you ever notice it. That doesn’t mean it is not moving, that does not mean you should give up, that does not mean you should move on, it just means you should close your eyes tighter. Close your eyes in prayer and do not look up, do not check. Sometimes you just have to look away, step back, and wait. You know that whole notion of patience…this is where it comes in! What I love about this is my most heartfelt prayers are said with my eyes closed tightly. Imagine the change you will notice when you open your eyes after having them closed in prayer for so long!

The truth is, we can pray with a faith that can move mountains, and I hope that you do. The truth is, we can approach that mountain with a strong belief, a bold prayer, and a whole lot of patience. When we find our mountain and we close our eyes in prayer, I truly believe miracles will happen! I truly believe “nothing will be impossible for you!”