Whosoever and the Mountain
“…whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed…he shall have whatsoever he saith.” ~Mk. 11:23
I do not claim to understand anything about prayer. I just know it works. If you do not believe this, stop doing it, but it will be to your own detriment. There are many voices today attempting to explain away prayer. At the other end of the spectrum, we find those trying to excuse God for not answering prayer. These get hung-up, it seems, on the two extremes: sovereignty and free-will.
All God’s prayer promises are legitimate. The “whosoever” in salvation is not open for debate. Nor is it in our text. “Whosoever” and “whatsoever” are valid terms. The problem is never with God, but always with us. In salvation, He gives a “whosoever” invitation, but there are few who accept it. And so it is in prayer. It’s just as baffling to try to understand why there are those of us who will not claim what He offers us in prayer, as it is to understand those who will not accept His offer of salvation.
Let us then not forget where our difficulty in prayer derives from; it has to do with us, and not God. The desperate father who brought his devil possessed son to Jesus said, “If thou canst do anything…” Jesus’ answer to him was, “If thou canst believe all things are possible.”
“In prayer, show God His handwriting; He is tender of His Word.” ~Thomas Manton-Puritan
by an Aged Saint