Holy Week: A Journey With MatthewIsampula

Tuesday | The Fig Tree

Matthew is amazed by the tree.

Having cleared the Temple, Jesus stayed at Bethany overnight before returning to Jerusalem the following morning. He was hungry and noticed a fig tree but upon noticing it had no leaves on it, He cursed it and immediately the fig tree withered up. Matthew and the other disciples were dumbfounded and asked how Jesus had done this. He replied by instructing them on the prayer of faith (James 5:18), in which ‘if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer‘, and even move mountains. To pray like this, we need to constantly be trusting in God, and live in an attitude of dependence on Him. In Jewish imagery, a mountain (Mark 11:23) signifies something strong and immovable, and a problem that stands in the way (Zechariah 4:7). We can move these mountains by trusting in God.

A follower’s response: Prayer

Charles Spurgeon stated:“If you may have everything by asking, and nothing without asking, I beg you to see how absolutely vital prayer is, and I beseech you to abound in it”.* As a follower of Jesus, we need to progress from having a life of prayer, where we pray intermittently, in the morning or at night, to having a praying life, in which we are praying in the Spirit at all times (Eph 6:18), and therefore constantly tapping into the cosmic power God has available for us.

Remember when we pray, we are talking with the King of the universe. Prayer is the language of our personal relationship with God: He wants us to talk to Him, and He wants us to abound in asking.

Prayer:

Dear God, Thank you that your grace abounds, and reflects your desire to distribute goodness. May we, as followers of Jesus, respond in mature prayers of faith, and abound in asking for that which delights your heart. Amen.

* C.H. Spurgeon. In Tyler Staton. Praying like Monks. Living like Fools. Hodder & Stoughton. 2022. P.122