What Cursing a Fig Tree Can Teach You About the Power of Persistent Prayer
How to Pray So That You KNOW You'll Get Your Answer, Chapter 29
Chapter 29: What Cursing a Fig Tree Can Teach You About the Power of Persistent Prayer
On the following day, when they came from Bethany, Jesus was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if He could find anything on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And His disciples heard it. (Mark 11:12-14 ESV).
For some people, “persistence” means “I don’t have it yet, so I will keep trying to get it.”
For others, “persistence” means “it’s already mine, so I will keep going because I know it’s already mine.”
When Jesus teaches on persistence, He teaches the second way — it’s already yours.
One day, as Jesus and the disciples were walking from Bethany to Jerusalem, Jesus was hungry. They saw a fig tree, so Jesus drew near. Yet the tree had nothing on it worthy of eating.
Jesus cursed the fig tree — which might sound harsh to us, but served a noble purpose: no one else would be trickled into thinking this barren tree could bear fruit. They’d see it for what it was.
Later that day, as they returned from Jerusalem to Bethany, Jesus used the entire situation to reveal the heart behind persistent prayer:
As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”
And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.” (Mark 11:20-23 ESV)
Jesus makes an incredible promise, here.
To understand it properly, we need to ask: What does Jesus mean by “mountain”? What did Jesus’ disciples understand Jesus to be saying?
It seems that Jesus was referring to one of the prophets of the Old Testament. Zechariah recorded many prophecies given to Zerubbabel, the man called by God to rebuild His Temple in Jerusalem after Israel returned from exile.
In one of those prophecies, Zechariah records:
This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: “It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel’s way; it will become a level plain before him!” (Zechariah 4:6–7, NLT).
This prophecy encouraged Zerubbabel: no matter what obstacle stood in his way, it would be removed, as he pursued the Lord’s calling on his life to rebuild the Temple. His faith in God and his prayer to accomplish God’s calling on his life would remove any obstacle — any mountain — hindering him.
Can you imagine how encouraging it would be for Zerubbabel to hear this promise from God? Nothing in his way would ever stop him! If he keeps obeying God, he will succeed.
Can you imagine hearing such a thing from God?
Do you realize that’s exactly the promise Jesus gives to all of His disciples — including you?
Listen to Jesus’ promise again, and realize that He is giving this promise to all those who follow Him:
As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. (Mark 11:20-25 ESV)
This promise is for you. Jesus says whoever tells the mountain to move will see it moving. Nothing will stop you as you do what God is calling you to do.
But there is a catch.
You must not doubt in your heart while you tell the mountain to move.
What does that mean? What does that look like?
Jesus tells us immediately:
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” (Mark 11:20-25 ESV)
What does it mean to believe that you have received your request before it’s yours? What does it mean not to doubt in your heart that it’s yours?
Does it mean that you have to feel like you believe it?
Does it mean that you can’t ever question?
No — it only means you persist because you know it’s already given.
If you believe that it will be yours, you’ll keep praying until you see it. Why would you ever stop praying? If you truly believe it’s yours, you’ll keep praying it in, and know that it will come in.
Before we take this incorrectly, let’s focus on what Jesus is talking about.
Passages like these often find themselves twisted into tools for selfish gratification. The attitude sounds a bit like this: “I can have whatever I want, as long as I believe I have it? Then I want a new car, lots of money, and a bigger house!”
But Jesus didn’t give this promise to make us selfish.
These aren’t the kinds of mountains Jesus was talking about.
Zerubbabel’s mountain was an obstacle — something blocking him from accomplishing what God called him to do. The promise of moving the mountain wasn’t about manifesting selfish gratification. It was encouragement, knowing that anything blocking the will of God from being done can be overcome.
This is why Jesus can tell us we’ll receive it when we believe it: we’re believing a specific promise He made.
We aren’t believing for selfish desires. We aren’t manifesting greed.
We’re believing in a good God who makes good promises. We can trust these promises, because we can trust Him.
When we believe His promises, and we pray for them, we know we’ll receive them. Why? Because He promised them!
Jesus promised His disciples (including us!) that any mountain blocking us from accomplishing God’s will can be removed. This promise makes sense: if God called us to do something, God wants us to do it. Anything blocking us from doing it is on the chopping block.
We can persist in prayer for these promises because we believe God is faithful.
Belief isn’t some means of manifesting our desires.
Belief is the proper response to a trustworthy God who makes promises He will keep.
If you believe what He says, and you pray for what He says, you’ll receive what He says.
This is why we spent so much time in the Lord’s Prayer earlier in this book. It’s why we spent so much time on the Holy Spirit being the answer God always loves to give. We need to know the specific prayers God promises to answer.
God will always answer our prayer to hallow His Name and be filled with the joy that comes from it.
God will always answer our prayer for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done.
God will always answer our prayer for daily bread.
God will always answer our prayer for forgiveness.
God will always answer our prayer to lead us away from temptation.
And God will always, always give His Spirit to those who ask.
When you believe these promises, you can pray these prayers knowing that God will give you your answer.
Let’s revisit Jesus’ promise:
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Now let’s break this down word by word:
Therefore — This statement builds upon the promise of removing any obstacle blocking us from doing what God has called us to do. It is not a statement in a void, but a clear continuation of Jesus’ argument, building from the certainty that you can remove this mountain.
I tell you — Jesus emphasizes His own words, ensuring we don’t miss His new promise.
Whatever — This doesn’t mean “anything you selfishly desire,” because it’s grounded by “Therefore,” which focused on fulfilling a specific promise. It means, essentially, “whatever promises of God you pray for.”
You ask in prayer — We still need to ask for these promises. They don’t come about by happenstance. We still must use our dominion to ask for them.
Believe that you have received it — Believe that the same God who promised is faithful to fulfill that promise.
And it will be yours — If you trust God, you’ll act on His promises. You’ll ask for what He promises to fulfill for those who ask. Because you believe Him, and you ask in line with that belief, you will receive what you asked for.
And — more to the point of this book — you’ll persist in prayer until you see it.
You’ll persist because you know the One who promised is faithful to fulfill His promises.
When you pray for the promises God loves to fulfill, you can fully believe the answer is yours — because you’ve placed the request into the hands of your Father who is good, and He will not give you a stone when you ask for bread.
Believe that the answer to God’s promise is yours. Thank God for it even before you have it.
If you know you’ll get it, you’ll keep persisting until you see it.
Your answer is already yours — because the Father who you’re asking is good.
We can be like those who persist in prayer. We can be like Elijah and the incredible woman who persisted in her requests with Jesus until she saw her daughter healed.
We can be like them, because we pray to the same God they did.
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You talked about some promises, I didn't quite understand what that was about. So you're saying that God himself will make a promise? Although I have to ask him for what I want according to your logic. How can he make a promise? Like tell you something?