Faith to Move Mountains

For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, But shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass,
He shall have whatsoever he saith (Mark 11:23 KJV).

When most of us read this passage, we gloss over the literal meaning about moving mountains because we cannot imagine how beliefs and words can move big, solid things like mountains. We also do not understand how our words and feelings can affect our physical bodies and our health, even though Proverbs 18:23 says that death and life are in the power of the tongue. What we think we understand about reality often conflicts with Bible teachings about healing and miracles.

But, what if we understood that the mountain is made up of vibrating, subatomic particles, and — in a way — no more substantial than a cloud of steam? What if we knew that belief is an actual substance and that words are sound waves that impact reality? When we think of the mountain in this way, it is not so hard to imagine how faith and words can make a difference. This is true whether the mountain we face is made of rocks or is a disease, addiction or mental illness.

The Bible says: “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that which is seen was made by that which was not visible” (Hebrews 11:3). Science has found that everything that we can see is made of something invisible — tiny particles called atoms. Modern physicists have analyzed these atoms into even smaller subatomic particles.

As modern physicists have analyzed the atom into smaller and smaller pieces, they have found the very smallest unit is a tiny packet of energy. These are the building blocks from which the parts of atoms are made. You, me and everything else that we can see is made of little packets of energy, vibrating at unimaginable rates of speed.

From this viewpoint solid matter is just energy in a congealed form. A solid object differs from fluid energy only in the rate at which the atoms are moving. This was discovered by Albert Einstein, who stated this relationship in the equation, E = MC2 – meaning that solid matter,  accelerated to a very high rate of speed, becomes pure energy. Before we see how this might apply to mountain-moving faith, let us consider an everyday example.

Water changes into very different forms depending on how fast its atoms are moving. At a low energy level, water freezes into a hard chunk of ice. If we add energy to the ice, the water molecules vibrate more rapidly, melting into a liquid state. If we continue to add energy, the rapidly moving water molecules break free and float off as steam. These three distinctly different states of matter differ only in the amount of energy in the system. With our eyes we may see a frozen ice cube, but with our understanding we know that we can change the ice to steam that will blow away in a puff of wind. We are using our ‘faith’ in this ‘unseen reality’ every time we boil water or use a microwave oven. Since we know that the solid chunk of ice can disappear and float away, we can understand intuitively that reality is not as solid as it appears.

The reality we can see is made up of things that we cannot see. Everything that appears solid is actually a mass of tiny, invisible, vibrating particles that react to the energy of other particles that surround them. These particles seem to be able to be two places at once. They react to being observed, and they may even wink in and out of existence. The field of quantum physics studies these particles and has discovered that they have strange and unexpected qualities.

We do not need to become experts in quantum physics. We need only to understand that there is a hidden reality behind that which we can see. We can see the mountain, or the disease, or the circumstance with the eyes of our understanding, not just our physical eyes, just as we know that ice can easily become steam.

The Real Substance Of Belief
If a mountain can be thought of as a vibrating heap of invisible particles, belief can be understood as a force that can move it. Hebrews 11:1 says a remarkable thing along these lines: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

According to the Bible, faith is a real substance, even though we cannot see it.
Because faith is a real substance, our beliefs have substance. What we believe has a real effect on the unseen reality that surrounds us. It might be easier to understand the power of belief, if we were to consider beliefs, thoughts and feelings as having real energy.

When we think about anything, the cells in the brain fire and give off tiny electrical impulses. The brain gives off so many electrical impulses that we can measure them with an EEG.  When the emotions get involved, many cells in the body are firing and giving off impulses. We can feel our heart rates speed up and our muscles clench when we get upset. It is not hard to imagine that all this energy affects the unseen world.

Beliefs are at the core of our being, and reflect both thoughts and feelings. Beliefs are not just what we think about and agree with, they are those things that we are convinced about enough to affect us emotionally. They are reflected in our actions and have powerful effects on our lives. The Bible says that our beliefs and expectations are a real substance. When we believe something, good or bad, we generate a faith-substance that helps to bring it into being. We cannot help doing this, but can decide whether to use our faith for good outcomes or allow fear and despair to influence them negatively.

Jesus had much to say about the power of our beliefs and expectations. In the majority of individual healings that He did, He commented specifically on the person’s belief. He said that mighty signs would follow those who believed. He did no mighty works in Nazareth because of their unbelief. He taught about the importance of belief in many places.

Jesus also cautioned people not to fear. Fear reflects belief in a negative outcome. If we would activate our faith, we must root out our negative expectations. Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will make you free.” The truth will not make you free unless you know it. A person seeking healing can start by recognizing fear for the lie that it is, then meditating on healing scriptures until he or she feels the joy of being saved.

Faith Is Activated By Words
In Mark 11:23, the passage about faith to move mountains, Jesus makes the link between speaking and believing very clear — ‘…but shall believe in his heart that what he saith will come to pass, he will have what he saith.’ Paul said something similar: “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:10). This word for salvation can also be translated as healing.

There is no shortage of Biblical teaching about the importance of words, and many books have been written on this subject. Jesus was ‘the Word made flesh’, and is called the ‘high priest of our confession’.  When we read the story of creation we see that God spoke the elements into being, using His Word to create the earth and all that lives in it.

Words release the power of our beliefs — either that which worries or angers us, or the promises of God and the good that is coming from and into our situation. When we bring the power of our belief and the power of our words together, we have done our part to release faith for mental, emotional and physical healing. We have created the climate in which God’s Word will manifest.

Through our eyes we may see a mountain made of rock or a tumor made of cancer cells. But through our understanding, we can see a vibrating heap of electrons and weird, subatomic particles that will respond to the energy we produce by what we believe and what we say.

Faith And Positive Thinking
We should place trust in the promises of God for healing and for miracles when needed, and modern science has given some hints at how it all might work. However, some might wonder how faith differs from simple positive thinking. We could also ask how a candle differs from a floodlight. Positive thinking may have some small effects, but real power can only be released through the Word of God.

A careful study of Jesus’ teaching will show that He intended believers to do the works of God. In John 15:7 He said, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you.” The Word of God is a creative force.

The visible world was created by the Word of God. The most powerful way to change the visible is by speaking the Word of God. All sounds have energy that can affect matter, but to change reality, we need the supernatural, creative Words of God. In Ephesians 6 the Word of God is called the sword of the Spirit. Kenneth Hagin was a great teacher on faith for healing. He told people to write the healing scriptures over and over until they came to life, because the power of God is in His word.

Jesus Himself repeatedly stated that He alone could do nothing, but did only those things that He saw the Father doing. He extends this to us in John 15:5. Here Jesus says that without Him we can do nothing. There is no power apart from a discerning relationship with the Lord. We are the branches, but Jesus is the vine. As Paul says, one plants the seed, another waters, but it is God who gives the growth. Our job is to believe God’s Word, to walk sensitively in relationship with the Holy Spirit, and to apply our grains of faith through speaking and acting in faith.

Faith For Healing
Jesus said, ‘Greater works than these shall you do.’ He gave us the power to use faith substance through speaking words.  If we want to direct our faith to the healing of our body, then we must speak words to bring it into being. Life and death are in the power of the tongue.

If you are someone who needs healing, you can start injecting God’s energy into your situation by speaking the promises He makes. Find scriptures that promise what you seek and continuously speak them to yourself. Don’t just think them, walk around saying them, make up songs and sing about them, and start telling them to others.

When friends ask about your situation, consider how you respond, so that your speech lines up with God’s Word. For example, instead of saying ‘I have a headache’, say ‘I am fighting a headache’ or ‘I am getting better by the minute’ or ‘I am refusing to accept what the doctors say and trusting God to perform His Word.’

Anyone who has contended for healing knows of the inner battle with fear and unbelief. Symptoms and doctors’ pronouncements can seem so real, and we may lack the fellowship of other strong believers to help us through our battles with fear and unbelief.
If this happens we remember that Jesus is the high priest of our confession faithful and tender toward those who admit their weakness to Him and call on Him for help. His mercy toward us when we humbly confess our weakness is indescribable. There is power in the Word.

Remember that God can work through doctors, so following the scriptural path does not necessarily mean going without medicine. Medicine fails unless God blesses it. What is important in healing is to know that God wants you to have life, and have it abundantly.

Summary
We can change the way we think about things, and understand that everything we can see is made of invisible particles that respond to the energy around them. The energy of our beliefs and our words is real energy that can affect this invisible world. Jesus taught that all matter responds to belief and words.

We produce positive energy when we refuse to fear and we speak out and trust the promises of God. We produce negative energy when we allow fear or anger. In speaking about our situations, we make a choice about whether to reinforce things as they are, or to create a positive belief that will bring about that which we desire. We have a choice to use the energy of our inmost beliefs and words to change things for the better.

It is never too late. God’s mercies are new each morning. So, while we cannot reclaim the lost past, we can start right now putting these ideas to work for a better future.