«　WEEK 4　DAY 2　»

　　Mark 11:23 Truly I say to you that whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says happens, he will have it.

　　Matt. 18:19 Again, truly I say to you that if two of you are in harmony on earth concerning any matter for which they ask, it will be done for them from My Father who is in the heavens.

　　[In Mark 11:24], for this reason means that this sentence is a continuation of what has gone before….Verse 24 mentions prayer. This proves that verse 23 must also concern prayer. The strange thing is that verse 23 does not sound like an ordinary prayer. The Lord did not tell us to pray, "God, please move the mountain and cast it into the sea."…It says, "Whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea."…We think that when we pray to God, we have to say, "God, please move this mountain and cast it into the sea." But the Lord said something else. He did not tell us to speak to God; He told us to turn to the mountain and to speak to the mountain. The speaking is not toward God but directly toward the mountain, telling it to be cast into the sea. Since the Lord was afraid that we would not consider this to be a prayer, He pointed out in the following verse that it is a prayer. This prayer is not directed toward God, but it is a prayer. It is a speaking directed toward the mountain that says, "Be taken up and cast into the sea." Yet this is also a prayer. This is a prayer with authority. (CWWN, vol. 22, "The Prayer Ministry of the Church," pp. 195-196)

　　A prayer with authority does not ask God to do something. Rather, it exercises God's authority and applies this authority to deal with problems and things that ought to be removed. Every overcomer has to learn to pray this kind of prayer. Every overcomer has to learn to speak to the mountain.

　　We have many weaknesses, such as temper, evil thoughts, or physical illnesses. If we plead with God concerning these problems, it seems that there is not much result. However, if we apply God's authority to the situation and speak to the mountain, these problems will go away…. A mountain is a problem that stands in front of us. A mountain is something that blocks the way and stops us from going on….When many people encounter a mountain in their life or in their work, they pray to God to remove the mountain. But God tells us to speak to the mountain ourselves. All we have to do is issue a word of command to the mountain: "Be taken up and cast into the sea." There is a great difference between asking God to remove the mountain and commanding the mountain to be removed. It is one thing to go to God and ask Him to do something. It is another thing to directly command the mountain to be cast away. We often overlook this kind of commanding prayer. Seldom do we pray by applying God's authority to the problem or by saying, "I command you in the name of my Lord to go away" or "I cannot tolerate this thing to remain with me anymore." A prayer with authority is one in which we tell the things that are frustrating us to go away. We can say to our temper, "Go away." We can say to sickness, "Go away. I will rise up by the resurrection life of the Lord." This word is not spoken to God but directly to the mountain. "Be taken up and cast into the sea." This is a prayer with authority.

　　How can the church have such a prayer with authority? It is by the church having full faith, being without doubt and being clear that what we do is fully according to God's will. Whenever we are not clear about God's will, we do not have faith. Therefore, before we do anything, we have to be clear whether what we are about to do is according to God's will. (CWWN, vol. 22, "The Prayer Ministry of the Church," pp. 196-197)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 22, "The Prayer Ministry of the Church," ch. 4; CWWN, vol. 43, ch. 74; CWWN, vol. 46, chs. 179-180; CWWN, vol. 48, "Messages for Building Up New Believers (1)," ch. 10