We were walking down the street, looking at the windows of Indian shops. “Lana, this way!” said my husband, and we entered a small, crowded shop that sold household appliances. There it was! We immediately saw the very item we had dreamed of for so long but couldn’t buy for two years in a row.
We approached it. It was so white… So clean… And so very expensive… And then, Stan reached out his hand and loudly said, “Air conditioner, listen to the Word of the Lord! In the name of Jesus, we command you to move from this shop into our apartment.”
Oh my! It’s a good thing the salesman didn’t understand what my husband was saying. Otherwise, he would have thought the same thing you are thinking right now: “Guys, really? Is that how you pray?” But if you think about it, you’ll also remember your own unconventional prayers, prompted by your unique situations.
At home, we surrounded ourselves with ice. Before going outside, we would put on wet clothes. But under the scorching sun, the clothes dried quickly. So, we would go into shops where air conditioners were running and didn’t want to leave… We would open the refrigerator and didn’t want to close it…
Before going to bed, we would wet our sheets with water and lie down on the damp bed. And I’ll tell you, the wet bedding refreshed us, but after an hour, the sheets would dry out, and we’d wet them again. And this continued throughout the night… The first year we spent in India, we were tormented by the same question: “When will fall come?! How do people even survive here without air conditioning?”
I can tell you with absolute certainty that in India, we began to understand God’s Word much deeper than before. And I’m not talking about knowledge. I’m talking about application. When a person faces problems, they seek a way out. And God showed us that way out. He used the words of Christ from the Gospel of Matthew 21:21–22, where Jesus compared the fig tree and the mountain to problems. When the Lord taught about faith, He said to His disciples, “I assure you, if you believe and do not doubt, you will not only be able to do what was done to the fig tree, but you will also be able to say to this mountain, ‘Get up and throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will obey your words. Believe that you will receive everything you ask from God. And then you will see the answer to your prayer.”
You’ll agree that Jesus shared an extraordinary spiritual principle with us. However, we rarely apply it in practice and doubt our ability to move mountains. But Christ assures us that we can do it. He used the comparison of the fig tree and the mountain to show us that we can overcome any obstacle.
So, when should we pay attention to this teaching of Jesus?
Let’s think about what the fig tree represents. It could be some negative aspects of our lives. For example, addictions or sins that consume our resources and energy but bring us no benefit. We may also experience frustration due to fruitless attempts to find a way out of a situation.
In such a case, we can pray as Jesus taught, so that the fig trees wither, and we can rid ourselves of the negative things that drain our strength.
And what does the mountain symbolize? It could be some enormous problems that seem impossible to solve. It could be related to big goals or God’s calling in your life. Mountains also represent insurmountable obstacles or overwhelming tasks that you need to deal with, but you realize that it seems impossible.
In such a case, we can pray as Jesus taught, so that the mountains move. Then we will see the impossible become possible.
In 1997, we were preaching the Good News of Christ in a Karelian village, in the center of which stood a bar. We wanted people to turn to the truth and change their habits. But instead, people were going to the bar and drinking away their savings. We asked God to intervene in this situation, but nothing changed. Then we thought, can’t we do what Jesus did?
For the first time in our lives, we used spiritual weapons and prayed as the Lord taught. We addressed the bar and commanded it to wither. And do you know what happened next? A month later, the bar went bankrupt! After that, the village administration gave our church the building where the bar used to be. So now, everyone in the village knew the address where our church gathered.
Friends, we can’t impress God with our deeds. But we can impress God with our faith. So, pay attention to the quality of your faith. Faith should be filled with God’s Word. For example, if you are sick, you need to find the Scriptures that speak of healing to enrich yourself with God’s Word. Speak prophetic God’s Word over your unfavorable situations to see change.
What we say will bring results. So, don’t focus on how difficult things are for you. Don’t describe how high and insurmountable your mountains of problems are, so that your faith does not weaken. On the contrary, address your troubles or obstacles and command them to leave.
But you must not doubt. Fully rely on God’s promises, and this will help us not to despair or complain. Believe that you will receive everything you ask from God. And then you will see the answer to your prayer.
By the way, when we prayed in the appliance store, it seemed like nothing had changed in our lives. After returning home, we continued to believe that we would receive what we needed. Two weeks passed, and a financial miracle happened in our lives—for the first time in two years, we had enough money. And eventually, the air conditioner moved from the store into our apartment. And that was it! Summer was over for us. Well, at least it was over in our apartment.
#FromHeartToHeart Stan & Lana
Jesus Unltd #EverythingIsPossible