Mark 11:20–25 (ESV)
The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree
20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God.
23 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. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask
in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 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.”
It is interesting that Jesus says “whenever you stand praying.” Standing is a proper prayer position. There are other prayer positions, but there is nothing wrong with standing. If someone says it is wrong,
show them this verse! But, did you notice that you need to pray with faith... “believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Unfortunately... I must add that it will be given to you if it is the Lord’s will.
Otherwise, we would all be billionaires. Now in a serious note, verse 25 gives us vital information and at the same time... a warning. We ARE to be a forgiving people. Forgiveness is what we are about. Do you have someone you are not
willing to forgive? Let’s re-read verse 25: “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.” This is an eye opener!
It also dovetails into the 5th Petition of the Lord’s Prayer: “And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Luther adds: “We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins, or
deny our prayer because of them.
We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve
nothing but punishment. So we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us.”
I pray: O Heavenly Father, forgive me my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass
against me. Help me to pray in the faith you have given me and to trust in your provisions. Amen.