How do you carve a road through a mountain? For one man, it was one small pile of dirt at a time.

Dashrath Manjhi lived in a poor village in Bihar, India. With the nearest village 70 kilometers away and a 300’ mountain between them, his village was isolated from schools and medical help. Determined to free his village from isolation, he carved out a road using his strength, a sledge hammer, chisel and crowbar. As a tribute to his 22 years of persistence and faith, a 30’ wide road has reduced the distance to the next village to only 1 kilometer. ¹

OUR MOUNTAINS

What kind of mountains are in our lives? How about mountains of rejection, mountains of pain or mountains of anxiety? Are you carving away at them like Dashrath, one small pile at a time? I was. Then I heard how God lovingly provides powerful tools for us to move mountains. But in order to use them, I needed a new perspective.

PERSPECTIVE

Imagine Dashrath viewing that 300’ mountain the first day he swung his tools. Wouldn’t it look insurmountable? Not to him. He viewed it with the perspective of faith that the mountain could be moved.

Do our mountains look insurmountable? When we ask, God will show us His perspective. He lifts us above our mountains so they look smaller and we see they are not insurmountable. Seeing His perspective, boosts our faith to use the tools He provides.

So, Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.
 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,
 ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’
and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done,
 he will have whatever he says.  Therefore, I say to you,
 whatever things you ask when you pray,
believe that you receive them, and
 you will have them,”
 Mark 11:22-24

What tools did Jesus say to use? The tools of prayer, faith and the power of Jesus authority.  They will act like an excavator easily moving mountains.

ARE YOU READY TO MOVE A MOUNTAIN?

FILL UP WITH FAITH!

Do you want to use an excavator to move a mountain? Then fill it with fuel! To move our mountain, let’s fill up with the fuel of faith. Filling our hearts and minds with God’s Word fuels us with faith that He is able to move any mountain no matter how insurmountable it seems.

IGNITE WITH PRAYER!

How do we start the excavator? We ignite the engine’s power. To ignite the power of the Holy Spirit, we start with prayer.  Prayer is a powerful tool. For years I prayed about my mountains. Sometimes the Lord took me around the mountain, sometimes He took me over it and sometimes He took me through it.  However, when the mountain needed to be removed, I was just chiseling away in my own power waiting for God to remove it. It wasn’t that God wasn’t answering, but that He had already given me the tool I needed to remove the mountain. When we are not seeing results, it could mean we need to use another tool. I needed to excavate in power.

EXCAVATE IN POWER!

The excavator has the power to dig and remove. Yet, without the action of stepping on the accelerator, it won’t operate. The Holy Spirit has the power to dig and remove too. In order to operate in the power of the Holy Spirit, I had to take action by stepping out in faith. By submitting my mountain to His power, it allowed the power of the Holy Spirit to work in and through me to dig and remove.

What do we need to dig and remove?

The evil mountains that block our path to being all God created us to be. You see, God created each of us with a unique combination of personality, gifts and talents for His loving plan for our lives. Yet, the evil forces in this world want to steal, kill and destroy His plan.

This is not a wrestling match against a human opponent.
We are wrestling with rulers, authorities,
 the powers who govern this world of darkness,
and spiritual forces that control evil in the heavenly world,
Ephesians 6:12 GW

We combat them with God’s excavator, the Holy Spirit, who empowers us with Jesus’ authority to speak to, dig and remove evil mountains preventing us from fulfilling His plan for our lives. Just like he sent out His twelve disciples giving them the power of His authority, He has given it to us, (Luke 9:1).

And these signs will follow those who believe: 
In My name they will cast out demons;
 they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents;
and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them;
 they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover,
 Mark 16:16-18

WHAT IF THE MOUNTAIN DOESN’T MOVE?

Both Dashrath’s mountain and the ones that block our path, have trees whose roots may need to be dug up to remove the mountain. Our roots can be such things as unforgiveness, jealousy, guilt, rejection or anxiety planted in our hearts.

When we speak to a mountain that doesn’t move, perhaps the Lord wants to change our hearts first by removing those roots.  If we ask, He will reveal any roots He wants to dig up. When I was stuck with a mountain of sickness, the Lord showed me roots in my heart. Once I asked for forgiveness and submitted to Him, my heart changed. Then empowered by the Holy Spirit and with the authority of Jesus, I could speak to the mountain of sickness and it was removed! You can do the same!

LET’S FILL UP WITH FAITH
IGNITE WITH PRAYER
EXCAVATE IN POWER
AND MOVE THOSE MOUNTAINS!

Therefore, submit to God. 
Resist the devil and he will flee from you,
James 4:7

REFLECTION

Would you like to remove a mountain?

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, as I write Mark 11:22-24 and say it aloud, reveal any roots in my heart. Help me to fill up with faith, ignite with prayer and empower me with the Holy Spirit and Your authority to remove the mountains so I can fulfill Your purpose for me. In Jesus name. Amen.

BY FAITH MOVE THAT MOUNTAIN

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*For information on making Jesus Christ your Savior, email me or visit, http://www.peacewithgod.net/

1 https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/man-single…
Photo excavator, moon night
Photo mountain, Divjot Ratra
Photo gas pump, Carrie Barker