This quote by Jesus is clearly not true; does that make him a liar?

Question

Matthew 21:21:

I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."


i understand the mountain moving part is likely metaphoric, but why do prayers to him by true-believers go unanswered? Im sure many true-believers have prayed for world peace or eradication of diseases, and many true-believing amputees have asked for limb regrowth yet it doesnt happen.

There are many other references in the New testament to jesus saying pray and he shall heal you or grant your prayers, he puts no limitations on what you can ask for....

alright let me get this straight: if you pray for something that is gods will, it will come true (although since it was gods will already it would have happened anyways) and if its not gods will it wont be answered....SO WHATS THE POINT OF PRAYER THAN? and what about freewill, all this gods will stuff sure doesnt allow for freewill

Jilly: harsh words for diseased people, i guess that means if someone in your family gets cancer you will be fine with it and not pray for god to help than right?

Answer 1

no

I think God always gives victory but not on peoples terms
he helps in every situation by faith, but he might heal one person and help another through thier suffering

it means you don't understand the claim in context and with other scripture You have to take it in context

In the Bible it also says
1) you ask and do not recieve because you ask amiss
2) if I regard sin in my heart the Lord will not hear
3) you need to ask in Jesus name
4) you need to ask by faith
5) it needs ot be according to his will "may the will of th eLord by done" Acts

If it was God;s will for a mountian to be thrown in the sea, and would be the best way to glorify him, that mountain would be doing the backstroke

Prayer is meant to have the glory of God at the center. I might ask for things according to his will or ask wrongly frivolous thing bringing me comfort but not necessarily for my good and his glory and God may say no

Answer 2

I know this is a long answer, sorry. Also I am not good at quoting scripture, you get what you see.

God isn't a genie; He is not sitting up in heaven waiting for us to make a wish.

The people Jesus was talking to in that text were not average Joes, they were his disciples who had been with him for 3 years, so they probably got the VIP treatment from God.

God wants us to pray for things we really need, or for ways to be closer to him. Earth is our temporary home, Heaven is our permanent home. There is no money back guarantee when you purchase a bible that God will make your life perfect here on Earth. Adam and Eve screwed that option up for us a long time ago, let it go. All we can do with our time on Earth is to get to know God as best we can (prayer doesn't always mean asking for stuff, sometimes prayer should be thanking God for what we DO have, and talking to him about life. So an amputee would like his arm back, that's nice, I am sure Jesus would like to have not been nailed to some tree branches, we all have obstacles to manuever around. Has this amputee ever thought about praying to God and saying "wow, ok, don't have my left arm anymore, but thank you for my right, and thank you for my life". When that amputee gets to heaven, he will have both arms again, so his prayer is answered eventually.

As for world peace? Well again, God gave the first people that option and they proved what he probably already knew...humans couldn’t handle perfect.

No disease?? Do YOU want tons more people in the world?? I sure don't. People have to die and move on from this world, disease clears out a lot. Not pretty, not happy, not a fluffy bunny picture, but God never told us this world would be any of those. If you make it to Heaven, I think you will find it was worth everything you had to endure here on Earth. Besides, can anyone appreciate something spectacular if they have not also seen the horrible?

Answer 3

Because you live in the flesh and not in the spirit you will probably not get this but I will try and explain...

Matt: 21:21 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

Many have wondered about Jesus' statement that if we have faith and don't doubt, we can move mountains. Jesus, of course, was not suggesting that his followers use prayer as "magic" and perform capricious "mountain moving" acts. Instead, he was making a strong point about the disciples' (and our) lack of faith. What kinds of mountains do you face? Have you talked to God about them? How strong is your faith?

v 22: This verse is not a guarantee that we can get anything we want simply by asking Jesus and believing. God does not grant requests that would hurt us or others or that would violate his own nature or will. Jesus' statement is not a blank check. To be fulfilled, our requests must be in harmony with the principles of God's Kingdom. The stronger our belief, the more likely our prayers will be in line with God's will and then God will be happy to grant them.

i.e. God is our parent. He wants what is best for us. Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. ((Because they were not what was best for us. We only see the here and now...he sees the bigger picture)). As long as you are praying his will, you can watch prayers being answered as you pray them. It's pretty amazing...

Grace to you and God Bless!

Answer 4

One thing that stops some prayer from happening is that it is not in God's plan (such as world peace coming by our prayers, He will make it so after He returns).

We are also fighting against spiritual forces, and there are at least several levels of their strength. Some can be overcome easier than others.

I have wondered about amputees, and I have read several items about people who had gifts of healing and where stumped as to why not amputees also. I have two thoughts about this (some what the same, but different).
1) There are gifts (plural) of healing.
2) He has not given this gift yet.
At some point when I was reading the Bible (I don not remember which book) I thought it sounded like there was more to come. It may be as a last sign of God's power before the rapture.

Answer 5

Alright let me answer: prayers made in faith are reasonable prayers. If you pray that unicorns and rainbows are real, you won't expect it to come true, will you?

As for other things, people praying for world peace are dead on. God will bring it about, but not in an instant, or what humans perceive to be an instant. People who have missing limbs can recieve them in the ressurection, but as for now not every prayer is answered in the instant. Prayers are answered when the timing is perfectly ripe. At least that's what i believe.

Answer 6

You miss a very important point. If you ask anything, you need to be doing what He said to do in order to have that power. If you are going out and committing adultery and then coming in and asking for healing due to contracting Aids, I don't think that would qualify as something that should be done. In another place it says that you need to be keeping His commandments as well as having the faith. Sometimes when you ask you will get a yes, sometimes a no and sometimes a wait, not now. Does not mean the prayer is not being answered, just that it is not the right time for it yet. Or maybe it is saying you are not living up to what you know is right and good to why should I listen to you when you are not listening to Me? Puts another spin on it, now does it not? Why should Jesus do things for us when we are not willing to do things for Him? He is the one that can do for us and yet we don't want to do what He asks. So why should he do what we want of Him? There is a condition put on that statement, that is that if you do what you are supposed to do, then you will get what you ask as you will not be asking anything that is against His will anyway as you will know what is pleasing or not to Him. Doesn't mean He did not want you to have it anyway but that He wants you to ask to get it and then He is more than glad to give it to you. Don't you like to be asked for things that maybe you want someone to have but just wait to see when they will ask? We all have done that from time to time, yet with God we put Him down for doing it. A bit unfair, huh?

Answer 7

Jesus can not lie.The prayers of the faithful are always answered
as soon as possible,There is war in heaven," It is in heaven as it is on earth." Jesus prayed all the time. Science knows through study there is in fact power in prayer although they can not explain it.I have great faith,I have had many miracles in my personal life.However as for the parable of the mustard seed it is above my comprehension.I doubt not one word spoken by OUR LORD. We can tell the mountain uproot yourself,I am sure, I just do not know how .

Answer 8

It's called God's will. I'm glad that a lot of my prayers has gone unanswered because everything turned out better when God didn't answer my prayers. Goes to show you that we don't know what's best for us, but only God does.

Answer 9

There are millions of people who have been healed by prayers. Most believers pray that Gods will be done!

Answer 10

God will always answer our prayers, most of the time it's not the way we wanted them answered, for example, the amputees who pray for limb regrowth will receive the grace to cope with their dissabibity. whether the amputee chooses to accepr this kind of answer or not depends on the person.