Day 11 - Keep Confessing by Pastor Philip Olubakin: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Answer the Tree

Mark 11:12-14

Jesus was hungry. He came to a fig tree in leaf, hoping to find fruit. There was none. The Bible says Jesus answered and spoke to the tree. The use of the word "answered" is significant — you do not answer something that has not spoken first.

The tree had communicated to Jesus. It was telling him he would not find anything there. And Jesus answered back.

Many are in situations where something is speaking to them — a medical report, a bank account, a relationship, a body that is declining. These things are speaking. The question is: will you answer them, or will you allow them to have the last word?

Learn to answer your tree.

Your Body Is a House of Prayer

Mark 11:17

When Jesus drove out those selling in the temple, he declared: my house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. If your body is not consistently filled with prayer, it becomes a place where thieves — spiritual forces — find room to hide.

This is a strong motivation for building a consistent prayer life. Not just to receive answers, but to keep the enemy from finding any place of expression in your physical body.

Four Says and One Believe

Mark 11:20-23

The morning after Jesus spoke to the fig tree, the disciples passed by and found it dried from the roots. Peter pointed it out with amazement. Jesus responded:

"Have faith in God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed and cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart but shall believe that what he says shall come to pass — he shall have whatever he says."

Count the words: four times the scripture uses the word "say" — and only once the word "believe."

People are trying to believe before they speak. But Jesus modelled something different: say it first, and keep saying it until your heart catches up with your mouth.

• The word is in your mouth first before it is in your heart — Romans 10:8-10
• Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks — but you feed the heart by putting the word in your mouth
• If you say it long enough, consistently enough, abundantly enough when you do not even need it — your heart will feed your mouth with it spontaneously when you do need it

You are not speaking to God about the mountain. You are speaking to the mountain about God.

Speak to your kidneys. Speak to your womb. Speak to your business. Speak to your children's future. Keep your confession constant. The fig tree did not dry up instantly — it dried from the roots. The roots dried before the branches showed it. Sometimes God is dealing with something at the root level, and the physical manifestation has not caught up yet.

Believing Before You See

Mark 11:24

Whatever you desire, when you pray, believe already that you have it — and you shall have it. The order is critical:

• When are you to believe? Before you have it.
• When will you have it? After you have believed you have it.

Seeing is not believing. Believing is seeing. Believe it long enough and strongly enough, and your eyes will see what you have believed.

Keep your confession strong, constant, and specific. The mountain must move.