This past Sunday, we continued our series, Faith: Living Beyond What We See, with a message titled “Faith Has a Voice.” Throughout this series, we have been learning that faith is more than believing God exists or hoping that things will eventually work out. Biblical faith is a confident trust in God, rooted in His Word, that shapes the way we think, pray, speak, and live.
One of the greatest challenges we face as believers is learning to speak in agreement with what God has said, especially when our circumstances seem to tell us something different.
In Mark 11:22, Jesus makes a simple but powerful statement: “Have faith in God.” Before He ever talks about speaking to mountains or believing in prayer, He establishes where our faith must be placed. Our confidence is not in ourselves, our circumstances, or even in the words we speak. Our confidence is in the God who stands behind His Word.
That distinction is important because faith is not a formula we use to get whatever we want. It is a relationship of trust with a faithful God. When we understand who He is and what He has promised, our words begin to reflect that confidence.
Jesus continues in Mark 11:23 by teaching that whoever speaks to the mountain, does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, will have whatever he says. This is one of the most powerful teachings Jesus gave concerning faith, yet it is also one that requires us to understand the connection between what we believe in our hearts and what we allow to come out of our mouths.
The mountain represents something that appears too great for us to overcome. It may be a circumstance that seems impossible, a situation that has continued longer than expected, or an obstacle standing between us and what God has called us to do.
Our natural tendency is to talk about the mountain. We describe how big it is, how long it has been there, and how impossible it seems to move. Before long, the circumstances begin to dominate our conversations, our thoughts, and even our expectations.
But Jesus teaches us a different response. Instead of allowing the mountain to dictate what we believe, we are called to allow God's Word to shape what we speak.
Faith does not deny the existence of the mountain. Faith recognizes that the mountain is not greater than God.
This is where many believers struggle. We may believe God's promises when everything is going well, but when pressure comes, our words often reveal what has been taking place in our hearts. Fear begins to speak. Doubt begins to speak. Discouragement begins to speak. And sometimes, without even realizing it, we begin agreeing with our circumstances more than we agree with God's Word.
Proverbs 18:21 reminds us that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Our words matter. They can build up or tear down, encourage faith or reinforce fear, bring hope or deepen discouragement. What we continually speak often reveals what we have allowed to take root in our hearts.
That is why renewing our minds with Scripture is so important. We cannot expect our words to consistently reflect faith if our hearts are continually being filled with fear, negativity, and unbelief. The Word of God must become the foundation of what we believe, and what we believe will eventually influence what we speak.
But there is another important part of this teaching that we cannot overlook.
In Mark 11:24, Jesus moves from speaking to the mountain into believing prayer. He tells us to believe that we receive the things we ask when we pray. This reveals that faith is not just about making declarations. It is about approaching our heavenly Father with confidence, trusting His goodness, and believing that He hears us.
Sometimes we can become so focused on saying the right words that we forget the importance of trusting the One we are speaking to.
Faith-filled prayer is not an attempt to force God's hand. It is an expression of confidence in His character, His promises, and His faithfulness. We come before Him believing, not because we have somehow earned an answer, but because we know He is a good Father who invites us to approach Him in faith.
And then Jesus says something interesting in Mark 11:25. He connects believing prayer with forgiveness.
That is no accident.
Jesus understood that the condition of our hearts matters just as much as the words coming out of our mouths. We cannot separate a life of faith from a life of fellowship with God. If we are going to walk in faith, we must also be willing to walk in love, humility, obedience, and forgiveness.
It is possible to know the right Scriptures, repeat the right confessions, and still allow bitterness, resentment, or unforgiveness to influence our hearts. But genuine faith should be producing more than confident words. It should be producing a life that increasingly reflects the character of Jesus.
As I reflected on this message, I was reminded that we all have circumstances that compete for our attention. We all face situations that challenge what we believe. There are moments when the doctor's report, the financial situation, the family struggle, or the uncertainty of tomorrow seems louder than anything else.
But here is what I want you to remember from Sunday's message.
Your circumstances may have a voice, but they do not have to control your confession.
You do not have to allow fear to determine what you believe about your future. You do not have to allow disappointment to convince you that God has stopped working. You do not have to allow what you see today to become the final authority over what God has spoken.
This does not mean pretending that problems do not exist or refusing to acknowledge the reality of difficult circumstances. It means choosing to trust God in the middle of them and allowing His Word to remain the foundation of our confidence.
As we continue growing together at Kingdom First Church, I want us to become a people whose faith is firmly established in the Word of God. A people who do not just talk about faith on Sunday but demonstrate it in the way we live throughout the week. A people whose conversations are filled with hope, whose prayers are filled with expectation, and whose hearts remain surrendered to the Lord.
There is a world around us filled with fear, uncertainty, and discouragement. People need to hear something different from those who belong to the Kingdom of God. They need to hear words that bring hope, truth, encouragement, and life.
Let our faith be evident not only in what we believe privately, but also in what we speak publicly and how we respond when life becomes difficult.
Keep your heart rooted in the Word. Keep your confidence in God. Keep your prayers filled with faith, and refuse to allow the circumstances around you to become louder than the promises of the One who is faithful.
Faith has a voice. Let yours speak in agreement with God's Word.
With faith and expectation,
Pastor Chris Tullis
Kingdom First Church
“Seek First The Kingdom”