Today my six year old looked at me with those wide eyes and asked, “Momma, is it true? Can I really move a mountain if I have faith?”

And I was sincerely thinking about how to answer him and not think like a pastor, or theologian. Or someone who has preached this verse…

Jesus help me think like a child again. Because when Jesus said in Mark 11:23 that if you speak to a mountain and do not doubt in your heart it will move… what did He mean?

Was He teaching landscaping? No. Of course not. In Jewish thought a mountain was never just a pile of rock. A mountain symbolized something immovable. Overwhelming. Impossible. Rabbis even called great problem solvers “uprooters of mountains.” Imagine that! I will be an ‘uprooter of mountains’!

So when Jesus said, “Speak to this mountain,” He was speaking into a culture that understood symbolism. He was saying: What looks impossible is not immovable when God is involved.

Jesus did not say:
Have strong positive thoughts.
Or shout loud enough. Or manipulate reality with your words. He said, “Do not doubt in your heart.”

The Greek word for doubt there means divided Split in two…

Faith without division.
A heart aligned.
A will surrendered.

Mountain moving faith is not about bossing God around.
It is about being so aligned with Him that what you speak is already echoing His will. Tough one hey?

Jesus never randomly moved mountains. But He calmed storms. He forgave sins.
He broke religious systems.
He moved what stood in the way of the Kingdom. That is the key. Mountains move when the Kingdom needs a path.

Sometimes the mountain is outside of us. A diagnosis.
A financial impossibility. A closed door.

And sometimes the mountain is inside of us. Fear. Unforgiveness. Unbelief.

Often the first mountain God moves… is the one in our own heart. So when my little boy asked me if he can move mountains, I told him:

“Yes, my love. You can.
But not because you are powerful. Because God is.”

Faith is not magic. It is trust. Faith is not control. It is surrender. Faith does not deny the mountain. It speaks to it while standing with God.

And sometimes the mountain does not physically move.
But something stronger happens.

You do.

The same Jesus who spoke about mountains also walked to a cross instead of avoiding it.
Some mountains are removed.
Some are climbed. Some are carried. All are surrendered.

The point was never about rocks shifting. It was about hearts that do not split in two. It was about children who believe their Father can do what looks impossible. And honestly?

I think that is why Jesus said we must become like little children. Because my six year old did not ask if it was metaphorical. He did not ask for Greek definitions. He simply asked, “Is it true?”

And the answer is yes.

Not because we command creation. But because we belong to the Creator. Move the mountain?

Yes.

But first… let Him move you.

Love
V.L.