"“So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20 (NKJV) When the disciples asked Jesus why their attempt to …
““So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Matthew 17:20 (NKJV)
When the disciples asked Jesus why their attempt to cast out a demon failed, His response was both simple and sharp: “Because of your unbelief.” (Matthew 17:20 NKJV)
He didn’t blame the devil. He didn’t say it wasn’t the right time. He didn’t even suggest they needed more practice. He pointed directly at the real issue: a contaminated faith.
In a world that often excuses spiritual failure as “God’s mysterious will,” Jesus makes it clear—when things don’t move, it’s not because God failed. It’s because our faith has been compromised.
He continues in Matthew 17:20 (NKJV), “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you”.
If you have faith that is pure, unmixed with doubt or fear or reasoning, it will move mountains.
For years, many believers have misunderstood this verse. We’ve thought:
“If only I had more faith—even just the size of a mustard seed—my prayers would work.”
But Jesus wasn’t emphasizing the size of the seed. He was talking about the kind of seed.
“If you have faith that is pure, unmixed with doubt or fear or reasoning, it will move mountains.”
The problem isn’t small faith. The problem is polluted faith.
It’s when faith is crossbred with doubt. When hope is entangled with fear. When confidence is strangled by “what if.”
A pure seed produces a pure harvest.
This is why Jesus added in Matthew 17:21 (NKJV), “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” Fasting doesn’t make the devil weaker. It makes your spirit stronger. It doesn’t twist God’s arm. It tunes your heart.
Fasting and prayer strip away unbelief, silence distractions, and purify your focus. They remove the “crossbreeding”—the toxic mixture of belief and doubt.
God is not the problem.
The devil isn’t stronger than your authority.
Faith works when it is pure.
If mountains aren’t moving, don’t assume God said no. Ask the deeper question:
Is my faith pure—or is it mixed with something else?
Song of Worship
Walk By Faith
Song by Jeremy Camp
Prayer: Father, make my faith whole again. Make it strong. Make it real. Let it be the kind of faith that speaks to mountains and sees them move. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Bible in 1 year: Ezra 1-2
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