Matthew 17:20  – “Because of your little faith,” He told them. “For I assure you: If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. (HCSB) 

Have you ever had a Bible verse that you have probably read hundreds of times, heard read thousands of times, and heard explained too many times to count? That is Matthew 17:20 for me, but today I saw a word I had never really seen before, this. A very small word, a word easy to slide over while focusing on the “important” words, a somewhat insignificant word. Is it insignificant? Many Bible scholars and great Bible preachers have explained about moving the mountain, how it takes great faith, how it may take a shovel, how it may even involve moving one rock at a time. But, Jesus does not say move “a mountain”, and He does not say move “every mountain”; He says move “this mountain”. How many times have I prayed with a friend going into surgery and asked God to bless the medical staff, to calm my friend’s nerves, to make the surgery a success but failed to pray for miraculous healing simply because I didn’t believe it would happen? Because of your little faith. I believe God can do it, I’m just not convinced He will. If you have faith the size of a mustard seed. There have been times I prayed for miracles that didn’t happen. That was another mountain, not this mountain. The dictionary defines this as “a pronoun used to identify a specific person or thing close at hand or being indicated or experienced”. You will tell this mountain to move and it will move, not last year’s mountain, not a mountain from once before, not someone else’s mountain but this specific mountain that is close at hand being experienced right now. God tells us to call on Him and He will show us things we can’t even imagine (Jeremiah 33:3). Maybe that means telling this mountain to get out of my way!