We say, “Oh, we’ll do it with our arms wide open in worship to You, God. As I worship You and give You everything, I will lay down my life in sacrifice and climb this mountain for You because You are worthy.” That is really what the song is saying. The song is really not about God. It’s about them and what they will do for God. 

But what did God ask you to do? He asked you to love Him with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength and then love your neighbor as yourself. He never said, “I want you to suffer for Me. I want you to struggle every day for Me.” No. He sent the Holy Spirit to be our guide and comforter, to help us get out of our comfort zone, and to be our teacher so we can learn all the ways of God. We can learn that through the Holy Spirit and His leading in our life.

Behold, I will make you to be a new, sharp, threshing instrument which has teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, and shall make the hills like chaff.
      Isaiah 41:15 Amplified Bible (AMP)

And Jesus, replying, said to them, Have faith in God [constantly]. Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him. For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it]. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your [own] failings and shortcomings and let them drop.
        Mark 11:22-25 Amplified Bible (AMP)

Then he said to me, This [addition of the bowl to the candlestick, causing it to yield a ceaseless supply of oil from the olive trees] is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit [of Whom the oil is a symbol], says the Lord of hosts. For who are you, O great mountain [of human obstacles]? Before Zerubbabel [who with Joshua had led the return of the exiles from Babylon and was undertaking the rebuilding of the temple, before him] you shall become a plain [a mere molehill]! And he shall bring forth the finishing gable stone [of the new temple] with loud shoutings of the people, crying, Grace, grace to it!
        Zechariah 4:6-7 Amplified Bible (AMP)

It’s not by our efforts. It’s not by our sheer will. It’s by God’s Spirit that we have the power and are empowered to do anything at all. It’s from that close, intimate relationship and knowing Him—knowing that He’s got it covered, that His promises are true.

Every single one of His promises, the answer to it is yes and amen. It doesn’t matter what you see with your eyes. His answer is still yes and amen. But our understanding becomes a roadblock and a stumbling place where we think: “Oh, it hasn’t left yet.” “This hasn’t been healed yet.” “The struggle hasn’t left me.” “Maybe I’m supposed to be sick.” “Maybe I’m supposed to be poor.” “Maybe this is the banner I’m supposed to carry.” “This is a mountain I am supposed to climb, and I will climb it, Lord. With everything in me and every humanly possible striving in my body, I will climb it with my arms wide open and worship You.”

This is a bold statement I am making to you. I am saying there is a mountain you are climbing and you weren’t designed to climb it. You are designed to thresh it, to speak to it, to command it to leave. God moves mountains. He is a mountain mover.

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]
      John 16:33 Amplified Bible (AMP)

We will face trouble, but take heart, for the Lord has overcome the world. This doesn’t mean that when you are troubled, you should suffer and struggle and have pity upon yourself. It means in your trouble, you can look through it almost as if it’s a glass to the other side and see the promises of God. The answer is yes and amen. There is a way out. There is freedom. There is a miracle coming.

Jesus died for you to have life and life abundantly, and only deception can keep you from having that. Our deceived mind, not fully understanding what Jesus Christ has paid for us, can keep us from receiving what Jesus already provided. What? Yes. It is true. It’s for lack of knowledge that we perish, for lack of understanding. Yet in Peter, it says that we have been given everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him. That knowledge is relational knowledge.

We can be misled in the teaching. We can be taught by believers—people like me, or your pastors—who are teaching through their personal filters. Maybe they were hurt. Maybe they were let down. Maybe they didn’t get their miracle. So they teach through that. Sometimes it doesn’t happen. Sometimes it doesn’t work. Sometimes God’s word doesn’t come to pass. Sometimes God doesn’t do that. Sometimes God intends to put these things on you.

The truth is that we cannot filter God’s word through our own circumstance. We cannot filter it through what we see or what we know or our own reasoning. It cannot be a strainer for the word of God in our lives.

If something does not come to pass, if we don’t see the miracle, if we don’t see God’s hand at work in our lives, we cannot question if the promise is true. It is, regardless of whether you see it or not. It is truth beyond truth. It is unchanging. It is black and white. I will tell you that you can stand on it.

There are times when we don’t see it come to pass. But we cannot change our belief in God’s word when we don’t see the miracle happen. You believe it every time. I believe, every time, God wants people well when I pray for them. Not every person is healed, but I know it’s a desire of His heart. If I begin to compromise and think, “Well, sometimes He heals, and sometimes He doesn’t. Sometimes He wants people well, and sometimes He doesn’t,” then I become an ineffective vessel of God because I am doubting His word, and that is idolatry. I am putting my own understanding above God’s word, and that is unacceptable.

Have you done that in your life? Have you faced your own reasoning and reasoned God’s word into a package you can swallow, tolerate, or deal with? That is unacceptable. God’s word is true every time. It says by Jesus’ stripes we were healed. What does that mean? It means that Jesus, when He died, took stripes on His back. He was marred beyond human likeness, not only for our sins but for our physical health as well. That was two thousand years ago. That was all provided for.

Sometimes I don’t see that come to pass, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. It doesn’t mean it’s God’s will for that person to die. It doesn’t. We are in a true spiritual battle with an enemy who wants to steal our lives. He wants to kill us and destroy us and infect us with his STDs (spiritually transmitted diseases). He wants to twist the truth, suppress the truth, and make us doubt the truth, and then sidetrack us from God. He wants to fix our eyes on circumstances and put our understanding on our own analytical reasoning. He wants us to have a filter that processes our understanding of God through what has happened to us. This is the greatest way we can be deceived.

There is no mountain that can stand in the name of Jesus Christ because His name is above every name. It’s either above every name or it’s not. In Mark the Bible says we can speak to our mountains and they will be cast unto the sea. When you speak to your mountains, do they move or do they stay? Many times you speak to them and they stay. Does that mean the word is not true? Absolutely not. It is truth. You can stand on it. You can bank on it. If you speak to your mountain and it doesn’t move, then you need to ask yourself, “Why do I doubt? What is causing doubt?”

Mark 9:29 and Matthew 17:21 both say, “This goes out by prayer and fasting.” I believe, with everything in me, that doubt is eradicated in prayer and fasting. Many people pray and fast to move God, but prayer and fasting move us. They move our hearts closer to God. They remove doubt because we are focused on the kingdom. Seek first the kingdom of God and everything will be added unto you.

As you fast and you starve your body, your body no longer gets to control you or rule you. Suddenly your body learns, “Hey, I need to listen up. I am being retrained here.” Your flesh is no longer your ruler, and instead you’re fasting and starving it. You’re saying to it, “Feast on the word of God.” The more you do this, the closer you draw yourself to the Lord and the more doubt is weeded out. Therefore, faith can be effective. Your faith can become effectual by hearing the word and by prayer and fasting.

Many times, people think, “I’m going to pray and fast this mountain out of here!” Basically, “I’m going to give my sacrifice to God so He will have pity on me and see my great works, and then He’ll move.” I can tell you right now, God does not move based on you. He moves based on His will and who He is. He is just that good. His love and His grace are irrational. He is uncontrollably generous. It is the kindest love you will ever know. It is so fruitful and so radically true that you can bank on it every time. He moves because of who He is and His great love for you. He does not move based on your behavior. He moves because that’s who He is.

The name of Jesus has been granted to you for you to use the authority to speak to your mountain so it will be cast into the sea. If you are not seeing that happen, check out those other verses because God did not call you to climb your mountain with your arms wide open. He called you to speak to your mountain. He called you to tear it down using His name, using His authority. It’s His power behind it. It’s His life. It’s Jesus’ blood. It’s Him being marred beyond human likeness that gives you great authority to use His name.

God has already done it. He has already provided. But will you reach out and grab it and take possession of it? Will you use it in faith, knowing God’s promises come to pass because His answer to them is always “yes” and “amen”?