Faith As a Mustard Seed; Move a Mountain

David W Palmer

(Matthew 17:18–20 NKJV) And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. {19} Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” {20} 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.”

“Why could we not cast it out?”

“Because of your unbelief.”

Jesus clearly identified unbelief as a problem for his apprentices when they tried to exorcise this demon. But he did not focus on telling them to get rid of unbelief, or on how to take control over it. Instead, he taught them about faith: “If you have faith as a mustard seed …”

This is similar to saying the problem is darkness; the solution is light. No matter how dark it is, and no matter how combatively you attack the darkness, you will never extract it, scare it, shake it, or drive it out. But simply by turning on a light—even the smallest light—the darkness has to yield; it has absolutely no power to stop light.

This is why Jesus focuses on faith when dealing with the huge obstacle of unbelief. No matter how much or how dark our unbelief, and no matter how much it blocks us from walking in all the inheritance Jesus released for us; it has no power to prevent even the most minuscule amount of faith from growing to kingdom proportions. In truth, Jesus used the mustard seed to illustrate the size and type of faith you need to get started in even the most imposing, and seemingly impossible, situations. He said it can literally move a mountain … if …

Jesus said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed.” He didn’t say, “faith the size of a mustard seed”—even though the minuteness of its size is significant. He chose a small seed to illustrate that you don’t need a huge amount to get under way, but that you do have to have it “as” a seed. The noteworthy thing about seeds is that through their DNA, they contain an inner image of the fruitful tree they can become.

This is what Jesus said about a mustard seed:

(Mark 4:30–32 NKJV) Then He said, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? {31} It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; {32} but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.”

When a mustard seed is sown, it is small and insignificant compared with its imposing surroundings. This is how our faith begins; it feels tiny and inconsequential compared with what’s around it, let alone when compared to a mountain. But Jesus said that “when it is sown, it grows up.” So how do we sow it, and how does it grow up?

Seeing that faith comes by hearing God’s word (Rom. 10:17), and knowing that his word grows to fruitfulness in the soil of an “honest and good heart,” this is how and where we need to plant it; we need to take God’s word to heart through hearing it:

(Luke 8:15 KJV) “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”

So faith “as” a mustard seed is faith that begins small, but is sown deeply into the fertile soil of a good and honest heart. God’s faith can take root there and grow to harvest—if it has plenty of light, and if we get the rocks out, uproot the weeds, keep it well watered and nourished.

Our intellect doesn’t have to know how this works:

(Mark 4:26–28 NKJV) And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, {27} “and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. {28} “For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.”

“He himself does not know how.” This is a very important statement. We may not know how a TV works, or how a huge airliner stays in the air, but we know that they will. If we point the remote at the TV and press the correct button, the tv just works. Someone else designed it that way; they simply show us what we need to do with what they designed. God designed faith; he knows how it works. Our responsibility is simply to do as he instructs, and it will work. The outcomes are even more amazing than enjoying images and sounds from around the globe on a TV, or suspending thousands of tons of airplane, cargo, and passengers on nothing but air … amazing!

Today, if we obey some simple principles, we too can grow faith to a power that even mountains cannot resist:

First, hear the word. This is the only way faith comes. So keep up a continual diet of God’s holy word. Use whatever means (or variety of means) you need to enable you to receive, absorb, digest, plant, and water as much word seed as you can: listen to it, read it, study it, learn it, meditate on it, sing it, and pray it. Use any and every electronic device, post-it-note, song, social media, website, book, poster, or Bible. Keeping the word going in is keeping the light on and the water of life flowing. Remember, the word has to come into a good and honest heart, and faith only works by love (Gal. 5:6).

Second, keep your heart pure; keep out all unforgiveness, sin, and deception. All rebellious rocks need to be removed, and all weeds must be uprooted completely—cares, worries, anxieties, deceitfulness of riches, and lusts for other things (See: Mark 4:14–20). This takes some work, and it will bring you to the “fight of faith”; but with perseverance and diligent mind renewal with God’s word, you can overcome (See: Heb. 4:11, 1 Tim. 6:12, Rom. 12:1–2, Rev. 21:7).

Third, keep all competing seeds out of the soil of your heart. With some good old fashion discipline, you can lock out the seeds of worldliness, evil, and all negative input from the wrong people and entertainment, etc.

Fourth, release your faith in words: maintain a continuous confession of God’s word; keep up a life of praise, thanks, and deep heartfelt worship.

Fifth, never give up. As you continue in this lifestyle, faith will take root and grow. But like a seed growing outside in the garden, you cannot “feel” it growing. Your intellect doesn’t “know” how it grows; but Jesus said that it will grow—just like that huge airliner will take off when it gets up to speed along the runway.

Jesus explained that under the right conditions, your faith will grow until the harvest is ready. Then and only then is it equipped to move anything.

(Mark 4:29 NKJV) “But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

When it’s harvest time for the word you have sown into your heart, suddenly, God’s authoritative command will come forth from your heart through your mouth with a divine force that can move any mountain, demon, fig tree, or obstacle to your progress. Then you will know what Jesus meant when he said faith “as” a mustard seed. The tiny faith that got in under Satan’s radar, and lodged in your heart, has now become the “tree” Jesus spoke of. In Daniel, the Holy Spirit also described it as a world dominating rock:

(Daniel 2:34–35 NLT) As you watched, a rock was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands. … But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth.

This passage pictures a seemingly small word from God— “a rock was cut from a mountain”—that grew into a triumphant and dominant mountain.

Your faith can grow to worldwide impact too. So let’s get started today. It begins with a tiny seed vision, idea, or promise; but it can grow—given the right soil, nurture, and conditions—to completely destroy and replace Satan’s worldly kingdom in the area God has assigned to you.

(Hebrews 10:35–39 DKJV) Therefore, don’t throw away your confidence—your bold, blunt, forthright confession of God’s word—which has a great corresponding reward.

{36} For you must have persevering patience in this, and do the will of God to receive the promise.

{37} For yet a little while, and he that will come will come, and will not tarry.

{38} Now the just will live by faith; but if any man draws back, my soul will have no pleasure in him.

{39} But we are not of them who shrink back timidly—in contrast to bold, frank confession—to loss and ruin; but we are of them that believe to the saving of the soul.