Does Confession Bring Possession

I remember many years ago there was a doctrine being taught by many well meaning people that said "Confession Brings Possession." Today I was reminded of that teaching once again and feel like I should address this subject.

One exceptional teacher of the Word I listened to back then would always begin or end his teaching with the words of Jesus found in …

Mark 11:23 …"For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith."

It seemed like no matter what his subject matter was it always came back around to this verse and the one following it, verse 24 that
says …

"Therefore (which means … because of this) I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."

Wow … what a statement of promise given by the Lord Himself. I want to look at these statements by Jesus and some others along these same lines and see if we can figure out just what He meant by these highly exalted words of faith when we compare them to the reality of the world around us.

By using the term "figure out" … I mean we will most likely bring our mental understanding into play, which might be a mistake knowing our minds can't analytically comprehend the things of "faith."

But first I want to look at some preceding verses before I comment on these two main subject verses with a little history time line.

Earlier the day before, addressing the father of a child brought to Him in …

Mark 9:23 …"Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."

And then next on day two …

Mark 11:12-14 …"And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:
And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever. And his disciples heard it."

Continuing on to the third day …

Mark 11:20-22 …"And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God."

Jesus then delivers some of the most profound words that ever came out of His mouth. I use the term "out of His mouth" to remind you of something else Jesus said in Matthew 12:34 …"out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."

Our main text spoken by Jesus came from His heart; therefore He must have believed what He said to His disciples. Consider Numbers 23:19 concerning the words that proceed from the mouth of God. "God is not a man, that he should lie … hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?"

If I understand it right … Jesus "was" God in the flesh; and wasn't He also called "the Word of God"? So if my thinking is correct, our text, Mark 11:23-24 carries the same weight and authority as if God the Father had spoken it.

Here it is again as Matthew recorded what Jesus said to them the morning they saw the fig tree had … "withered away."

Matthew 21:20-21 …"And when the disciples saw it, they marveled … (His disciples wondering at his power, in causing the fig tree to wither so suddenly)
… Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily (truly) I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done."

"If ye have faith" … that is, in God, in His power; the object of your faith must be … "in God" … that He will enable you to receive what things soever you desire; "faith" which must also be understood, not only in the promises of God, but the faith for miracles; faith in the power of God to perform things that are even above the power of nature as this fig tree was.

"If ye have faith and doubt not" either in the power or the will of God to do … for you and by you … "what things soever ye desire."

Mark adds this phrase that Matthew doesn't … "Have faith in God" … not in your faith, not in what you know, not in what you think God has told you to go and do, not in your prayers; for if they are like mine, in and of themselves they don't accomplish anything; instead … "Have faith in God … and doubt not."

My feeble prayers aren’t much when compared with the lofty words of Jesus; but then again we don't do it, He does it, that's why we ask Him.

Getting back to our subject … "Does Confession Bring Possession"… I want you to notice some key words which I have highlighted in this verse.

Mark 11:23 …"For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith."

In the past when "faith teachers" dissected this verse, it went something like this, and I quote … "Notice doubt is mentioned only once; believe is also mentioned only once; but the word say or saith is mentioned three times. Therefore we must conclude that speaking, saying and confessing is three times more important than believing or even doubting" … unquote.

With this kind of teaching one can see where the doctrine of "Confession Brings Possession" came from. In all honesty, confession does play a role in our belief; but this doctrine is bent out of shape just a little too much for me. I'm thinking of The Book Revelation where John wrote about Satan accusing believers before God day and night and how they overcame him … "by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony." Both are important.

Pay close attention to the last half of verse 23 … "and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things, which he saith, shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith."

The understanding to receive "whatsoever" must be this … provided the person … "shall not doubt in his heart." The word translated doubt in this verse is "diakrino," which means "to withdraw from, to hesitate." The word translated heart is "kardia," which means "the middle feeling or heart of your being."

I have considered many of the elements that make up prayer … need, purpose, will, faith, doubt, confession, unbelief, our own sinfulness, God's mercy and grace and anything else you want to throw into the mix … leaving me to conclude that it all comes down to "doubt" as being the main cause of unanswered prayer. I don't believe that confession has anything to do with it. We don't have to "say" the right words, the right way, at the right time … only believe.

Is confession or speaking a declaration of faith the same thing? To me a declaration of faith is speaking what the Word of God already says about something. That way it's not just our words confessing what we desire; but rather what God has already said about the situation we are facing.

Notice in the next verse … Jesus is also talking about prayer, not just confession.

Mark 11:24 …"Therefore (because of this) I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."

Jesus told His disciples to "Have faith in God" or as it reads in the Latin Vulgate … "Have the faith of God"… that faith which has God as its source and author.

Paul speaks of the type of faith "God uses" when he writes in …

Romans 4:17 …"God … speaks of the nonexistent things … as if they already existed." (Amp.)

The K.J.V. reads …"God, who … calleth those things which are not as though they were."

John Gill in his commentary says this about mountain moving faith. "This must not be confined to the particular instances of drying up a fig tree, or removing a mountain, but the doing of any sort of miracle, how great soever. Nor is it our Lord's meaning that they should do these particular things; nor is it certain that they ever did: but His sense is, that, had they faith, they should be able not only to do such lesser miracles, as comparatively speaking, the withering of the fig tree; but they should be able to perform things much more difficult and surprising, whenever the good of the souls of men, the propagation of the Gospel, and the glory of God required them."

I think perhaps we should pay particular attention to how John Gill ended the remarks I have taken from his writings. He just may have given the most important key to receiving miracles rather then performing miracles; which is and I quote again …"whenever the good of the souls of men, the propagation of the Gospel, and the glory of God required them."

"Nor is it certain that they ever did" … it is unlikely that Jesus wanted them to change the landscape. To remove a mountain may also refer to overcoming or removing the difficulties and trials (mountains) which they would be called to endure in preaching the gospel. Remember these were His disciples.

We must never forget it is always God who provides the miracles when they are required to fulfill His purpose and plan; it's never us, it's God and God alone.

The words of Jesus in the following two verses is kind of like throwing a couple more logs on the fire … considering who said them … they have to be true.

John 14:13-14 …"And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."

John 15:7 …"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."

Does Confession Bring Possession? No … not by itself.