We all like to think we have "mountain-moving" faith. Jesus Himself tells us that if we have faith as small as a mustard seed, we can move mountains (Matt. 17:20). And when the mountain does indeed move, it is a cause for great rejoicing—there is nothing more exciting than to see God move supernaturally, and to see some miracle of provision or some huge intractable problem divinely solved virtually overnight.

But what happens when you speak to the mountain and tell it to move? And you speak to it again, and again, and again ... and it still does not move? And you pray with all kinds of "prayer and supplications"—loud, warfare prayer, quiet and meditative prayer, thanking prayer, praising prayer, secret closet prayer, prayers of agreement, corporate prayer, prayers keeling, prayers standing, prayers prostrate on the floor—and still no answer?

What then? Is the Bible wrong? Does God not keep the promises He makes in His Word? Can we really trust God after all in the practical, nitty-gritty affairs of life and business?

In fact, God gives us a great promise in Proverbs 3:5 and 6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Our human minds can be our own worst enemy in the matters of faith, and human logic fails the test. His ways are not our ways.

So if we pray in faith and obedience, and that mountain does not move, then God has another plan for us; He wants us to CLIMB that mountain. We learn things during the climb that we need to make our faith work—you can't move a mountain you can't climb!

Climbing the mountain is not nearly as much fun as "moving" the mountain miraculously. Climbing means a lot of hard work, pain and patience. But it is during the climbing process that we learn lessons God needs to teach us, and develop character for the long term.

James talks about the trials and tribulations that represent mountain climbing faith: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of various sorts, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1:2-4).

Faith-Building Circumstances

God often puts us in the midst of trying circumstances so that we can grow and develop, and build our "faith muscles." And God won't remove those circumstances, until the work He wants done in our lives is complete.

Paul was given a "thorn in his side" (2 Cor. 12:7 and 8)—obviously not a circumstance he enjoyed, and he asked God no fewer than three times to remove it. A great apostle of faith, founder of churches, and a writer of significant parts of the Bible—but he couldn't "speak" to the thorn and tell it to go. God, for whatever reason, wanted Paul to put up with the thorn and let it do its work in his life.

Apart from the thorn (whatever it was), Paul was beaten, starved and was shipwrecked. In his own words, he labored and toiled, was cold and naked, and often went without sleep. If he could have just "spoken" to that mountain, there is no doubt he would have. But God was doing something much deeper and more important in his life. God wanted him to climb the mountain of faith.

Abraham, the father of faith to all Christians, also had to climb his personal mountain of faith. After waiting many long years to receive his promised son Isaac, God told him to climb up Mount Moriah and kill him! Who knows what personal agonies Abraham went through as he climbed, yet he had enough faith to trust and obey God in this supreme sacrifice.

He had told his servants before he began the climb that they would both be back (Gen. 22:5), knowing full well that God had told him to sacrifice Isaac. His faith had nothing to do with human logic—it was founded on nothing but total trust in, and obedience to God. Mount Moriah was his "faith mountain," and he had to climb it before he saw the miracle.

As Dr. David Jeremiah in his article, "Lessons of Faith from the Life of Abraham" says, "Abraham saw no contradiction between Isaac as the son of promise, and kill Isaac as an offering to Me. Abraham knew he could trust God ... Abraham only made it to the top of Moriah and down again, hand in hand with God's sacrifice, because he first followed the Trusting God Trail to the top of Mount Faith."

To climb this towering "Mount Faith," we need special mountain-climbing shoes. And the shoes we need were very aptly described by Charles Spurgeon, in a sermon delivered in 1861: "The man who is able to ascend into the hill of the Lord ... has nothing in himself, but he has everything in his God ... you notice first that his feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. You will want those shoes, O heavenly pilgrim ... You have to tread on stones that are as hard as iron ... You will find it a long way, and a stiff ascent.

"Have you had your feet shod yet? You are of no use for climbing unless you have. Unless you have peace with God through Jesus Christ our lord, which is the preparation of the gospel of peace, you can never ascend into the hill of the Lord."

Persevering in Faith

Rev. Spurgeon, in his stately way, is of course talking of the shoes that are part of the whole armor of God in Ephesians 6:13-18. Without them, our climb up the mountain of faith will be both painful and dangerous. With them, he goes on, "When you cannot walk He will take you in His arms, and when the road is so rough that you cannot even creep along it, He will bear you as on eagles' wings, till He bring you to His promised rest ... Trust thou in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength."

While you are climbing up the mountain you may meet all sorts of obstacles that you stub your toe against. And you may slip back, so that it feels like you are going two steps back for every step forward. But that is what perseverance is all about. You may meet people on the way up who will hold you back. But in the fullness of it all, God has allowed it to happen for your ultimate benefit. The higher the mountain and the more difficult the ascent, the more "hellish" your Himalayas, the greater the call God has on your life, and the greater and more glorious is your ultimate destiny.

Paul says in Galatians that the fruit of the Spirit includes "long-suffering" (Gal. 5:22 KJV), and enjoins us to persevere, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Gal. 6:9).

If God is calling you into ministry in the marketplace, He will for sure ask you to climb the mountain of faith before He can use you effectively. When trials and pressures come, just keep climbing, and let God mature you and build character for the long haul.

If He chose to put giants of the faith, such as Abraham and Paul, through a mountain-climbing ordeal to test and build their faith, then we should "consider it pure joy" as James says. We may be disappointed by events, and betrayed and defrauded by people on the way up, but we know with absolute surety that the climb is well worth it, and that when we get to the top, we will hear those inestimably precious words, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" (Matt. 25:21).