God has been reminding me of His promises, faith, and what it means to plant a seed lately. Most of us, myself included, like to believe that His promises will come to pass in the blink of an eye. While yes, He is God, and He could technically do that, but I think it does not always happen that way because we are to learn what it means to speak His promises over our life and watch the harvest grow. This is probably why Jesus spends a lot of time talking about a farmer and seeds planted.

We learn in the beginning of Mark 4 that when we are speaking the word of God over our lives, we are really “planting the seeds” of his words into our lives.

For example, when I was battling tendonitis in both of my Achilles I was placed in a boot for a month and went to physical therapy. At the start of the problem I started to pray “by your stripes Jesus, I am healed.” I prayed that promise over and over knowing I was already healed in my tendons; then one day I had the excruciating pain to absolutely no pain the next day. That was the seed (the word of God) I planted coming to pass. It took TIME or in biblical terms, it took a “harvest.”

Harvests do not just happen over night. A farmer does not plant a seed only to see a harvest come to full growth in one day, it took TIME to get that seed he planted to grow. It took watering and caring for the seed which is what I did with my Achilles when I wore a boot and sought physical therapy. I prayed the promise over my life, I believed in and had faith for what will happen, then I saw the seed grow and the promise come to life. I’m back to walking with no boot and zero pain. Praise God!

When we are in prayer for the promises and seeds to come to life, we must also speak these words out loud to the obstacle we are facing. An example of this in the bible is when Jesus is talking to His disciples in Mark 11. He says “²³Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. ²⁴  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Here we learn from Jesus to speak to the obstacle (mountain) we are battling and tell it to get away and it will happen because God says it will. Speak to the the disease, the financial crisis, addiction, family feud, mental disorder, or other, and tell it to leave your life because God said “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.” The obstacle you are facing must be cast into the sea (where it can no longer survive).

Remember, we are talking about planting a seed so once you begin speaking to your obstacle, you are planting that seed and in time you will see God’s promise of it being removed take place. It is going to take TIME.

Whatever you are facing today, find the promises God says in His word about it, and speak them out loud over your life.

Here are a few of God’s promises:

• Psalm 55:22 “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.”
• Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
• Jeremiah 17:14 “Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.”
• Philippians 4:19 “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus”
• 2 Thessalonians 3:3 “But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.”
• Psalm 3:5 “I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the Lord was watching over me.”
• Matthew 11:28 “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
• Matthew 28:20 “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Written by Natalie Crane