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Sep 23, 2018 6193 Father Roy Palatty CMI
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Speak to Your Everest

Edmund Hilary was the first person to conquer Mount Everest. The first time he tried, however, he failed. The Queen of England knighted him and at the gala occasion, on the wall behind the head table, was a huge picture of Mount Everest. The people gave him a standing ovation for even daring to attempt the climb. When they ceased applauding, Hilary turned his back to the audience, faced that picture and said, “Mount Everest, you have defeated me once and you might defeat me again. I will come again and conquer you because you can’t grow, but I can.” With Tenzing Norgay, Hilary conquered Mount Everest in 1953. Hilary spoke to the mountain and he conquered it.

If you do not talk to your mountains, your mountains will talk to you. Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him” (Mark 11: 23). Jesus chose a mountain to represent our problems. Mountains are big. They seem permanent, as if we cannot do anything with them. A lot of times we pray about our mountains: “God, please help me conquer mountains of temptations. God, please take away mountains of fear and anxiety. God, please cast out mountains of sickness and sorrows.” It is okay to ask for God’s help, yet this is not sufficient. When you face a mountain, it not enough just to pray. Rather, you must speak to or command the mountains.

You can speak to mountains of temptation, fear, anxiety, sickness and sorrows. You need to say, “Fear, I command you to leave. I will not allow you in my life.” If you have health problems, instead of begging to the Lord to heal you, you can declare to that sickness, “Sickness, you have no right in my body. I’m a child of the most-high God. My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. You are not welcome here. I’m commanding you to leave my body.” You need not worry in speaking to your problems. As Saint John says, “You are of God. The one who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4: 4). We are of God—what an assurance and reinforcing promise! Do not underestimate what God can do through you.

Reverend Mathew Naikamparambil is a pioneering Charismatic preacher in India. He once shared with me one of his healing experiences. Once, he and his team committed to a three-day preaching and healing service in Manchester, United Kingdom. They were almost ready to go when two of the team members were found to have chicken pox. The office staff at their retreat center made arrangements to isolate them. A day before having to fly out, Father Mathew also found two bubbles on his hand. Instead of preparing to isolate, he decided to command to this mountain of chicken pox. He said, “My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. You, chicken pox, have no authority to control me now. You are not welcome here. I’m commanding you to leave my body. I will preach the works of the Lord in Manchester next Tuesday.” Faith succeeded: the mountain of chickenpox disappeared. He flew to Manchester and offered the healing service.

If you have dealt with long-term sickness, depression or addiction, it may seem like it is never going to change. When you speak words of faith, something will happen in the unseen realm. Mountains crumble, the forces of darkness are defeated and the enemy trembles.

What is the logic of this sort of prayer? When you declare and speak to mountains, you do it not in your authority but in the authority of the Son of the Living God. All Heavenly forces come to attention and become alert in working for you. The mighty army of the Lord will stand behind you. As the Psalmist says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for you are with me” (23: 4). He continues: “No evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent. For He will give His angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways” (91: 10-11). Since we are of God, the mighty warriors of the almighty are always with us. No power can stand against our God. Let us rekindle the gift of faith given to us. When you speak and you do not doubt, the mountain will be removed.

Pope Francis says, “Christ has fully triumphed over evil once and for all, but it is up to us, to the people of every epoch, to welcome this victory into our life and into the actual situations of history and society.” In your trials, sufferings and disappointments, remember Christ’s victory. Invite the reality of Jesus’ triumph into your life.

Hilary conquered Mount Everest not in a day or in few months. At each stage of success, he celebrated. Never fail to speak to the mountain that you will conquer it one day. Your mountains may look the same month after month. Do not worry about it. In the unseen realm, things are changing in your favor. The very first day you start speaking to the mountain in faith, its foundation starts crumble. Scripture tells us that once when Jesus was walking through a town, He saw a fig tree and went to get something to eat. The tree did not produce any fruit. Jesus looked at the tree and said, “You will not produce anymore.” Jesus talked to the tree. Jesus walked away and it did not look like anything had happened. The tree was just as green and healthy as it was before. I am sure some of His disciples whispered, “See, our Master’s word didn’t work. Jesus must have lost His touch because He said for it to die but it didn’t die.” What they failed to realize was that underneath the ground, in the root system, all life was cut off to the tree the moment Jesus spoke.

When they came back through the town a little later, the disciples stood in amazement. They said, “Master, look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered” (Mark 11:21). In the same way, when you speak to your mountains in faith, the forces of Heaven go to work. The Lord releases favor. He moves the wrong people out of the way, sending healing, sending breakthrough, sending victory.

You may not know what God has done for some time. That mountain may look just as big and permanent and strong as it was before. If you stay in faith and keep speaking to the mountain, all of a sudden you will see that the mountain has been removed. Your mountains will respond to your voice in faith in the power of the Lord. Regularly reading scripture passages that inspire you to speak to your problems encourage you. Jesus spoke to the storm (Luke 8: 24), He spoke to the fever (Luke 4: 39), He spoke to the spirit of the mute (Mark. 9: 17) and many others. You probably have talked about the mountain long enough. Now you need to talk to the mountain.

Faith in Jesus is one thing. Faith of Jesus is another. We talk more about faith in Jesus. Indeed, it is significant. Yet, it is only a starting point. More significant for us is to speak about faith of Jesus. This faith helps us speak to the problems rather than speak to the Lord about the problems.

Prayer: O Lord, share Your burden about Your people with me as you shared it with the Prophet Nehemiah, so that I may be able to pray eagerly, love gently, and minister confidently. Help me to understand Your unfathomable ways of leading Your people to an eternal city of God. Let my hope and trust never tremble when I walk through the valley of challenges. Amen.

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Father Roy Palatty CMI

Father Roy Palatty CMI is a priest of the congregation of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate. He earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium and is a published author of books and articles. Since 2014, he has been serving as Spiritual Director of Shalom Media, a Catholic media ministry based in South Texas. Shalom Media is home to SHALOM WORLD Catholic television network and publishes Shalom Tidings bi-monthly magazine. Father Varghese is a gifted speaker and has been an in-demand preacher around the world, leading numerous retreats for priests, religious, and lay people.

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