MARK 10:27 "But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”
So when you get online and you inevitably run into non-believers one of the reasons sometimes cited for them not believing in God is that He doesn't just come down to earth with some sort of giant parade and an announcement like when Aladdin marches into town to try and woo Jasmine in the story of Aladdin. He clearly already did that in the Old Testament and people still denied Him. Then you start getting into the well "this part of the Bible" is impossible! I think that is when you can take a bunch of different approaches and one is certainly to determine when the person has simply stopped listening and maybe walk away from that conversation. Jesus moved on from a number of cities that just couldn't handle the truth. The other is to think about the things in your life you thought were impossible, but because you have a walk with God and have been in prayer, they happened.
In this text, Jesus is using the idea of a camel passing through a needle's eye to give an example of something that is just impossible on a human level. Mark 12:24 And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”26 And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?” That is when Jesus tells them (and us) that "with God" all things are possible.
So there are a couple of key things here. God, Himself can do anything. Therefore it stands to reason that "with God" we can do anything which Jesus points out. This does not mean we can perform the impossible in an act "against" God and have God be involved. It is on His authority that our prayers are received and an action takes place. This is why context is important and "faith" true, belly belief system "faith" is critical. Mark 11:22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. Jesus is giving a pretty extreme example here, to highlight the power of God to do things we don't think are possible.
"Believe" here means "i.e. credit; by implication, to entrust". I think for me in my life, keeping an "eternal" perspective has always helped. It seems a lot of prayer requests I get, mean something to the person, but to be truthful most are focussed on the temporal. I am not saying that's bad, but what's more important? God's eternal plan for so and so, or so and so growing their leg back, getting the promotion, etc.?
So to go back over the concepts. 1. God can do the impossible (as defined by the abilities of man or man's mechanisms) and has already demonstrated that. 2. We can do "all" things with God and accomplish things that are impossible for us on our own. 3. Our "heart" condition is important. Jesus does not say that God is just going to do anything "we" want. He is not a genie waiting for us to just wish for random stuff. We want to come to God with the understanding that He has plans for us. Plans for welfare and not for evil, to give us a future and a hope. (Jer 29:11).
Questions: Do we approach God with a real heart (καρδία kardia kar-dee'-ah) ie, "mind and feelings" belief in Him? Do we see things go wrong or get a "no" in answer to prayer and spiral into doubt?" If we do, are we not trusting God at that point as Jer 29:11 states we should? How do we come back to God on those things with humility and trust?
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