NOTES for Mar 11:11-25
Although the words about the fig tree and its withering seem more or less understandable, it remains unclear how the sayings about casting down mountains and the power of faith are connected with this. And indeed, Jesus was not calling people to perform all kinds of magical tricks with nature by means of faith.
The incident with the fig tree is undoubtedly a symbolic action meant to show the sad condition to which Israel, and especially its leaders, had brought itself. In Jesus' opinion, the chosen people for the most part were not fulfilling the mission laid upon them: to be a witness of the divine presence in the world. The same meaning is most likely put into the words about moving "this mountain," that is, the Temple Mount, into the sea. Here, of course, we have figurative speech. From now on Jesus' followers receive the ability to "move the mountain" of the most complex circumstances of existence, both of all humanity and of each individual person, that is, to comprehend the divine designs concerning what happens both in the surrounding world and in the depths of one's own soul. Apparently the original meaning of the words about casting down the Temple Mount, in connection with the words about the fig tree, was to explain the providential character of the destruction of Jerusalem and the catastrophe of the Jewish people, who did not listen to the warnings and rebukes of their Messiah. Now this can be understood as a constant reminder of the fragility and futility of all human efforts to "preserve" and "tame" God for the achievement of purely earthly interests and goals, whether personal or universal.
As for God's unquestioning fulfillment of the requests and prayers of the believer, here the main thing is not to lose sight of the expression "faith of God." It can be translated as "faith in God," as "God's faithfulness," and even as "the faithfulness of God Himself." Regardless of the variant chosen, the essence of Jesus' instruction is clear: true prayer, being turned toward God, consists of actions, words, or unmoving silence in the Holy Spirit. And such an attitude and state make it completely impossible for a Christian to do anything without God and not as God does it...