We have to change on the inside first to bring about change in the outside.
If we try to change our habits without the conviction to do so on the inside in our hearts, the change does not last.
We see a beautiful tree on the outside but it is the hidden roots of the tree that are the life and source of the tree.
It is the same with the spiritual. We ignore or minimize the importance of the spiritual and focus on our five senses in the world. Our senses are important but prayer is powerful. Just because we cannot ‘see’ what looks like the hidden prayer, does not mean that it has no effect on the world.
Focusing only on our senses is like putting a band aid on a cut and expecting the band-aid to heal the cut. It does not. It only covers the cut.
Mark 11:12, 13, 14,
The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.
Mark 11:20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25
In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly 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. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”