Verses like these have engendered two opposite reactions. Some skeptics suggest that such verses are demonstrably false, asserting that it does no good to claim unanswered prayers are simply not according to God's will. On the other hand, some within Christianity use these verses to promote prosperity theology. It is needful to closely examine these verses and address misunderstandings from both sides.

How realistic is it to think that this is a license to overturn topographical features? This is certainly an example of hyperbole. The phrase 'moving mountains' was a Jewish metaphor for accomplishing what was difficult or virtually impossible, and points to the hyperbole of what is being said.

The person with faith does not ask for that which God would not or does not will; prayer is a two-way street, not a request hotline for all that we want. This is grounded in the realities and thought of the time of the Bible. In Jewish thought, God was sovereign. Nothing happened that God did not permit or cause. Early Jewish teaching did celebrate God's kindness in answering prayer, but rarely promised such universal answers to prayer to all of God's people as the language suggests. Only a small number of sages were considered pious enough to ask for and receive whatever they wanted—and that piety indicates that they weren't going around asking for just anything they wanted, but only what they supposed to be in the will of God.

Limitations are clearly set by the context, in two ways. First: The Lord's Prayer instructs us to pray for daily needs (Matthew 6:11)—it does not say, 'Give us this day a Rolls Royce.' We need to come to these texts on their own semantic terms. When reading a passage that we read (in modern English) as promising the moon, we need to factor in both ancient 'dramatic orientation' (hyperbole) as well as honor issues. Promises in the ancient Near East were often made with the full understanding that they were dramatic hyperbole, not an ironclad, literal guarantee.

Furthermore, 1 John 5:14-15 was written to Gentile readers, and thus it is appropriate that John added the qualifying phrase, 'according to his will'—such a qualifier would have been unnecessary for Jesus' Jewish audience. It would go without saying that a mountain (even a literal one) would go nowhere without God's approval implied.