Mark 9:22-23

Belief and walking in faith is often a process. It’s one thing to believe that Jesus forgives, that he saves, but often a different thing to believe he can change my circumstances here and now. I would go so far as to say there are many things God COULD do that don’t “seem miraculous” and yet they are because we won’t believe and follow and allow.

Jesus, Peter, James, and John have been on the Mount of Transfiguration. They have seen Jesus transfigured, seen Moses and Elijah, heard God speak saying, “this is my Son, listen to him.” Then on the way down, Jesus tells them, “don’t tell anyone until I rise from the dead.” With all they have seen and heard, they were most wondering about v10 what does he mean by “until I rise from the dead.” They don’t understand.

Then they all get back down and find the other eight having an argument with religious leaders and a crowd and want to know, what’s this all about. To which they find out it is over the request for freedom from demonic activity that a boy is experiencing and his father had brought him looking for Jesus, got the disciples, and they couldn’t do it. Jesus says, “you unbelieving generation… how long must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” Wow, I don’t know what Jesus sounds like but I sort of hear this.

I love the give and take here. Jesus is teaching us how to work in this circumstance. He asks the father about the history of the situation, “how long has this been happening to him” v21. It’s not that he didn’t know but I like what he is doing. He is teaching the disciples and sort of testing the father. Father tells him basically most of his life. He tells him it has been very dangerous, potentially fatal, and then instead of TELLING Jesus what to do, setting expectations, he says, “if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Ok – I believe this father is in a faith filled, humble position. The request is to feel this deep inside, compassion, and help, come to our aide. And then within that framework of request he leaves it to the Lord. I hear him saying, “Jesus, feel what we feel, come to our aid, do what you can, what you will, what you think is right.

IF? Well – Yes I can – “everything is possible for the one who believes.” – He’s asking, “do you believe, I can?” Where is your faith? Again, the man answered humbly and honestly. “I DO Believe, help my unbelief?” Honesty and a request for assistance where he falls short. In every circumstance, we need to trust our Sovereign Lord to do right, best, to feel fully what we feel, and come to our aid with the right answer. And Jesus speaks directly to the unclean spirit and says, “… I command you: Come Out of him and never enter again.”

So… yes, “everything is possible” – that word dynatos = powerful, able, possible – there is an idea of potential power – but there is a connection to Belief. Now, this has been misused over the last 2 millennia. This does NOT mean you just need to want it seriously, or beg furiously, it doesn’t mean to fire up your faith engine either. It means to place your trust in a fully confirmed fashion with the Power of God, the Will of God, the Purpose of God, and for the Glory of God. Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he reminded his sisters, “did I tell you that you would see the glory of God?” John 11:40

So, back to this story, in vv28-29 – the disciples ask Jesus privately, “why couldn’t we drive it out?” Alright, we are still learning. We tried, we didn’t succeed. And Jesus says, “this kind came come out by nothing but prayer.” Oh man, I didn’t get the words right, what’s the magic “abracadabra”? Prayer is where we ask God what he wants to do, and believe what he says, and in obedience follow and attempt the impossible. In 1 John 3:19-24, it teaches that our spirit, must line up with The Spirit of God. If then as we pray, The Spirit confirms with our spirit then things can happen. The Holy Spirit will confirm or condemn that 1) we are RIGHT with God 2) we are IN LINE with God’s plans, purpose, and timing and so THEN 3) when we ASK, fully informed, truly believing we have confidence before God and receive whatever we ask 1 John 3:21-22 – why because we keep his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight. So then John teaches there in vv22-23 that FAITH is evidenced by obedience and love or worshipful living.

My guess here in Mark 9 is that either the disciples wanted to do this for the wrong reasons, which at their developmental stage at the time was not uncommon; or it wasn’t God’s will for THEM to do it, but for Jesus to do it and be glorified and proven to be who he was. IF they had attempted this with MUCH PRAYER – the Holy Spirit would have revealed one or both of those realities and told them to get it right or wait for Jesus. Then, instead of arguing, and trying, they could have encouraged, Jesus will be back soon, and he will do this.

So, I come back to my first thoughts. So many things, like marriages, addictions, attitudes, struggles with anger, you name it, actions that fail to see deliverance in our lives is often because we do not believe God can, or we do not really WANT God to do it, so we don’t ask and believe. Do we want God to deal with our anger? Do we want God to fix our marriage? Do we want God to deliver us from the addiction? The come, pray, hear, act in faith and obedience, in love for God and for Others and then know that ANYTHING is POSSIBLE if we Believe.

Another side of this then is our lack of communion with God to ask what he wants and stay there. If he says, “yes, but wait” – Stay there. Sometimes God says “no” and faith stops asking, because God says, “no” so we receive the answer and stay in faith, but move from the ask. In all of that we can still pray confidently to God for compassion and help, full of faith, with great trust, knowing that God is Good, God is Great, and God is Going to Lead us From Victory to Celebration.