Mark 9:17-24

17 One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. 18 And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid.* So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.” 19 Jesus said to them,* “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” 20 So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. 21 “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied, “Since he was a little boy. 22 The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” 23 “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” 24 The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

One of the lessons that the Lord has been teaching me in this life is that there is still a lot of growing to go in my faith. Spending time with the Savior will reveal your spiritual shortcomings. Here is a man who looks at the Lord and utters the words “if you can” how often do we come with our doubt? Jesus responds by reminding him of necessity of faith to which he responds: “I believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” I am fascinated by this faltering faith statement. At first it just seems like a foolish contradictory statement yet this man manages to summarize in one sentence, what is probably the greatest obstacle to spiritual growth, faltering faith. This man was saying that although he believed in what Jesus was able to do, he was still dealing with doubt. Here is a man facing up to his faltering faith and being:

•  Honest

Even though he doubted, he still dared to be real and responded honestly to Jesus’ hard and humbling question “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” It’s easy to criticize this father’s faith but at least he didn’t fake it. What good would it have done him to claim a complete and perfect faith when Jesus already knew the feebleness of his faith? We may not have the faith to move mountains or to fully see the unseen, but if we will humble ourselves and be honest about our faltering faith we might see our families become free. Here was a father who didn’t fake it when the freedom of his family was on the line. What if we were willing to admit where we were and were willing to learn and hang in during these hard times? Honesty with our doubts can lead to the discovery of a deeper faith. Trials and temptations, difficulties and defeat can be either the food of faith or the faltering of it. Yet doubts can lead us to discovery as we search for answers. If we would stop long enough to look back on our lives we would realize that it is often only after a time of doubt and questioning that we grew in faith. Most of us want the comfortable and convenient yet how do you grow faith when everything is fine? It’s easy to rest on the foundation of faith when things are favorable, but it’s only when tragedy and trials and the hurt of heartache come that we find what our faith is really made of. Having faith that is strong like steel takes heat to harden and temper it. Many of us try to manage our doubt instead of letting it motivate us to move past the answers into a deeper discover of the Almighty. If we would stop denying our doubt and admit our questions of uncertainty we could step through the door of doubt into discovery. Why do we feel the need to try and manage our misgivings? What if we were willing to admit we don’t have the answers?

The good news is that when we face up to our faltering faith, when we admit it, that is, when we give God room to do only what He can do. Notice that Jesus didn’t say: “Sorry, you don’t have enough faith.” or “Muster up some more faith and come back later.” No Jesus responded and restored. We need to be honest with our doubts. It is only when we stop faking and start facing that we can grow in deeper faith. His honesty led to:

•  Healing

“When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to him, ‘You deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him, and enter him no more!’ Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, ‘He is dead!’” Here is an example of Satan and his evil servants’ determination to destroy. They seek to possess, control, and destroy. “Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose” What they seek to ruin Jesus resurrects and restores, the young man became normal. The demons lost control in the presence and power of the Lord. This is what Jesus does in response to faith, even a little faith, He frees and liberates what is lost.

Today when it comes to your faith do you need to fess up and be honest? Which is the greater sin, faltering in our faith or faking our faith? Even bold believers have times of doubt. John the Baptist in Matthew 11:1-6 had a bout with doubt, Jesus didn’t condemn Him for it instead He reassured him. I am acutely aware of my doubting questions over the years: Are you real? Do you really care about me? Will you really provide? If you do care, why did this happen to me!” God is not threatened by your doubts, He delights in increasing the faith of His children, so be honest and experience His healing.

Mark 9:14-19; 28-29

14 When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them, and some teachers of religious law were arguing with them. 15 When the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with awe, and they ran to greet him. 16 “What is all this arguing about?” Jesus asked. 17 One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. 18 And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.” 19 Jesus said to them, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? 28 Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?” 29 Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer and fasting.”

Jesus, Peter, James and John have been on the Mount of Transfiguration, in the presence of God and now they return to the problems of the valley. Most of us want to live on the excitement of the high peaks in our lives. We crave the moments of majesty on the mountain over the mundane. We try to thrive on the thrill of the mountain top, not wanting to descend into the difficulties of unbelief and religious ridicule. As Jesus descends to meet the disciples He is greeted by two groups, the religious leaders who hold a grudge, as He arrives they are arguing with His disciples, and the crowd who run to greet Him. In the absence of the Almighty we end up with argument yet in His presence there is awe. What a contrasting scene, the religious leaders in deep dispute, determined to set the disciples straight spiritually and those who are delighted to see Jesus. Yet the real fighting is not over who is right but who needs released. Faith has the power to:

• Free

Jesus asks them for an answer to the anger but it is a man in the crowd that answers. “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. 18 And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.” No wonder the disciples didn’t speak up, their faith has failed. I’m sure they had desired to prove their power in the presence of the Pharisees but they were pathetic. They were unable to free this young man from the destructive grip of demonic powers. It is important that we recognize demons are real, their aim is to discourage, disfigure, defeat and destroy. Today we are deceived into dismissing demonic powers yet they are real and relentless. Some of the deceptive thinking today lies in our faulty belief that as Christians we are free from the influence of Satan. Yet here are the disciples who walked with Jesus unable to free this young man through faith. Jesus’ response is important. He said,“You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you?” Jesus was not embarrassed by His followers, He doesn’t focus on their failure but their faith in the face of the enemy. Here we hear the holy voice of godly sorrow over the state of unbelief in a faithless people. Satan is at war with us, he is our enemy and his goal is not to embarrass but to destroy. This young man bound in the bondage of demonic powers is an example of Satan’s intention. In verse 21 we hear Jesus second question as He asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him.” Here we are given insight into the malignant nature of Satan and his demons, to control, they seek to kill. The problem is that when it comes to seeing people set free the disciples look for a:

• Formula

After failing to deal with this demon and watching Jesus drive it out they asked Jesus, “Why could we not cast him out?” Jesus reminds them that faith is not a formula as He replies, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting” They had walked with Jesus and witnessed His power yet somehow missed the prayer. Faith must express itself in communication with God and in personal sacrifice. Prayer is linking one’s life up with the Lord, listening to Him and obeying Him. Fasting is a matter of self-denial and surrender to the work of God in our lives. If we want to do anything significant for God we are going to have to be willing to spend time with Him and sacrifice some things for Him. The disciples had not done this, they had not taken the time to seek God in this situation, or sacrificed through self-denial. Faith is always tied to our focus on the Father. Our faith reveals our relationship with the Father, when we spend time in His presence through prayer we trust. There is a common connection between this kind of faith and what we do in our Christian lives. Those who don’t believe don’t pray and those who do not believe and do not pray certainly will not fast or deny themselves. When we don’t dwell in His presence there is no desire to deny self and surrender to the Savior. Dealing with the enemy is dependent on prayer and self-denial, this lack of power wasn’t a people problem but a prayer problem. The freedom through faith is found as we fast with our focus on the Father. There is power in prayer as we come into the presence of God in simple surrender. Today is your faith focused on the Father or a formula?