SCRIPTURE: Mark 9:14-32
OBSERVATION:
A crowd was watching an argument between the disciples and the teachers of the law. Jesus response (vv.19) indicates that they were denouncing Jesus and His disciples as fakes. Jesus responds harshly (see Luke 9:37-45, “unbelieving and perverse generation”), but it is not the disciples He is angry with.
What might the symptoms that this boy had (robbed of speech, thrown to the ground, foaming at mouth, gnashing of teeth, becoming rigid, convulsion, rolling around on ground) be called today, mental illness? insanity? seizures? Here it is attributed to a deaf and mute spirit.
Jesus is challenging the lack of faith of the crowds (“If you can? Everything is possible for him who believes” v.23).
The man’s response is classic, “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief” (v.24) and is probably where many believers are today.
Jesus says some demons can only be cast out by prayer, yet Jesus doesn’t pray. It probably means that some forms of evil require a deeper prayer relationship than others. It is not a specific kind of prayer, but a deeper pray walk/maturity. The disciples were still too ‘green’ to take on this kind of demon.
Jesus knows the people want an earthly king that will defeat the Romans and set Israel free, but He is going to be crucified, break free from death, and set people free from the real oppressors (sin, death and hell).
APPLICATION:
Do I believe in the power of Jesus to heal. Though verbally I claim that God and Jesus can perform miracles, inwardly I often don’t expect the miracle to happen.
Am I trying to take on powers and problems that are bigger than my prayer-walk? If I am not spending sufficient time growing in the Lord, what makes me think I can take on Satan or his helpers? Like the seven sons of Sceva (Acts 19:13-16), am I trying to assault the gates of hell in my own strength rather than through my confidence and strength in the Lord?
I feel more like the disciples who did not understand what Jesus meant, I still feel so ‘green’ and unprepared to serve the Lord.
PRAYER:
Lord, help me to devote intential and consistent time growing in You, listening to Your voice through the Bible, and following Your will. May I be used by You to help set captives free from Satan’s lies and chains. Amen.
I love this passage, I think it portrays a fantastic image of how much prayer we really need to be doing and how real these battles are around us. I don’t think we take the demonic/angelic battles literally enough. It scares us to think “This constant fight between me and my substance abuse is really between me and a demonic grasp that the King of Darkness has on my soul.” I have been trying recently to actually see my walk through my day as that, a battle between God and Satan, it’s crazy some of the things you see, hear, etc. And I think we also don’t spend enough time in prayer to be handling a lot of the stuff we find when we walk that way. I don’t anyways, I wish I did.
One hard thing for me is that, in my field of work, I’m expected to write reports with clinical terminology, assessments, etc. How do I go about writing a mental illness as a possible struggle in the spiritual realm? I’ve had numerous talks with my co-workers about my faith, and it’s already concluded that I believe in a man-made story to them, (which is not stopping me from believing, only strengthening my faith). How do I go about this as one of the disciples said “becoming like them, but not of them”, and still keeping my faith while doing my job to the best of my ability?
Mark 9:14-32
This passage speaks dramatically of the spiritual battle that goes on around me and to which I so often am oblivious. This man at least recognizes the demonic influences in his son’s life. Do I do the same? Or do I like so many attribute physical, mental and spiritual sickness all too often to more “scientific” factors? This man doubts Jesus can heal and Jesus calls him to task declaring that nothing is impossible with one who believes. I do believe in general that Jesus heals but will he heal me or someone I’m praying for? Is it just a matter of stepping out in faith and aggressively and persistently praying for Jesus to heal. I think Jesus must often be disappointed in us as he is in his disciples who are frustrated their prayers didn’t work in this case.
But Jesus didn’t heal all the time. He only did what he saw the Father doing and as the Spirit led him. Similarly I too must discern how to pray and when to expect healing. Lord give me a revelation of your plans for the lives of all who are broken or in chains and need your healing grace and power. Than give me the courage and the faith to press in obediently for the power of the Holy Spirit to flow into these lives and situations.
I know that your kingdom is not just about words but rather the demonstration of your power. Show us your power L:ord. Nothing is impossible for you and you promised we would do more than we can even imagine.