Mark 9:14-29 Faith and Prayer

First Things: Devotions in Mark’s Gospel

Mark 9:14-29 Faith and Prayer

In this amazing story, we find a boy eaten up by the demonic. What are the solutions? Today, we would take him to any number of doctors and psychiatrists. He would be subjected to all kinds of tests, and prescribed all kinds of medications. We would search the internet and wonder if we should try this or that experimental treatment. And, none of them would work.

I am not saying that we should avoid doctors and medicine. I am saying that there is much that is beyond their help. Praise God for how they can fix what is physical. We go to God for help with the spiritual. And it is often difficult for us to discern where the line between the two lies, if such a line, in some cases, exists at all.

And so the father brings the boy to Jesus. But Jesus is not immediately present. And so the disciples give it a shot. They’ve been out on mission. They’ve thrown out evil spirits before. But not this time. This one is too tough.

Jesus steps in a mentions a couple of unpleasant things. First of all, he calls us “faithless,” or “unbelieving.” This is a difficult subject. There seem to be different kinds of faith, perhaps differing intensities or qualities. Were they totally lacking in any kind of faith? Or were they lacking in the kind of faith that was needed in this particular case? At least the latter.

And that should concern you and me. Not because we will face exactly the same situation. But because we will face new and different situations for which our faith may not be prepared, or for which our faith may be deficient. And we will be out of our league.

But wait a minute. When it comes to faith, aren’t we always out of our league? When dealing with things spiritual, are any of us adequately equipped? I don’t think so, and perhaps this is where the disciples erred, in that they had forgotten that their past experience under the power of the Holy Spirit did not guarantee present of future success, especially when one begins to place confidence for the present or future in past success. Each day is a new day, in which we stand in urgent need of spiritual power to accomplish spiritual deeds, and that power is not naturally resident in us, and comes only by faith, and, as Jesus says later in the passage, prayer. We never graduate to self-sufficiency.

Better than the disciples, the man responds to Jesus’ call for belief by saying, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.” There’s humility in that statement. There is a plea for mercy. And there is a cry that is made up of two important things: both faith, and prayer.