Mark 9:17 And one of the crowd answered Him, "Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute;18 and whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it."19 And He *answered them and *said, "O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!"This struck me today -- Jesus had already given His disciples the authority to cast out unclean spirits (see Mark 3:14). Why, then, were they unable? I'm sure there are many interpretations to this, but I would like to share what the Lord spoke to my heart.As I read "Bring Him to Me!" it stung me. How often do we "lay our sick" at the feet of men instead of the feet of Christ? While God has granted men the power to do even "greater things than these" it is not of the men themselves -- it is GOD'S power. I believe Jesus was saying, "Bring Him to ME. Don't bring him before my disciples, bring Him to ME." (Please understand that I am not saying His disciples should not have been casting out demons -- I am merely saying that if/when we ask someone to pray for those we love, we should recognize that it is not THAT person, but God Himself who can heal. That person is only an instrument.)20 They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth.21 And He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood.22 "It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!"23 And Jesus said to him, "‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes."Many have taken passages like this to mean that it depends on OUR faith -- that if we aren't healed or our loved ones aren't healed it is because we haven't worked ourselves up enough "believing" power. But, what does it mean to "believe" God? In the Amplified Version of the bible it says that "believe" means to "trust in, rely upon and adhere to." Jesus was not telling this man to work up some magical belief within Himself -- but rather He was telling Him to TRUST Him, to RELY upon Him and to CLING to Him... this alone is the faith that pleases God.24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief."25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again."...28 When He came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, "Why could we not drive it out?"29 And He said to them, "This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer."I do not believe Jesus meant that they weren't PRAYING -- I imagine they DID pray to cast out the devil -- Jesus was saying you must TRULY pray. (I realize that on these forums things can be misconstrued so I will try my best to elaborate on what exactly I mean.) It is very easy for us to "pray" but not in agreement with the will of God. Jesus often had to rebuke His disciples because their hearts were not in line with His. Is it possible that the disciples, who were probably elated at their new ability to cast out devils, were no longer depending on the power of God to work these miracles? Perhaps they were not praying in the Spirit, but rather in the flesh -- that is, not praying in agreement with God's purpose (for further info listen to Paris Reidhead's message, "If You Agree"). In another account of this, Jesus said "But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." (Matthew 17:21)What does it mean to fast? (There is a physical and spiritual application to this, I realize.)"Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke?" Isaiah 58:6"Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high." Isaiah 58:4We see an example of the disciples' weakness in this area soon after this other parable. (I'm sure it's not accident that these stories are in the same chapter) Mark 9:33-34:33 They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, "What were you discussing on the way?"34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest.To sum up my point, Jesus wants us to recognize that it is HE who has the power over death -- we must abide in Him and learn His ways and walk in them in order to have true authority over "unclean spirits."I began listening to a message by Carter Conlon today called, "The Heavenly Side of Unyielding Prayer." It might go well with this study of Mark 9.”True, He will use men to fulfill His purposes, as He has always done ... but when we understand that GOD ALONE is the True Shepherd of the sheep, then we will come to understand that true shepherds here in the earth are only true shepherds in as far as they walk in the ways of the True Shepherd, and speak the words of the True Shepherd, and do the works of the True Shepherd. They are not true shepherds in their own right, in virtue of some office that has been conferred upon them by God or by man.” George H. Warnock Hope this all made sense!!--Maria
