Passage: Mark 9:14-29
The Big Idea
In the spiritual world, the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of heaven both bow to one thing: faith. While Jesus was on the mountain, His other disciples failed to free a boy from a violent spirit. When they asked why, Jesus answered plainly: unbelief. And the cure for weak faith is close fellowship with Him through prayer and fasting. Not more effort, not a new technique. Just humble, dependent faith, like the father who cried, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
Faith Is the Link
Faith is the link to the spiritual power God has given us as His children and servants. It determines whether you can or can’t in the spiritual world:
- Success or failure.
- Winning or losing.
- Real ministry or a waste of time.
When I try to do something for God’s kingdom and utterly fail, there’s always one reason: faith. I’m slow to see this.
I tend to think I failed for other reasons: “It wasn’t God’s will,” or “The problem was just too hard.” That’s a sneaky way of blaming God, or someone else, for my failure.
Today we’ll see the disciples fail where they should have succeeded. Then they’ll ask Jesus directly why they failed, and He’ll answer very clearly.
Humble, dependent, simple faith in God’s Son is the one condition God has set for His power to flow into a person’s life.
Faith isn’t a force that makes God do what you want. It’s trusting Him, denying self, and stepping forward to do what He wants.
And Jesus will give the solution for a weak and failing spiritual life: prayer and fasting, the path to stronger faith and real victory.
- The problem: a lack of faith.
- The cure: prayer and fasting.
They Could Not (Mark 9:14-18)
Remember, Jesus had just taken Peter, James and John up the mountain where He was transfigured. The other disciples were left on their own. Notice how they always seem to run into trouble when they’re separated from Jesus! Let that sink in.
When Jesus came back to the disciples, He saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them. As soon as the crowd saw Him, they were amazed and ran to greet Him. He asked, “What are you arguing about with them?”
A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought You my son. He has a spirit that makes him mute. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked Your disciples to cast it out, and they couldn’t.”
- They could not. Inability.
- Utter failure. Weak and defeated.
- And in front of a crowd and the scribes, it reflected poorly on Jesus.
“How Long?” (Mark 9:19)
Jesus answered, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to Me.”
- This expresses His grief that no one seemed to have faith.
- One commentator observes that these questions reveal the loneliness and anguish of the one true believer surrounded by a world of unbelief.
- But Jesus was about to take care of the problem. Watch.
“If You Can” (Mark 9:20-23)
They brought the boy to Him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into convulsions, and he fell to the ground, rolling around and foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the father, “How long has this been happening?” “Since childhood,” he said. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to destroy him.”
- This was a big problem, rooted deep in the boy’s life.
- But not too big for God! The size of the problem is not the problem.
“But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us!”
Jesus said, “‘If You can’? All things are possible for the one who believes.”
- The father said, “If You can.” He questioned Jesus’ ability.
- Jesus turned it right back: “If you can believe!”
- “The problem isn’t My ability or My compassion. The problem is your faith.”
“Help My Unbelief!” (Mark 9:24-27)
Immediately the boy’s father cried out with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
This is a great prayer:
- Honest
- Helpless
- Hopeful
- Specific
- Passionate
- Urgent
- Persistent
When Jesus saw a crowd running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit: “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again!” After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he stood.
Jesus answered that father’s honest prayer and set his son free.
Why Couldn’t We? (Mark 9:28-29)
When Jesus had gone indoors, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?” He said, “This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting.”
Matthew adds Jesus’ first answer: it was because of their little faith. Even faith as small as a mustard seed, He said, could tell a mountain to move, and nothing would be impossible for them (Matthew 17:19-20).
Put them together and we get both the problem and the solution:
- The problem: unbelief.
- The solution: prayer and fasting.
(Some early manuscripts of Mark have only “prayer” here. Either way, the point is the same: deep dependence on God.)
For Jesus’ servants to experience His full power, they must live in very close fellowship with Him. That’s what prayer and fasting develop.
- Prayer grows our faith and keeps it strong. With prayer we take hold of the life, power and will of heaven.
- Fasting keeps our prayer focused and free of distraction. With fasting we let go of the world.
How Prayer Grows Faith
- Prayer brings us before God’s throne. That’s where faith grows: in His presence.
- In His presence we feed on Him. God Himself is our life and food, and prayer is how we enjoy that feeding fellowship.
- In prayer we worship God and wait on Him. Each of these enlarges our capacity to know and trust Him.
- Praying God’s Word convinces our hearts to live by it. In prayer we discover that what He says is true and faithful.
- Time matters. Spend real time in prayer, and faith will grow. Relationships only grow with time.
How Fasting Helps Prayer
- Fasting loosens our grip on this world. Food is one of the ways we’re most connected to this world. Remember the Garden: the enemy used food to deceive Adam and Eve, and he used food to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. Through this physical act we learn to live as spiritual people, denying the desires of the flesh so the Spirit can be our only source of life.
- Fasting trains us to want His kingdom above all. When we set food aside, we’re learning to live as people willing to give up anything to seek God’s kingdom. He must increase; I must decrease (John 3:30). God’s power flows freely to a heart devoted to His kingdom, but a divided heart, “my kingdom matters as much as His,” cuts us off from it.
- Fasting reminds us victory is won in the unseen realm. It’s not about how strong we are. His power and Spirit win every victory, and fasting helps remake our thinking.
- Fasting is never a work. It must be joined to prayer. It’s not a magic ritual or a way to earn something. It’s for the purpose of abiding, prayerful fellowship with God.
(If you have a medical condition, or have struggled with food in the past, talk with your doctor and choose a form of fasting that’s safe for you, like setting aside a meal, media or another distraction to pray.)
The Solution We Don’t Like
The solution to faithlessness is prayer and fasting. And we don’t like that solution. We’d rather come up with a new philosophy that lets us look to ourselves in some way: “If I just do this or that. If I just try harder or do more.”
But God says only a deep, full spiritual connection with Him will ever give us the power to be His disciples and make an impact on the evil and brokenness around us.
If we want to be spiritually strong, we need faith alone, humble faith.
The father who cried, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” is our example: humility and faith.
And Jesus says, “I will!” Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you (James 4:8). Pray. Fast. Let go of the world and grab hold of Him!
Grace Takeaway
The disciples’ failure wasn’t a lack of technique; it was a lack of faith, and Jesus’ cure was more of Himself. You don’t need perfect faith to come to Him. You can bring Him the same honest, tearful prayer that father prayed: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Spend time in His presence, let go of the world’s grip, and watch your faith grow in the One for whom nothing is impossible.
← You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet | All Mark notes | The Path to Greatness →