A couple of years ago I came face to face with a very sobering and heart-wrenching revelation: my faith was not where I thought it was.
But I didn’t know that until “I didn’t see” the faith results I was seeking. I had convinced myself that my faith was at a place where it was not.
A very dear childhood friend had fallen into a coma and her doctors were guardedly optimistic. I prayed for her recovery and healing. That’s what a person of faith does who believes in the power of prayer. She died.
When I read verses like Mark 11:24 – Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them – I believe them. So, why didn’t my prayers get answered?
The Bible had the answer. But it was not easy to hear.
Do you remember the story of the father who brought his lunatic son to the disciples for healing? The record is found in Matthew 17.
(14) And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
(15) Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for oftimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
(16) And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
(17) Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
(18) And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
(19) Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
The disciples’ question in verse 19 caught my attention. “Why couldn’t we cast out the devil?” The father brought his son to the disciples because he believed they could cure him. The disciples had the same expectation. Why? The answer is found in Matthew 10:1.
And when he (Jesus) had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.
The disciples had cast out devils before. So why was this devil different? Was he more powerful than the others? Was he uglier? Ladies and gentlemen, the devil was not the issue.
I’m going to make this personal: “Jesus, why didn’t my prayers get answered?” Like the disciples, I expected my prayers would be answered because many had been answered before.
I’m sure the disciples didn’t expect the answer that Jesus would give. I certainly didn’t.
Returning to Matthew 17. Look at the first part of verse 20 – And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief.
The disciples’ lack of faith was the issue. Barry’s lack of faith was the issue. I had faith. The disciples had faith. We just didn’t have not enough. Jesus’ response was straightforward, not sugarcoated and to the point. He didn’t give the disciples a pass. He didn’t give me a pass. He won’t give you a pass.
Jesus laid the responsibility for the child not being delivered squarely on the disciples.
Simply put, the disciples didn’t have enough faith to cast out the devil. Please let this sink in.
Now look at the truth Jesus gives the disciples (and Barry and you) to deal with the unbelief.
(20) And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
(21) Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
The first thing Jesus tells the disciples: “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed ... nothing shall be impossible to you.”
We have wrongly taught “mustard seed faith” in the Church.
Four chapters earlier in Matthew 13, Jesus gives the parable of the mustard seed.
(31) Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
(32) Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
We have been taught that all we need is a little faith – like a grain of mustard seed – to see God move. But that is not what Jesus is teaching. He didn’t tell the disciples that a little faith is all they needed to cast out the devil. Instead, He paints a picture of the type of faith they needed in this situation.
“Hey guys,” Jesus says, “do you remember that huge mustard tree we passed a few days back? Its trunk was massive and its limbs were thick and long. Remember how tall it was and the shadow it cast? Man! Oh, and remember all the birds’ nests we saw? That tree grew from a tiny seed – you’ve seen them – that was sown in the ground and over time produced a plant that grew and grew until you have the tree we saw.
“Listen to me, your faith is just like a grain of mustard seed. It has to grow if you are going to access the things of the kingdom. A little faith is not enough and now you know this. Your faith has to continue to grow and become so dominant that it overshadows and blots out any unbelief in your life. And when that happens,” Jesus smiles, “nothing will be impossible to you.”
A quick question: How do we help our faith grow?
Jesus also answers that question in Matthew 13:3 before He tells the disciples about “a grain of mustard seed.”
And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow.
Jesus is sharing what is commonly known as the parable of the sower. I’m sure you know the story. The seed fell by the way side, on stony places, among thorns, and finally on good ground. Jesus explains the parable in verses 18-24. The parable is also taught in Mark 4 and Luke 8. Both passages identify “the seed”.
The sower soweth the word. (Mark 4:14)
Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. (Luke 8:14)
How do we sow the Word into our lives?
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17)
But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost (praying in tongues). (Jude 20)
Based on what we’ve seen, we grow our faith by reading and then believing and adhering to what we read and by praying in tongues. If we are faithful to doing this, we will see our faith increase like the mustard seed that is planted and grows to become a massive dominating tree.
Let’s finish up Matthew 17 with verse 21: “Howbeit, this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”
What is the “kind” that requires prayer and fasting? Some teach that Jesus is referring to the devil that he cast out of the child. But is that true?
The “kind” Jesus is talking about is the “kind of faith” needed to cast out the devil.
What is the issue Jesus addresses with the disciples? Their unbelief. The Amplified Bible says it this way – “Because of the littleness of your faith [that is, your lack of firmly relying trust].”
The “kind” the disciples needed to cast out of the devil was a faith that required more prayer and more fasting than they were currently doing.
Now here’s the key to the verse. Stay with me. Jesus says “Howbeit, this kind goeth out...” He’s telling us where the faith is. It’s in our new born again nature. The prayer and fasting will bring out the faith that is living in us!
Most Christians, if not all, at one time or another, have had prayers answered. So we know faith is in us.
I now understand something more clearly than I ever have before: my “believing” the Word of God had been more of an “agreeing” than a “true and uncompromising belief” in the truth the Word of God reveals.
True believing – true faith – says that when we pray, we get what we pray for.
That’s the painful truth. Faith is always answered in the affirmative. When we pray according to God’s Word and our prayer is not answered, we didn’t have enough faith to make that prayer a reality.
But this I know: we can grow (increase) our faith. If we are faithful to putting on the Word of God and praying in tongues – our Heavenly prayer language – our faith will become so dominant that it will push out, piece by piece, the dark blots of unbelief in our lives.
Praise God!
