Open your Bibles to Mark 9… page
Take a look again at v17-18……
Let’s read now what Jesus did and the reason why the disciples could not heal the boy. Read along with me Mark 9:25-32…
v25-27: Jesus commanded the evil spirit to come out of the boy and then He healed the boy!
v28-29: The disciples asked why they could not drive out the demon. Jesus answered that the evil spirit could only come out by prayer!
Now, did we hear a prayer from Jesus before or during the command for the demon to come out? We do not read Jesus praying before or during the command for the demon to come out! But yet Jesus said the demon could only be driven out with prayer.
What did Jesus mean when He said that the demon could only come out by prayer? We’ll come back to this important question in our applications. Let us finish the story first.
What can we note from v30-31?
Jesus had an intimate teaching moment with His disciples!
How important was Jesus’ teaching at that moment and why??
Jesus was teaching about His death and resurrection! Jesus was teaching about salvation of souls!
How did the disciples handle this important lesson??
v32: The disciples could not understand the lesson, so they ignored it!!
And so, 2 important application points from this passage: The importance of prayer and understanding what Jesus says!
First of all, what is prayer??
Prayer is basically talking to God! But is it the same as just talking to a friend?
We should however note the power of the original Greek word for prayer which is proseuche, which actually means exchange of wishes!
And so, prayer is not just talking to God but asking for mutual desires. Prayer is affirming who God is and asking for what He desires!
And so, with this definition in mind, why couldn’t the disciples drive the demon out of the boy??
The disciples could not heal the boy of demon possession because they lacked faith in God! Faith is affirming who God is and trusting His will! Prayer is talking to God with our faith in Him!
How is our prayer life? Our Scripture of the week tells us that there is power through prayer form a righteous one. We must think about our righteousness with God before praying!
I like using the acronym CATS for prayer……
Now, does the passage tell us that disciples lacked faith? The disciples could not drive out the demon and we read in Mark 9:32, the disciples did not bother understanding what Jesus was saying! The disciples at this point still did not fully trust Jesus as God!
How about us today? Do we fully trust God and Jesus Christ? Do we truly hear God speaking when we read the Bible? Do we truly try to understand what God is saying when we read the Bible? When reading the Bible answer the 3 questions: What…. is it saying? Why…. is it there? How… can I apply it to my life?
Take a moment to quietly pray right where you are…
Confess…
Adore God…
Thank God…
Supplications (Ask)…
