14 And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 15 And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. 16 And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” 17 And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 18 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” 19 And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” 20 And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21 And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” 25 And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. 28 And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29 And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.As I was reading through Mark 9 this morning I got to the verses you see above. I couldn't help but see the situation unfold and think of Jesus' rebuke of the disciples when they were unable to cast this demon from this boy. "O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?" Of course, Jesus referred to, but not ONLY to, His disciples here. There were crowds of people there at the time, and the message was for all of them as well. Faithless generation. Then there was the question the disciples didn't pose openly, but waited until they and Jesus were back in the house to say "why could we not cast it out?" Wonder why they asked him that privately? Jesus responds simply, "this kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer. I have heard so many sermons preached on this passage, and many reasons why Jesus said this to the disciples. As I think about it now, I can only wonder since the text doesn't lay it out specifically, what the disciples said during their attempts to cast out this demon. I imagine they could have just shouted at it to come out; they might have even evoked the name of the Lord while attempting. I don't know-but what appears evident by Jesus' answer to them is that whatever they did/said, it wasn't prayer. I think of so many instances in my own life that have me perplexed. Issues that keep my stomach in knots, and my head hurting with thought. Problems, quagmires, and the like that I feel I have to come up with an answer for. You know, the man thing, solving problems...I wonder if the disciples felt like they not only had this problem to solve, but had the ability within themselves to solve it. "Oh, this kid has a demon, let's cast it out!!" Zealous, excited, confident, sure......all good at times, but at other times deadly. I've been zealous, excited, confident and sure too. Sometimes though, that zeal, excitement, confidence and sureness were elements of prideful thinking. Such thinking has often caused me to look to self to accomplish a particular end. This is the opposite of the type of dependence we are to have in our Lord. Looking back on many of those instances I see the evidence of self-reliance in the fact that I didn't stop to pray....When that problem arose, I depended on my own wisdom instead of heeding the text in James that says clearly: But if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God....(James 1:15). Maybe, just maybe, the disciples failed here as I have many times before. AW Pink has said, "Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude—an attitude of dependency, dependency upon God." Now, while I still believe prayer to indeed be an act as well as an attitude, I think the key is dependency upon God. The disciples possible lack of this attitude in their casting out attempt could be at the core of their inability, no? Self-dependence is a strong enemy of prayer. A few short verses after this encounter, the disciples were arguing over who was greatest. What does the content of their argument reveal about their heart attitudes? Seems a short walk from self-reliance in the case of the demon-possessed boy to the prideful discourse about personal greatness, yes? "Why could we not cast it out?" Reading through the Westminster Confession, I see in the section on the commandments something interesting. As the various commandments are enumerated, they are expounded by dealing with BOTH what duties are commanded, and as a logical conclusion, what is forbidden. In other words, God says "don't make a graven image to worship...." and by it we know what to DO and what NOT TO DO. Jesus tells the disciples, "this kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer." In that statement we can see the messages, "don't trust yourself to accomplish these ends," AND "rely only on God." Perhaps I've read too much into this passage. I'd love to hear your comments. What I know, is that I've been caused this morning to reflect upon my own self-reliance, and my sometimes confusion about the lack of results (or the nature of the results) I see. God is not vindictive to His children, so I know that His revelation of my own pride, illusion of personal strength, and self-reliance are for my sanctification. Prayer is a grace that God has given to us to aid us in the putting off of these traits. When I pray, I'm conceding that I don't have the answer, I don't have the strength and ability required to accomplish any end. He does. ONLY He does. May God grant me the grace to pray not just as a list item, but to KNOW Him better, and as a result depend on Him more. Otherwise, I'll continue asking like the disciples, "what happened? the results were quite different than my expectations. I did everything I knew how to do, and it just didn't work." "Well," asks various texts of Scripture, "did you turn FROM you and TO the Lord in prayer?" Seems simple enough, but elusive enough to escape the grasp of both the disciples and myself at times. Have you just poured out your heart about a bunch of concerns, problems etc to a friend only to have them respond, "well did you pray about it yet?" And you have to embarrassingly admit, "well, no, not yet"? Yeah, it's sort of like that. We need reminding sometimes. I need reminding a lot. This passage served such a purpose, for which I'm thankful. I know this post went way beyond a drop of thought LOLOL, but it's just some random thoughts. What are yours? ---Philipians 4:6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
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