Only By Prayer

Only By Prayer

Mark 9:25 – Now when Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Mute and deaf and spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 – It shrieked, threw him into terrible convulsions, and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He is dead!” 27 But Jesus gently took his hand and raised him to his feet, and he stood up.

verse 28 – then, after he went into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?” 29 – He told them, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

Was there any other way?  Was this unclean spirit any different from the other unclean spirits the disciples had encountered earlier?  What made this situation different?

Look back at what happened to the disciples that led to this dismal failure.  When the disciples came back to Jesus and reported all they had done – that was the beginning of their list of failures leading up to the one in this story.  

Jesus was in the boat asleep in the storm – instead of praying to God like they saw Jesus do, they woke Him up because they were afraid to die.  Jesus told them to give the 5000 something to eat and they refused to pray to God in thanksgiving for what they had (5 loaves and 2 fish) – So Jesus stepped in providing a solution through prayer.  Again they were with a crowd of thousands and they refused to pray to God in thanks for what they had and Jesus intervened through prayer.  When in the boat a second time Jesus came to them in the middle of a storm walking on the water and they were terrified thinking they were seeing a ghost.  In the boat for a third time they argued over having brought no bread having only a single loaf between them all and Jesus told them they had a problem.  Their hearts were hardened with unbelief.

So now in this story a father, who had belief issues, said he brought to Jesus his son. Actually, the boy did not make it to Jesus at first. The boy was first seen by the disciples who had not yet learned their lesson.  They thought they could cast it out – and failed.  So, Jesus had to spell it out for them.  “This kind can come out only by prayer.”  There was never any other way.

The solution to any problem must begin with prayer.  I don’t know what challenges we will be facing today.  Let’s face them after having a conversation with Jesus in prayer!