QT 12/13/2023 Mark 9:17-29, We need help (prayer) and guidance (reading the word)

Mark 9:17–29 (ESV) —

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.”

 

NOTE: It is very likely that epilepsy was also involved here as well as a demon possession, due to the symptoms and since Jesus specifically commands the demon. The boy was physically as well as spiritually sick. Actually, that statement would encompass most people. We have two problems, a decaying body, and a flesh that fights against God. We start the spiritual process by putting our faith in Jesus, asking him to enter our lives and give us eternal life. The physical problems also require asking, but the only true healing will occur at the resurrection (or rapture). Until then, prayer is our strongest weapon. Prayer provides help. And reading the word changes our thinking over time. A lifetime of immersion into the word of God will make a person very different, remarkably more like Jesus. Where most people in the church today fail, is that they don't get into the word of God. They fool themselves thinking church and "daily bread devotionals" are enough. They aren't!

 

PONDER:

1. Is all my scripture ABC gum (already been chewed)?
2. Do I go to the scriptures and read it daily, meditating on what God reveals not some person's thought about the word?

 

PRAYER: Father, I can see the difference that years of meeting with you and reading the word of God have accomplished in transforming my person and character. I praise you for that. In many ways, I am where I wanted to be because of what you have done over the years. Thank you!