If you have your Bibles, I'd like to ask you to open them with me to Mark chapter 9.
Mark chapter 9, and we're going to be looking at verses 14 through 29.
This morning, we're going to be taking a look at my favorite verse throughout Scripture.
It's my favorite verse because I find so often myself identifying with the Father that we find in this passage.
The Father in this passage is coming to Jesus, and He's totally desperate.
He's in circumstances that are beyond His control, and He's turned to every source of help He could possibly find up until now, but He has received no help.
You see, His Son was possessed by a demon.
He had gone to religious leaders. He had gone to some of Jesus' disciples.
But up until now, He's found no help.
And He approaches Jesus and says, if you can do anything, please help us.
And Jesus assures Him that all things are possible to those who believe.
And this is where my favorite verse comes in here.
For He comes to Jesus and He says, I believe.
Help me overcome my unbelief.
If the man believed in Jesus, he knew that he was able.
I'm sure he had heard stories up until now of Jesus healing the sick, raising the dead, casting demons from people.
But maybe he was fearful a little bit or had a little bit of doubt creeping to the back of his mind.
Because up until now, he had gone to those who he assumed should have been able to help him.
But he had found no help up until now.
And so he says, I believe.
I believe.
Help me overcome my unbelief.
Have you ever found yourself in a situation like that?
Have you ever found yourself in totally desperate times?
Desperate situation or circumstances that are out of your control and beyond your ability to deal with?
I'm sure most of us have found ourselves in those situations at times.
And while we know that Jesus is more than able to do anything we ask, we know He's able.
But do we ever have that little bit of doubt creep into the back of our mind of will He?
Will He answer our prayers the way we've asked Him to?
We know God is able.
But sometimes we question whether He will.
Or maybe we've faced situations in life, circumstances in life, and they've just beaten us down so much
that we're weary, that we're tired, and we just don't know where to turn.
And we allow a little bit of doubt to creep into our mind.
You know, this passage is amazing.
It speaks to me so much because I find myself in the same situation at times where we know Christ is able.
But we have to be honest and say, Jesus, help me overcome my unbelief.
But this passage is also one of the most misinterpreted scriptures in all the Bible.
We often hear pastors and others saying, if you just have enough faith, just have enough faith,
then God will do whatever you ask Him to.
We especially hear that in these name it and claim it preachers.
Just have enough faith.
And then when God doesn't answer the way we wanted Him to, they're, oh, you didn't have enough faith.
But is that what really the scriptures teach us?
Is that what God's really teaching us or Jesus is teaching us in this passage?
And so before we look at our scripture this morning, I want us to go to the Lord in prayer.
And I want us to take time to ask God to speak to each one of our hearts.
I'm sure we're in different situations in life, different circumstances in life.
And many of us may be in moments like that where we've been praying for God to answer our prayers for a long time.
And until now, He's not done it.
He hasn't responded in the manner in which we want Him to, at least.
And so we're allowing a little bit of doubt to creep into the back of our minds.
Where is God?
Does He love us?
Will He answer as I have requested?
Well, let's go to the Lord in prayer.
Father, we thank You for this day.
Again, we thank You for the privilege of being able to come together as the body of Christ.
And to lift Your name high above every name and to worship You.
We're thankful that we can take a day to set aside all of our worries, all of our concerns, all of our fears.
And just come before You, Lord.
And I ask, Lord, today that You speak to us in Your Word.
I pray that You speak to every heart here today.
Every life.
Wherever each of us may be in the journey of life, different situations, different circumstances.
I pray that You help us to set aside those worries, those cares, those fears.
And just come to You and allow Your Word to speak to us.
And grant us faith.
Maybe today there's someone here that they've been fearful to step out and receive You as Lord and Savior.
They know all the claims about You, Christ.
But they're fearful to make that step.
And I pray, Lord, today You'd give them the faith to recognize You as God.
The Messiah who died upon a cross for our sins.
That we can put our faith and trust in You to receive forgiveness of our sin.
And be adopted into the family of God.
And we thank You, Lord, for this.
And we praise You always in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, let's look together at our scripture.
We're going to look at Mark chapter 9, verses 14 through 29.
When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them,
and the teachers of the law arguing with them.
As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet Him.
What are you arguing with them about, he asked.
A man in the crowd answered,
Teacher, I brought you my son who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech.
Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground.
He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.
I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.
Oh, unbelieving generation, Jesus replied.
How long shall I stay with you?
How long shall I put up with you?
Bring the boy to me.
So they brought him.
When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion.
He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
Jesus asked the boy's father,
How long has he been like this?
From childhood, he answered,
It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him.
But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.
If you can, said Jesus, everything is possible for him who believes.
Immediately the boy's father exclaimed,
I do believe.
Help me overcome my unbelief.
When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene,
he rebuked the evil spirit.
You deaf and mute spirit, he said,
I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.
The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently, and came out.
The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said,
He's dead.
But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet,
and he stood up.
But after Jesus had gone indoors,
his disciples asked him privately,
Why couldn't we drive it out?
And he replied,
This kind can come out only by prayer.
Jesus and his three disciples that made up his inner circle,
Peter, James, and John,
they had just had this amazing experience on the Mount of Transfiguration
where Jesus truly revealed his identity to Peter, James, and John.
They heard the voice of the Father speak.
They met with Moses and Elijah.
Can you imagine that?
And here they come down off of the mountain
where the other disciples were waiting,
and a crowd had formed.
And they began to see that the disciples
were engaged in an argument with the religious leaders.
And so Jesus came, and he asked,
What are you all arguing about?
Now, I'm reading into this,
but I can just imagine there was silence for a moment.
There was just a bit of silence.
Nobody wanted to tell Jesus, you know,
what they had been arguing about.
But finally, we see in verse 17,
the father speaks out, and he says,
Teacher, I brought you my son
who is possessed by a spirit
that has robbed him of speech.
Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground.
He foams at the mouth,
gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.
I ask your disciples to drive out the spirit,
but they could not.
You know, when we take a look at these verses,
and we take a look at the other gospel accounts
of this same story,
we begin to see the condition
that this boy was living in,
and certainly his father as well.
If you're a parent,
you know the hurt and the pain and the sorrow
that you feel when your children are struggling,
or hurting, or up against circumstances
that are beyond our control.
And so we see this horrific picture
of this boy's life.
He's possessed by a demon
that often throws him to the ground.
He then is left foaming at the mouth.
He grinds his teeth.
He becomes rigid as a board.
If you drop down to verse 22,
you also see that this demon
often throws him into the water,
or into fire trying to kill him.
He's also deaf and mute.
So you can imagine this boy,
he's covered with scars,
he's covered with burns,
and he just lives a horrific life,
which in turn leaves the father
living a just horrific life
of worry and fear.
And if you really put yourself
in that position this morning,
put yourself right here
in the midst of the scripture,
you can begin to feel
the desperation of this father.
You can feel his agony
and his pain.
If you've ever had a child
that you've struggled with,
maybe they've had health issues,
maybe they've gone wayward
away from the Lord,
or maybe there's just been
other circumstances in their life
that you've struggled with,
you know that you can feel
this father's hurt and his pain.
And he comes to Jesus
because he's obviously heard
that Jesus has healed the sick.
He's heard that he's cast out demons
from others,
and so he has great hope
that this is the answer.
This is what he's looking for,
and he comes to find Jesus,
but Jesus is up on the mountain
with Peter, James, and John,
and he's unavailable,
and so he goes to the other disciples.
The disciples,
who just three chapters before this
had been sent out by Jesus
to heal the sick
and to cast out demons.
You know,
they had been doing this themselves,
and so the man comes
to the nine disciples
that were at the foot of the mountain,
and he asks them to help him
and to cast out this demon,
but they were unable to do so.
We have to ask ourselves the question,
if they had been sent out in chapter 6,
and they had already been out there
casting out demons
and anointing people with oil
and healing them,
why then were they unable
to cast this demon out of this boy?
Why were they unsuccessful this time?
Well,
let's put that question on hold
for just a moment,
and we'll come back to it in a minute.
When we drop down further in the chapter,
they asked Jesus that very question,
and so we're going to come back
to that in just a moment.
But Jesus comes down the mountain
of transfiguration.
He sees them arguing with the crowds.
He finds out what's going on,
and so he asks them
to bring the boy to him.
He says,
bring the boy to me,
and the father states
that if you can do anything,
take pity on us and help us.
And you can just imagine
Jesus looking at the guy
and say,
if I can,
if I can help,
and he assures him
that all things are possible
for him who believes.
Now,
this is where this passage,
this passage,
and other passages
throughout the New Testament
are often misinterpreted.
Again,
I said a moment ago,
we often see individuals say,
if you just have enough faith,
just believe,
and God will do exactly
what you want him to do.
But is that really
what scripture is teaching us?
You know,
I remember
back in 2005,
my dad was diagnosed
with a brain tumor,
and I went home,
I knelt beside his chair,
laid hands on him,
and prayed,
and I believed
with all my heart,
as much as I could,
that God would heal him
of this brain tumor,
and at 65,
he would not die.
But less than a month later,
my dad passed away.
And God didn't answer
my prayer
the way I had wanted him to,
and had asked him,
now,
did I not have enough faith?
Did God let my dad die
because I didn't have
enough faith?
Well,
I don't believe
that's what scripture teaches,
do you?
Jesus said,
if you have the faith
of a mustard seed,
which a mustard seed
is the tiniest of all seeds,
one of the tiniest seeds,
he says,
if you have the faith
of a mustard seed,
you can tell this mountain
to move,
and it will move.
And I don't believe
for a moment
that when we look
at the entirety
of scripture,
that we can walk away
from the entirety
of scripture,
because usually scripture
is the best commentary
for scripture,
isn't it?
We have to look
at all of scripture,
and it has to complement
one another.
If we come away
with something
that contradicts
another passage
of scripture,
then we're coming away
with the wrong conclusion.
But we have to look
at the entirety
of scripture,
and yes,
Jesus does confirm
on more than one occasion
that faith plays a role
in answered prayer.
Faith does play a role.
He says,
here,
all things are possible
to those who believe.
We also see,
remember the lady
who had been bleeding
for a number of years,
and she knew
if she could just touch
the hem of his garment,
she would be healed.
And so,
she pushed her way
through the crowd
and got as close to Jesus
as she possibly could,
and she reaches out
and touches his garment,
and instantly,
she was healed.
And he felt it.
He knew energy
had gone out from,
or healing power
had gone out from him,
and so he stopped
and said,
who touched me?
Well,
the disciples thought
he was nuts,
didn't they?
Like,
what do you mean
who touched you?
You know,
all this crowd
pushing in on you,
but finally the lady said
she was the one
that reached out,
and what did Jesus say?
He says,
your faith
has healed you.
So,
faith does play
a very significant role
in our lives
in answered prayer,
but I don't believe
for a moment
that the Bible
teaches us
that if you just
have enough faith,
then God
will answer
your prayers
the way
you ask them,
or what you're
asking of him.
As a matter of fact,
if we turn to
1 John chapter 5,
look with me
if you will.
John chapter 5
verses 14 and 15,
this is one
of those scriptures
where we have
to use scripture
to interpret
other scripture.
And this is
a very vital scripture
to me
in understanding
that if we have
enough faith,
how will God respond?
1 John 5,
14 and 15,
this is the confidence
we have
in approaching God
that if we ask
anything,
now pay attention,
if we ask
anything
according
to his will,
he hears us.
And if we know
that he hears us,
whatever we ask,
we know
that we have
what we ask
of him.
If we pray
anything
according
to
his will,
how do we know
the will of God?
How do we
pray the will
of God?
How do we know
his will
that we can
put it into prayer?
Well,
the word of God,
for starters,
the more time
we spend
in God's word
and the more
time we spend
in his presence
and we develop
that relationship
of just
resting in him
and resting
in his word
and knowing
the word
of God,
the better we can
know the will
of God.
And the more
we know the will
of God,
the more we can
incorporate it
into our prayer lives
and instead of
just simply having
prayers that are
always focused
on ourselves
and our wants
and our desires,
we begin praying
the very will
of God.
And the more
we spend
in his presence
and the more
we develop
that intimate
and personal
relationship
with God,
the more he
changes our hearts.
He changes
our heart
so that
our desire
is the will
of God.
The more
we dwell
in his presence,
the more
we want
more than
anything else
is for the
will
of God
to be done.
Pastor Daniel
did not
pay me
to say this.
But a few
weeks ago
he introduced
a Bible
reading plan
here.
If you've not
picked one of these
up,
there's still
a couple up here.
There may be
some in the back.
It's also
in the newsletter.
It's also
on the website.
Practice
spending time
with God
daily
in prayer.
Allowing
him to speak
to us.
And then
instead of
praying
you know
just
fleshly
worldly
prayers
that we're
asking God
allow his
Holy Spirit
to direct
us and
guide us
that we're
praying
the very
will of God.
Is it wrong
to ask
for healing?
Is it wrong
to ask
for things
like this?
No.
It's not
wrong.
I wasn't
out of God's
will to pray
that he
heal my
father.
It's not
wrong to
pray that
if you
need a
new job
or your
marriage is
struggling
that you
pray for
these things.
We should
pray for
these things.
You should
bring in
other believers
to join you
in praying
for these
things as
you're able.
But remember
when Jesus
prayed at the
Garden of
Gethsemane,
he asked
that this
cup be
taken from
him.
He said
remove this
cup from
me.
But what
else did
he say?
Not my
will, but
your will be
done.
And so
Jesus was
showing us
there that
there are
times when
we pray for
God's will
or we pray
for things
in our
lives.
But more
importantly,
we want
God's will
to be
done in
our lives
even when
we don't
understand
why.
I didn't
understand.
Why did
God allow
my dad to
die at
65 when
he was
just starting
to retire?
Looking forward
to the golden
years of
spending with
my mom.
He said he
was going to
come see me
more often.
But why
did God
allow him
to die?
I can't
answer that.
But I do
know that
one day
when we're
in heaven
it's not
going to be
all that
important
anymore,
is it?
All of our
tears will
be wiped
away.
All the
struggle,
all the
pain,
all the
sorrows
that we
face,
the challenges
that we
were up
against,
that we
wondered,
God,
where are
you?
Why are
you not
answering?
We don't
understand.
When we
stand before
God,
maybe we'll
understand
better.
But it's
not even
going to
matter.
When we're
standing in
the presence
of the
Lord,
in his
heavenly
kingdom,
all those
things are
going to be
washed away
and it's
all going to
be worth
every little
thing that
we've gone
through and
all the
challenges,
all the
obstacles,
all the
pain.
And we
don't
understand,
but we
have to
have faith
that God's
will is so
superior to
our understanding
and our
beliefs.
God's will
is beyond
our wildest
understanding
and imagination
and we
just have to
come to
him and
trust him
and trust
that his
will is
best.
Now this
father states
to Jesus,
I do
believe.
Help me
overcome my
unbelief.
This man has
searched high
and low
everywhere
possible for
his son's
deliverance
from this
demon,
but up
until now
he's found
no answer.
So we
can understand
the difficulty
this man may
be having
with faith.
Maybe he's
just worried
that he
doesn't want
to get his
hopes up
just to be
crushed once
again.
But at least
he goes to
the father
or to
Jesus and
he says,
you know,
help my
unbelief.
He's coming
in total
honesty.
You know,
when we
struggle in
our faith
a little
bit,
just be
honest with
God.
You know,
I'm struggling
here.
I don't
understand.
I'm going
through pain
and sorrow,
Lord.
Just be
totally
transparent
with God
and share
with him
the hurt
or the pain
or the
doubt
that's creeping
into your
mind and
ask him
to help
you overcome
that unbelief.
Have him
help you,
give you
the faith
that you
need to
trust him
and his
will when
we don't
understand it,
we don't
like it,
and it's
hurtful or
painful,
that we can
trust God's
will even
when one of
our loved
ones pass
away and
die or
when they
continue to
experience pain.
Have you
ever been
there in a
situation like
that where
this man
found himself?
circumstances
beyond your
control?
You believe
that Christ
is more than
able to do
anything,
but maybe
because of the
circumstances of
life that you've
gone through,
life has beaten
you down,
life has been
painful and
hurt,
you're weary,
you're tired,
and you find
it difficult to
really believe
and we begin
to let that
doubt creep
into our minds.
Or maybe
you've prayed
about a
situation or
circumstance in
your life for
a very long
time.
You've prayed
for years
maybe even,
and up until
now you've
received no
answer.
For years
you've asked
God for a
specific answer,
but up until
now God has
not answered it
at least in
the way you
would like for
him to.
And we allow
ourselves to
have those doubts
creep in our
mind, where is
God?
Why is he not
with me?
Does he hear me?
Does he love me?
Is he able?
You know, what's
wrong with me?
You know, Paul
found himself in
a similar situation
like this, where
he found himself
with a thorn in
the flesh.
And for three
seasons, he
prayed and asked
God to remove
that thorn from
his flesh.
Listen to God's
response to him
in 2 Corinthians
chapter 12,
verses 8 and
9.
Three times I
pleaded with you,
Lord, to take it
away from me.
But he said to me,
my grace is
sufficient for you,
for my power is
made perfect in
weakness.
What did God
just tell Paul?
No.
That's basically
what he said,
isn't it?
Paul, it was, we
don't know what the
thorn was, but it
was painful, it was
difficult, it was a
challenge to him.
He may have even
seen it as a
hindrance to
continuing on his
ministry.
And he pleaded with
God, please remove
this thorn from my
flesh.
And God said, no.
So my grace is
sufficient for you.
Rest in me.
Endure the thorn.
Because God had
allowed the thorn to
enter into his life for
a purpose and a
reason, and he wasn't
removing that thorn until
it had accomplished the
purpose that God had
allowed it to be there in
the first place.
You know, maybe you're
in a situation like
that.
You've been praying,
asking God for
something, and he
says no.
But he's saying, my
grace is sufficient for
you.
Rest in me.
Rest in the power and
the strength of God and
trust him that he's
working in your life in
a way you don't
understand that's beyond
our comprehension at
this time.
Now drop down with me
to verse 28.
Verse 28, we see that
Jesus is alone with the
disciples, and they come
to him and they ask,
why were we not able to
cast out this demon?
And we see that Jesus
states, this kind can come
out only by prayer.
Some of your Bible
translations include
and fasting.
Prayer and fasting.
And the implication that I
gained from this is the
disciples had gone out in
chapter 6 in the name of
Christ, in the power and the
authority of Jesus Christ, and
they had gone out and they
were healing the sick and
they were casting out demons.
But they got so comfortable in
their abilities to do this, that
now Jesus was up on the
Mount of Transfiguration and
they were trying to cast that
demon out in their own power.
They were trying to cast that
demon out of this boy and heal
him in their own strength.
We're no match for Satan.
We're no match to the powers
of darkness when we go in our
own strength and our own power.
Jesus said this type can only
come out through prayer and we'll
add the word fasting on there.
Fasting is just an intense, a
more intense way to go to God in
prayer.
To do without what your physical
body needs to put God first and
to seek him or to cry out to
him, to beg him, to plead with
him, to intervene in a situation.
But to go in prayer.
You know, maybe you're facing a
circumstance or a situation right
now that you realize is beyond
your power.
It's beyond your ability.
Spend time praying.
Spend time pleading with God if
necessary.
Spend time lifting that up to
you.
First Peter says, cast all of our
burdens on him and trust him
because he cares for us.
Trust that he will work in that
situation.
There's also another message to us
here.
We get so comfortable, don't we,
at times doing church, being the
Christian, carrying out the work of
the church.
You know, we've, many of you've
been a Christian 40, 50, 60, 70
years and we get so comfortable
that we think we can handle things
in our own strength and our own
power and our own abilities.
But you know what?
If you look at the church in
America today, we have more
resources, whether it's money,
technology, we have more things
available to us to carry out the
work of God and yet we're seeing a
decline of the church.
And so if we can do what Christ had
called us to do in our own power and
our own strength and our own
resources, we had already done it.
But we can't.
When we try to do what God has
called us to do, to take the gospel
message to the world, we've got to
make sure we're doing that through
prayer and total, total, total
dependence upon Jesus Christ and his
power and his ability to work in and
through us.
Jesus said in John 15, 5,
I am the vine, you are the branches.
If a man remains in me and I in him, he
will bear much fruit.
Some of y'all who've done experience in
God, help me.
But apart from me,
you can do nothing.
What does that mean?
You can do some things?
You can do a portion of things?
Speak it.
Come on.
Nothing.
That means we as children of God can do
nothing if we're not abiding in Christ
and relying completely and totally in
him to do the work in us.
So as a church this morning, as a family,
as an individual, when you realize God
is leading us, whether it's to take the
gospel to the world, whether it's to do
vacation Bible school, whether it's to
sing in the choir, what do we learn from
this passage?
We can do nothing in and of ourselves.
We should get, if you're in the choir,
get up early on Sunday morning.
Stay up late on Saturday night and pray
and ask God to use the gift and talent
that he's bestowed upon you to bring
glory to him and to lead others in
worship because when you're singing a
song up here, you're not just up here
entertaining.
You're leading us in worship.
Whether we go out to do Bible school,
don't just say, well, I'm a teacher.
I know how to teach the word.
Spend time in prayer asking God to give
you every word.
Give you patience.
Speak into the hearts of these children.
Whether we're teaching a Sunday school class
or working in the youth or being an usher.
property and grounds.
Whatever we do, do it in the name of Jesus
and spend time in prayer.
Pray, pray, pray.
Asking God to use our church to be a lighthouse
in this community and take the gospel message
out of the walls of this building
and into our community, into families,
into homes.
Let's break down the walls of drug addiction
in this community.
Let's break down the walls of broken homes
and broken marriages.
In case y'all don't know, drugs have become
an epidemic inside our schools.
And we need to pray and pray and pray
that God is working, that God is moving,
that God is stirring.
In case you also haven't noticed,
we need a revival in America.
We are so desperate for God,
but we're not going to do it in our own strength,
in our own power.
We've got to rely on Jesus Christ
to work in and through us,
to work through our churches,
work through our sister churches,
work through pastors,
raise up pastors all across this land
to proclaim the word of God
in power and in strength
and to bring us as a nation back to Him.
I want to ask the musicians
if they'll come and begin leading us this morning
in our time of invitation.
Now I just want to ask you,
is God speaking to you today?
Is He speaking to your hearts,
drawing Him to you?
If you need to make a decision this morning,
I would just ask you to respond
during this time of invitation.
I'll be glad to pray with you here.
Let's stand as we sing.