Miracles – so little faith – Part 2

Today, we are diving into our story of “so little faith” from last week. If you remember, the father brings the demon possessed boy to Jesus’ disciples to be healed. They cannot do it. So Jesus takes over, teaching them all about the power of God and strengthening their faith in the process.

You may want to reread the story from Mark 9:14-29.

Today, as we look at a few key passages, we find four completely different faiths. As you follow along, ask yourself some questions;

Where am I  in this story and which faith do I most relate to?

I see myself in at least three of these faiths. Let’s look at these different faiths;

• The demon’s faith; from verse 20, “When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion.”
• The father’s faith; starting at verse 22, the father says to Jesus, “if you can…” Jesus replies, “‘If you can’?” “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
• The disciples’ faith; from verse 28; “After…, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
• Jesus’ faith; verse 29; He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

Let’s dig in;

1. The demon’s faith:

If I had to compare my own faith to one of the above, I would have to say I usually hang out around the father’s faith. But, there was a time when I related to the demon’s faith. Those were the days when I knew Jesus by name, but I did not know Jesus in a personal way.

“Demon” can be defined as an evil or unclean spirit, or devil. “Devil” can be defined as Satan, of course. But also a fighting spirit or a mischievous, clever or self-willed person. I have been known to be a little self-willed. Acknowledging even the demon recognized Jesus is an important fact. However, there is a big difference in recognizing Jesus and knowing Him.

As you reflect on your life, when did your recognition of Jesus begin to shift into knowing Him as your Lord and Savior?

James 2:19 says; “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” But Jesus Himself tells us in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

It’s not good enough to just recognize Jesus. 

2.  The father’s faith:

My mother-in-law had this old saying, “If ‘if’s’ and ‘but’s’ were candies and nuts, we’d all have a wonderful Christmas.” Little faith resides in the “if’s” and the “buts.” Lucky for us, as we learned from Part 1 of this blog, Jesus can work with that. Big faith does not just happen. Big faith takes time and starts with a little seed.

I can guarantee you, after Jesus healed that man’s son and strengthened his faith, he no longer lived with so little faith. He never had to wonder “if” God could do something. Because he knew for himself that God could. That God can! And that God will! I am certain this father went around telling all his friends and family what God did for him and his boy.

The beautiful part is that the confession becomes the lesson. On that day, standing in front of Jesus, he confessed his small faith by saying, “I  believe, heal my unbelief.” Jesus granted his request, healing his son and his faith all at the same time.

3. The disciples’ faith:

I have to laugh at these disciples, because I am so much like them. I have seen God do great and amazing things, which should result in big faith. Yet, I fall back into my ‘so little faith” over and over again. These disciples saw Jesus healing the sick, giving sight to the blind and making the lame walk. But they missed the fact that any power we have comes from God. They had no clue why they could not heal the boy. Had they not been watching? Did they not know where Jesus drew His power? Jesus told them exactly what they were missing. It is the same thing I am missing most of the time, and the one thing that transforms our powerlessness into powerfulness.

“This kind can come out only by prayer.”

Prayer.

It’s that simple, and yet so powerful!

Pray.

Next week, we are going to look at the Jesus kind of faith, in hopes that He will teach us the power of prayer itself. On that note, let us pray;

Jesus, Jesus Jesus, we believe. Heal our unbelief. Grow our so little faith and teach us where our power comes from. Teach us how to pray. In Jesus’ name, Amen. -M