Help My Unbelief | Mark 9:14-29 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

If you have a copy of God's Word in your hand, please meet me in

the Gospel according to Mark in Chapter 9 in verse 14, Mark

9/14. This is a lengthy portion of

Scripture that going we're going to be covering and so we're

going to read it in its entirety before we see it in smaller

portions. Just want us to have a holistic

view of this scene, this episode of God's demonstration of power

and mercy and so follow with me beginning here in verse 14.

And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great

crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them, And

immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly

amazed and ran up to him and greeted him.

And he asked them, what are you arguing about with them?

And someone from the crowd answered them.

Teacher, I brought my son to you, For he has a spirit that

makes him mute, and whenever it seizes him, it throws him down,

and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid.

So I asked her disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.

And he answered them. Oh, faithless generation, how

long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?

Bring him to me. And they brought the boy to him.

And when the spirit saw him, immediately convulsed the boy,

and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the

mouth. And Jesus asked his father, how

long has this been happening to him?

And he said from childhood, and it has often cast them into

fire, into water, to destroy him.

But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us,

And Jesus said to him, if you can, all things are possible for

one who believes immediately the father of the child cried out

and said, I believe. Help my own belief.

And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he

rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it you mute and death

spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him

again. 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.

But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose

and we had entered the house. His disciples asked him

privately why could we not cast it out?

And he said to them, this kind cannot be driven out by anything

but prayer. Let's pray we confess our

reliance and dependence upon you, Oh God.

We do not presume that our desires are enough.

We confess our neediness, and we ask that you would help us in

the experience of this moment. As the Word of God is delivered,

may it be delivered in the power of the Invisible One, the Holy

Spirit. We ask.

Oh God, that our hearts would be receptive, and that more than

just a stirring of the mind or the heart, there would be a deep

work done where you would inspire us onto greater

obedience, and that you would cause us to be moved to walk

closer with Thee. This is our prayer.

And so, Lord, even now, humbly, sincerely, genuinely, we say we

are nothing without you. We cannot do anything without

you. Help us now and Lord for some

help our unbelief in Jesus name. Amen.

This is an important story to the Holy Spirit and one reason

why we know that is because it is not exclusively found in the

Gospel of Mark, but it is also found in Matthew and then Luke's

account. But what's interesting is that

if you find the story in Matthew and Luke, you'll notice that

Matthew and Luke have a much shorter version of this account.

Mark gives around double the attention in terms of verses

than the other gospel writers. And as we read this we realize

comparatively that Mark is being very careful to give details

about this scene. And a simple reading of it, like

what you and I just did, reveals the rich reporting that Mark

offers concerning the interactions and the activity.

And it gives us much to work with in terms of historical

accuracy and reliability and godly application into our own

lives. It almost seems overwhelming,

right? You look at a text like this and

you can you can make four or five sermons out of it, right?

But we won't do that for the sake of our time together.

Instead, we'll try to investigate all that it has to

say and we'll divide it. We'll divide it just by really

going through it. But the way I looked at it, I

see five things, around 5 things here.

I see that there is a specific scene.

I see that there is a situation, I see that there is the servants

example. I see that there is a stumbling

block. And lastly, I see that there is

schooling. Notice everything starts with an

S Preachers like to do that stuff.

We have a scene, we have a situation, we have the servants

example, we have a stumbling block, and we have lastly

schooling. There's a lesson at the.

End of this as you heard. And so let's examine this

carefully. We read here in verse 14.

And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great

crowd around them and scribes arguing with them.

Just envision it and immediately.

All the crowd, when they saw him were greatly amazing, ran up to

him and greeted him. So there's chaos going on here.

You have disciples and scribes arguing and debating.

You have this crowd. Now we're probably leaning in

and paying attention, and the sight of Jesus descending from

that mountain with three of his disciples caught the attention

of the multitude. And they turn away from this

debate and they come to Jesus like a celebrity, the celebrity

that he is, the only celebrity you should really care about,

really, and follow in terms of example.

And they greet him. And it's hard to move on without

contrasting the scene here with the scene that you and I enjoyed

in our previous sessions. What a contrast it is.

When Jesus and those three were on the summit of that mountain,

that atmosphere was holy. That atmosphere was glorious.

That atmosphere contained heavenly fellowship.

And as they came down, there is a chilling shift that takes

place now. They've entered into a very dark

place, filled with pain, filled with brokenness, demonically

energized. What a difference.

And looking at this, I wondered in the perspective of Christ.

You can see by looking at Jesus coming down here how this is

almost like a miniature illustration, a miniature

picture of what he did and coming into our world, the glory

that he left in order to come into our environment, our mess,

in order to save us. You know when we read Second

Peter verse one, we are told that on that mountain, according

to Peter in verse 17, Jesus was. Crowned by the Father with glory

and honor. And that is not the only time

Jesus enjoyed glory and honor by virtue of being the Son of God.

He knew glory and honor from eternity past.

But at the perfect time, at the right time, he set aside such

status and recognition. He turned his back on it in

order for him to come here. To come into our world that is

mirrored quite accurately by this scene, what do we see here?

We see Jesus entering into a place that is prevailed by sin.

We see Jesus entering into a place where Satan's power is at

work. We see Jesus here entering into

a place where there is layers and levels of pain and misery

and brokenness and so even allow this sequence of events to

inspire you to realize how Jesus.

Not just in a moment left a mountaintop of glory to come

into a world that is devilish and heartbreaking.

He turned his back on a heavenly abode where there was angelic

love and perfect praise, and because of.

A great love. He came to not keep us in this

mess, but to save us and to deliver us.

I thought, wow, even in this you see a gospel truth.

But I didn't just want to see it through the perspective of

Christ. I thought to myself, what about

the perspective? The disciples, the disciples

were also on that mountaintop, and we've used this.

Term We've used this phrase and and perhaps it came from

testimonies like this in the Word of God.

Mountaintop experiences, Right, brother?

How's your walk with the Lord? I'm in a valley.

How was the conference? Oh, it was a mountaintop

experience. What does that really mean?

I think it simply means that you and I experienced something of

an unusual intensification. Of God's presence, his

revelation, awakening and affection, awakening, sense of

faithfulness and desire for Him that seems to be almost

unbroken. So strong and consistent.

And when we are in those moments, whether it's a moment,

whether it's a season, we like Peter who was on that

mountaintop, say, Rabbi, it is good that we are here.

It is good that we are here. And more than that, we're like

Peter and wanting to make tent so that we can stay there as

long as possible. It is good that we are here.

Can we stay here? Can we remain here?

If you've had those moments of the Lord, you know what I'm

talking about. But just like how these

disciples learned that this permanence of the glory of God

being experienced and tasted, that glory will not be permanent

until a time to come, what is more common is what you and I

see in this valley. That's more real to us than

anything else. Now what do we see here?

We see bullies, right? Even religious bullies.

You know religious people can be bullies.

What do you see here? You see the brokenness of a

parent who can't seem to get control of the erratic behavior

of his child. Is that common?

What do you see here? You you see here, Satan working

in and through people, tormenting them, harassing them,

afflicting pain. And on top of all of this, what

else do you and I experience in this world, followers of Jesus

Christ who don't really have it all together, just like these

disciples? That's what you and I are

familiar with. And the hope that we have is the

hope of the glimpse that they got on that mountain.

It's not going to stay this way. There is a time coming where

Jesus will subdue. All of Satan's power and save

us, not just from temptation, not just from the power of sin,

but from the very presence of it.

That time is coming. But may I add, and may I suggest

that our hope for that future is not merely something that you

and I can't enjoy today. To some regard, what do I mean?

Because this scene in the Valley, though it is common,

though it's inescapable for you and I in this life, it can look

different based on one premise. And that is the presence of

Jesus Christ in it. You see, Christ is going to

enter into the scene and things are going to change.

Things are going to be different.

And may I say to you that though you and I can't ultimately

escape until we go to glory or glory comes to us, we can

navigate through it with a joy and a peace on one reality.

Whether or not Christ is in it with us, Jesus is going to make

all the difference here. Jesus is going to come and bring

solution here. And you and I can be encouraged

to know that although there is an ultimate fulfillment, there

is also a relief that we can enjoy now that is totally

dependent upon one thing, your relationship with the Lord Jesus

Christ. So Christ comes now and he's

going to do some work. He's going to bring some

alleviation here, a level of salvation and deliverance, one

that you and I can also expect and believe God for not just

when heaven comes, but even now in this pain filled world.

So Christ is coming, Christ is here, this is the scene now.

We look here at the situation we read, He asked them.

What are you arguing about with them?

And he gets no answer. He gets no answer from the

scries, perhaps because they were more than willing to debate

with the disciples. But now here comes the master

debater. Maybe we shouldn't say anything.

And he doesn't get an answer from the disciples because

perhaps they were embarrassed. They're ashamed that they

couldn't fulfill what they've been given power to do, by the

way. And the silence is suddenly

broken by the voice of a father. This father interrupts.

He speaks up, and he gives the answer to what is taking place

here. And he says, Teacher, I brought

my son to you. For he has a spirit that makes

him mute. And then he goes on to explain

what happens. What happens when the spirit

takes a hold of the sun? And he's saying, I brought, I

brought him to you. I I came expecting you.

You weren't here. So I gave him to the disciples,

and they were not able to do what I had hoped.

That can be done in your name, and there's so much to say about

this, so much can be expounded upon.

But I want to make one point clear based on this example and

it is this that the Holy Spirit through this text wants you and

I to be informed about the heart of the evil One.

Satan absolutely hates not just those creating the image of God,

but even little children who are creating the image of God.

We read later on, and you heard it, that when Jesus asked how

long has this been going on for, He said from childhood.

From childhood. So the evil one, his hatred is

not reserved for those who have reached a certain age of mental

and physical maturity. No, he loads them at the

earliest phase possible. He loads them while they're in

the womb. And if they escape the womb, if

they are born into this world, we should not think for a moment

that he has the decency to restrain himself from afflicting

and assaulting these vulnerable and fragile gifts from God.

I'm not presenting this truth to you, to frighten you, or to

cause you to live in anxiety. Grandparents, parents, older

siblings, uncles and aunts. But why?

I am bringing this to you so that I can remind you that there

is a war for our children. There is an allout war for our

children. And I'm saying this so that you

and I can be aware of the nature of this war, lest we fight it

aimlessly. So that we can be more

effective, as his father was effective in fighting for the

soul of his son. And we can make the rest of the

sermon about how it is that we can fight for our children and

defend our children and raise our children and disciple our

children. But let me summarize it in this

The best thing that you can do, the best thing that you can do

for your offspring, for the gifts that God has given you, is

that no matter how old they are, young or old, no matter how

receptive or rebellious they may be, learn to bring them to

Jesus. Learn to bring them to Jesus.

What does this man do? Evidently he he felt as though

there was nothing he could do in his own strength and his own

ability. And yet this is how many parents

feel about their own They're exhausted.

They've run out of solutions. And all they do is, as they get

older, see their children becoming more and more

influenced by evil, by the flesh veering further and further away

from the truth that you love and hope would be replicated and

emulated by your own children. And I want to tell you this

afternoon that as helpless as you might feel, you cannot

afford to be hopeless. You might feel helpless.

That's okay. Hopeless is not Okay.

You need to have the faith to surrender them to the Lord day

after day, month after month, year after year, even if they go

from bad to worse. Learn that you can give them to

Christ. And don't you dare allow your

faith to shrivel up for them. Don't let it die.

This man could have given up. He could have been dissuaded by

the fact that these disciples, who supposedly had a reputation

of radiating the power that's been given to them, But he

doesn't. He remains.

He stays right there. And there are some, perhaps

parents, now and again. Siblings, older siblings, aunts,

uncles, grandparents. You're heartbroken.

You're tired. Maybe you're even numb.

I want to exhort you. Though you may be feeling those

things. Whatever you do, don't let your

hope die. Don't let your faith die.

In fact, Jesus reveals that the absence of faith in God's

ability to intervene the life of someone you love is to be

denounced and rejected altogether.

Look what he says here in verse 19.

And he answered them. Oh, faithless generation, how

long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?

Bring him to me. Is he?

Is he rebuking the scribes? Is he rebuking the crowd?

Or is he speaking about his disciples?

Well, you can say He's including all of them.

But the most concerning out of them all is the disciples, the

ones who have confessed Christ and have vowed to follow him and

to learn from him. Oh, faithless generation.

How long am I to be with you? You you should know this by now.

Your your faith in me should be stronger than this.

Well, what about the faith of the disciples proves to be weak?

How did their faithlessness manifest?

What was it here, in terms of observation, that the Lord was

righteously exasperated about? I think the clue is here.

Look at the last part of verse 18.

The Father says So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and

they were not able. They were not able.

And then you come down here in verse 28 and what do you see?

And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him

privately, why could we not cast it out.

The situation here, the the the dilemma is that the disciples

were expected to bring about results and they didn't.

So the father says they couldn't do it and the disciples realized

they were guilty that so in a private meeting with the Lord

they said Lord, why could we not do it?

Remember earlier Jesus doesn't give him an explanation but he

does give commentary. Faithless generation.

What's synonymous with faithless, Unbelieving,

unbelieving generation. Then the disciples say, hey, why

couldn't we do it? Well, he said earlier.

Because you're faithless. But then now Jesus narrows it

down and explains what faithlessness looks like in this

context. And he said to them, this kind

cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.

Oh, so now we understand what the disciples failed to do.

It wasn't just unbelief. It was an unbelief that led to

prayerlessness. It was a lack of trust and

understanding of how God relates to this situation that caused

him not to even inquire of God. Jesus underscores that true

faith in God. This is so important to hear.

True faith in God, a faith that pleases him and a faith that

unleashes his power is not tapped into when you argue or

debate about a situation, when you think about the situation

and ruminate over, or even if you desire the outcome of the

situation to be favorable, Even God glorifying the faith that

brings about results is faith that expresses itself in

supplication, prayer, and so when Jesus says, oh, faithless.

You know what you can almost say?

And part what he means is this, Oh prayerless generation, oh

prayerless generation, when will you learn to depend on me?

When will you believe that I can actually intervene even

immediately, and bring about my power?

When will you learn not to rely on your own wisdom and strength?

And the reason why Jesus was righteously frustrated with his

own disciples was because they needed to learn how to exercise

that power, How to walk in such a faith, Faith that expresses

itself in prayer. Because he soon was going to

leave, and he was hoping that they would have learned that

lesson while he gave him a trial run.

Where was Jesus while this was taking place?

Was he with them? No, He was on the mountain.

He was on the mountain. And there would be a time coming

in a few short months, where Jesus would die, rise and

ascend. And the disciples need to know

by now. I'm not always going to be with

you. And because of that, you need to

know how to connect with me. How?

Not through conversation, not through pulling me aside

privately, but in prayer. Disciples, you should know by

now how to pray. You're going to need prayer if

you're going to fulfill the Great Commission.

You're going to need prayer if you're going to go and preach

the Lost. You're going to need prayer if

you're going to plant in churches.

You're going to need prayer when people come in with demons and

disease, how will you do it if you don't know how to pray?

And This is why he's rebuking? Because they're supposed to be

trained by now. Can I ask you a question this

afternoon? Does your faith pray?

Does it pray? I don't care how you articulate

it. I don't care what you blog about

it. I don't care how many debates

you win. It doesn't matter how you can

articulate your theology and your doctrine and systematize

it. Does your faith pray?

If so, keep praying because you're doing the best thing that

you can do with your faith. If not, I ask that you allow

this sermon today to encourage you to take up spiritual arms

and to fight. In the place of prayer,

especially for your children. It's the best thing you can do

for your son. It's the best thing that you can

do for your daughter. It's the best thing that you can

do for your niece, for your nephew, for your grandchildren.

Yes, I know. Examples important.

Yes, I know life is more practical than that.

But there are certain levels of demonic influence that only

prayer can deal with. This is the situation at hand.

Oh, faithless generation. Oh prayerless generation, But

now we come to the servants example in verse 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.

And you would think at this point then here is this boy now

manifesting, and this demon is clearly trying to destroy him

even before the Messiah. You would think that at this

time Jesus would immediately interject and bring about the

deliverance that only he can bring.

But we read something quite strange, Something maybe that

you might have just read past. But I find it to be absolutely

fascinating in light of how Mark writes about Jesus verse 21 and

Jesus asked his father, how long has this been happening to him?

Is Jesus ignorant? No, he's all knowing.

Is Jesus trying to discover something about?

The length of this possession so that he would know exactly how

to exercise his power. No, it doesn't matter if the

demon was there for 5 minutes or for 50 years, he can deal with

them equally. Why is Jesus asking this

question? Does he want the crowd to know

something? Does he want the crowd, the the

scribes to hear something? No, no, no.

The reason why Jesus is asking this question is because Mark

wants to see how the perfect servant serves.

Luke omits this detail. Matthew omits this detail.

Mark is the one who tells us and shows us that he asked this

question to the Father. And when you consider and I

reminded again, This is why it's beautiful to go through a book

and its entirety, what kind of portrait Mark is trying to paint

concerning Christ? You remember that what it's

about Jesus fulfilling the prophecies of him being what,

the perfect servant of Yahweh. That's true for the prophecies,

and it's helpful for us practically because the Lord

here. Is engaging with the father, and

by asking a question, he is showing his sympathy and caring

heart for this man. Asking Listen, asking questions

isn't always about finding answers, but sometimes it's

about showing that you are invested and that you actually

care and desire to connect with the sufferer.

And here's the Lord just giving a chance for this father to

unburden his heart. As much as he is concerned about

this boy who is being tortured, he's also concerned about this

father whose heart is heavy. And so he turns to this father,

and he asks, and he's inviting him to unload.

And he wants him to know that he is approaching a personal God,

not just a powerful one. A personal.

God, not a vending machine that if you press the right button

and if you get the right amount of faith, you'll get some

results. But one who actually cares.

How long has this been happening?

You've met people like that They they don't just they don't want

to just a surface relationship. They ask more.

They ask more because they actually, genuinely care.

At least hopefully they do. And I looked at this verse last

night and I thought to myself, if this is Jesus demonstrating

what it means to serve God in very practical ways, then surely

there's instruction here for you and I as a church.

There's instruction for you and I.

When people come into this place and we pray that people would

visit this place, believer or nonbeliever, they're not coming

here for a performance, nor is our aim for them to come to be

plugged into a program. We want them to come to meet

people, caring, loving people. When you and I are planning to

go out to the world, we did and we're going to go again, we

don't want people to see us heartlessly proclaim a message

of righteousness. We want them to see people who

care. They care about my soul.

They care about my life. They're not just try to satisfy

the religious conscience. They're not just trying to do

this so that they can say something to others about how

much they serve and stand for the truth.

They actually care. This is Jesus actually caring.

He pauses. He gives time, he inquires, and

he convinces this man and encourages him that he does

care, and this this man was able to perceive that.

So he finds the courage to look at Christ and to say, if if you

are compassionate, I perceive that you are compassionate, help

me. Please help me.

I can't do this anymore. And so on verse 22 we read that.

Now we look at the stumbling block it says here at the end of

verse 21, he said from childhood.

And it has often cast them into fire, into water to destroy him.

You just imagine that kind of a life.

Imagine being a father or a mother.

And so much of your time is to protect the unpredictable

behavior of your child, where demon is in him and launches him

into a fire pit, and if not into a fire pit, into some kind of a

well or a pond. To try to drown him.

Imagine all that time and energy rescuing, putting out fires,

trying to arrest them by while trying to be kind and letting

them live as much of a normal life as possible.

This is what this father is dealing with then, he says.

But if you can do anything, but if you can do anything, have

compassion on us and help us. But if you can do anything, does

that sound like strong faith? But if you can do anything, even

Jesus gives this surprising expression.

If you can. If you can, I would have loved

to hear the Lord say that if you.

Can that does it sound like strong faith?

What does strong faith look like?

You know, I'm reading Romans. I was reading Romans this week

and this first came to mind. Every time I go to Romans

Romans 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4 and read about Abraham, my faith is always

checked. Always.

Because the Holy Spirit describes this Father of faith

in such a detailed manner and it gives us language.

To what strong faith looks like. Can I show you what strong faith

is? According to the Bible, we know

what faith is, but what does strong faith look like?

Well, turn to Romans 4 with me. Romans 4 and let's go to verse

19 Every time I come to this chapter, in this portion of this

chapter I examine the quality of my faith.

Romans 419. It says here about Abraham.

He did not weaken and faith when he considered his own body,

which was as good as dead since he was about 100 years old, or

when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb.

So Abraham didn't weaken in faith the older he got.

He didn't weaken in faith the older Sarah got.

That's an astounding commentary. Look at verse 20.

There's an end there. No unbelief made him waver

concerning the promise of God. But he grew strong in his faith.

OK, this is strong faith. He grew strong in his faith as

he gave glory to God. Verse 21 is a description of

strong faith. You ready?

Fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised?

That's strong faith. Fully convinced.

Not partially, not 90% completely.

As a shirt as I am. That this is a wooden pulpit,

That this is an ESV Bible, That this is a white shirt.

That's how you are with the promises of God.

There's no doubt. There's no question.

I'm fully convinced that what God has said he would that's

strong faith. That's what you and I should

strive for. That's God glorifying faith.

You come back to this man, is he?

Fully convinced If you can do something, that's not Abraham.

Like faith, Abraham didn't weaken in faith, he was fully

convinced. So the opposite of weak faith is

fully convinced faith. But that's not what we read up

in this story. Let's come back.

May I add that this man is not coming to Jesus blindly.

He wasn't taking a walk with his son and saw Jesus and heard for

the first time. You know this.

Jesus can do miracles. I'm sure this man was very, very

aware of who Jesus was. I'm sure he has heard the

reports and the eyewitness testimonies.

That's why he came to Jesus to begin with.

So this man is informed. He's not in the dark concerning

the reputation that Jesus had, but despite the reports, despite

the accounts, there was still doubt in him, there was still

this uncertainty. And Jesus takes this opportunity

to say something not just for this man, but also for his

disciples, his disciples, who were also going to live most of

the life without the immediate physical presence of Jesus

Christ. This is what he says, if you

can. All things are possible for one

who believes. All things are possible for one

who believes. That's really the center.

That's the core of what this is all about, Believing.

Believing that as long as what you're believing for doesn't

contradict the word of God is in alignment with the will of God.

It can happen. All things are possible.

And if we're honest, if we're honest, let's be honest, we're

in church. We're Christians.

We should be honest when we hear that all things are possible for

one who believes. Our response is more like this

man than it is being fully convinced.

This is a little too good to be true.

All things are possible for one who believes so we can resonate

with his response. I'm sure more than anything else

in verse 24, immediately the father of the child cried out

and said I believe this end there, I hope my own belief.

I believe there's a motion here. There's like an outburst, right?

Like something was triggered. I believe help my own belief.

I believe help my own belief. Which one is it?

Do you believe or you're not believe?

It's both. You're familiar with that,

right? You believe, but there's a

little bit of doubt. I don't know.

I'm not sure really. Can it?

You know what's amazing? This man says, I believe, help

my unbelief. And before you read verse 25,

you would anticipate that Jesus would respond with what we saw

earlier in verse 19. Oh, faithless generation.

Like, when does the faithlessness stop here?

Oh, faith, That how you're just this is just not going to stop,

is it? You would think so.

You would think that would be the appropriate.

Reaction that Christ would have, but he doesn't give that.

What does he do? He actually performs the

miracle. And when Jesus saw that a crowd

came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit.

He rebuked it, and he brought deliverance to this child.

How can this be? He?

He said to the disciples, mainly of faithless generation.

And when you go to Matthew's version, you don't have to turn

there. Matthew 17.

You read there that Jesus actually tells them why they

couldn't cast it out. Mark emphasizes prayer.

Jesus says because your faith is weak, it's weak faith.

They didn't have 0 belief, it was just weak.

Well, isn't this man's faith weak?

So why isn't he rebuking him? Why did he rebuke the disciples

for their weak faith? But here's a man with equally

weak faith, and Jesus doesn't rebuke him but actually honors

him. I'll tell you why.

You ready? It's because what the disciples

did with their weak faith was much different than what this

man did with his weak faith. The weak faith in the hearts of

the disciples caused them not to pray but to be self reliant.

The weak faith of this man though was weak.

There was enough of it for him to act upon and say I need you.

It's weak but I still give it to you.

It's contaminated with doubt, but I still cry out to you.

Do you see the difference? It's not necessarily the

strength of the faith, though that strength can glorify God.

Is that despite the measure of it?

Can you act upon it and still move?

Forward with it. And if you really think about

it, this man is acting in more faith than you might perceive.

I believe help my unbelief. Do you realize that in his

unbelief he's actually believing?

This is I love this miracle for this this reason right here,

help my unbelief. The fact that you're identifying

that unbelief is good, but the fact that you're surrendering it

to the Lord is an act of faith in itself.

So it's not necessarily the presence of doubt or fear or

anxiety that disqualifies God channeling through our faith.

It's that though you see that doubt, what do you do with it?

And here's the mercy of Jesus Christ, here's the glory of his

compassion that you can even take your doubt.

Give it to the Lord, ask him to help you with it, and he'll

honor the faith behind that request.

Does not move you. Doesn't that stir you?

You can't lose. Only way you can lose is if you

don't come to him at all. You you see earlier where he

says, if you have compassion, have compassion on us and help

us. That same word for help is being

used here about his unbelief. Help us concerning my son.

And then when it came to his lack of faith, he goes help my

lack of faith. I'm desperate for my doubt to be

dealt with, and the Lord honors that.

The Lord answers that the Lord works with that kind of faith.

And so I don't believe God in the story earlier as strongly as

I know I should. Well, don't be like the

disciples and reserve yourself from coming to him altogether.

Come to him, even with that mustard seed.

Like faith. One that is murky and slimy, not

rock solid. Say, Lord, I I know I should

believe you more about this, but it's not as strong.

Can you help me here? That's faith, and that's the

Lord and his goodness willing to answer and rescue us and even

bring about results and fruit. You won't prove of that in Acts

Acts 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12, when the church there praying for Peter to be

released from prison, Rhoda hears some knocking at the door.

It's Peter at the door. She runs back to the perming,

says, you know, Peter is here, they go, You're out of your

mind, no? No, no, it's it's really Peter,

the one that you're asking God to deliver.

He's actually outside in the courtyard is probably his Angel.

What kind of faith is that? OK, and yet that was the kind of

faith they were offering to heaven.

And God still was willing to send an Angel and deliver Peter,

How good is our God? How awesome is he?

How can you not pray? How can you condemn yourself to

the point of being paralyzed in your prayer?

Life may not be so. This man says, help my own

belief. I can pray to God in my own

belief, and he'll recognize the act of faith behind that plea.

And finally we come not just to the stumbling block that was

overcome, but we come to the schooling.

The boy was delivered verse 27, but Jesus took him by the hand

again. Mark loves to use that language.

He loves to show Jesus touching and looking and asking more and

being more personally, takes him by the hand and lifted him up.

And he arose, and now the scene shifts again.

There's a there's a private meeting.

They go to a house. We're not told which house it

is. And when he had entered the

house, his disciples asked him privately why can we not cast it

out? Now the disciples have the right

to ask this question, obviously because of their failure, but in

light of their previous experience.

This is not the first time that the disciples dealt with demons.

It's not the first time that they were confronted with a

problem in the supernatural. Go back to Mark chapter 6.

Mark 6 · chapter mention

Very briefly, look at verse 7 and Mark 6.

And he called the 12 and began to send them out two by two, and

he gave them authority over the unclean spirits.

And then you come here to verse 13 and they being the disciples.

Cast out many demons and anointed with oil, many who were

sick and healed them. So the disciples had a history

of success with demons before, and now they come to this, and

there's no fruit, there's no power, there's no demonstration

like what they have known. And they're they're they're

confused. Jesus, we're not understanding

this. You gave us authority.

We've seen results. Now we're here.

Why isn't anything happening? Why didn't anything happen?

And Jesus is something so insightful.

This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.

What is the Lord getting at here between Mark Chapter 6 and Mark

Mark 6 · chapter mention Mark 9 · chapter mention

Chapter 9? For some reason the disciples

developed a prayerless attitude and the disciples relied on

previous success, maybe even technique, maybe some kind of

methodology. But where they went wrong is

they stopped being depended upon God Almighty.

And where do you stop being depended upon God Almighty when

you stop praying. And that's what Jesus points

out. You stopped praying at some

point. And this is for those who are

servants of God who desire to see fruit, even supernatural

fruit, right? It's all really supernatural.

But you want to see God do great things.

You want to see God bless your minister, your efforts.

It's very tempting to rely on a reputation or to to get a hold

of a certain technique or routine and see on the surface

level, something steady and satisfying where you begin to

now remove yourself from the place of getting before God and

speaking to Him and asking help from Him.

It happens all the time. It happens more frequently than

you think. It's a great temptation for us

to get off of our knees, especially on the other side of

success. And this is what happened to

these disciples. And I think it's more than just

Jesus saying in this moment you didn't pray.

I think this is Jesus saying that altogether their sense of

dependency was removed. And so this is a longterm thing,

not just an immediate thing. And Jesus, as God Almighty,

brought about results not just because he's got almighty, but

because being man, he actually modeled how you and I should go

about serving him. He tells him you didn't pray.

But Jesus coming down the mountain, was he prepared?

Was he prepared? Let me show you how he was

prepared. If you go to Luke in Chapter 9

in verse 28, this is the same account of the transfiguration

where Jesus went up to the mountain to make his glory known

to his disciples. But look what we see here in

Luke 928 Now, about eight days after these sayings, he took

with him Peter and John and James and went up on the

mountain to what, pray Jesus was prepared.

So Jesus is talking more than just about spontaneous prayer in

light of a surprise attack. I believe the Lord is speaking

about a lifestyle of prayer that makes you ready for the

surprise. We all know how to run to prayer

when there's chaos. We all know what to do when

there's things that get out of hand.

Prayers are 911 and it should be, but it should be more than

that. Prayer should be our posture all

the time. Pray without ceasing, Paul said.

How do I pray without ceasing? Do I stay in my room the whole

time, Ask my wife to make me dinner?

To put out the closet door and quit my job?

Is that what prayer means, To pray without ceasing?

No. Develop an attitude of

dependency on the Lord every day, all day.

That's what prayer without ceasing means.

And Jesus saying. You've forgotten that.

And it shows. It shows.

I wasn't planning to go to this text in the Old Testament, but I

think it's helpful. It's helpful because I want to

show you for more than one place how what I am saying to you is

valid and for our consideration. Please understand me.

You can know a level of success without prayer.

I know that sounds blasphemous. You can know some kind of

superficial results and not pray at all.

I remember hearing this years ago where a minister was at a

minister's conference and when he discovered with these pastors

who had churches of thousands of people, that most of these

pastors don't pray at all. They're so busy, have so much to

do, administrative work and meetings and conferences, and

they have thousands of people. They have books, but you know

what? They don't have a prayer life.

And there was a man in the Old Testament who saw some results

without prayer. And there is an amazing lesson

here through his life that I want to bring to your attention.

It's in Second Chronicles. Let's turn there.

We're we're gonna end it here. Second Chronicles.

It's after First and Second Kings.

First the Second Kings as of First and Second Samuel.

Second Chronicles, it's after Genesis, before Revelation.

Second Chronicles In Chapter 16, King ASA, the king of the

Southern Kingdom, heard reports of Basha, king of Israel, coming

up against Judah and built Rama. There is a war that was about to

ensue between the Northern Kingdom and the Southern

Kingdom. So what does King ASA do in

order to deal with the enemy? Verse two, Second Chronicle 16.

Then ASA took silver and gold from the treasures of the House

of the Lord and the King's house, and sent them to Ben

Haddad, king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying, There is a

covet between me and you. As there was between my father

and your father, behold, I am sending to you silver and gold.

Gold. Break your covenant with Basha,

king of Israel. That he may withdraw from me.

Stop. Is aligned with the Syrians a

good thing or a bad thing? It's a bad thing.

The Syrians are enemies as well. And so he makes an alliance with

Syria. He asked Syria to break their

covenant with Israel and notice what happens.

We see here in verse four and Ben Haddad listened to King ASA

and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of

Israel and they conquered. And at the last part of the

verse he stopped building Rama and let his work cease looking

verse six. Then King ASA took all Judah and

they carried away the stones of Rama and it's timber with which

Basha had been building and with them he built Giba and Mispa.

Success results. Advancement, relief, yeah.

But the story doesn't end there. God sends a prophet, and this is

what the prophet says in verse seven at the time.

Hannah and I, the seer, came to ASA, king of Judah and said to

him, because you relied on the king of Syria and did not rely

on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped

you. ASA, because you trusted in

human power, because you trusted in human resources.

Read your Bible carefully. He said the king of Syria has

escaped you. He didn't say the king of

Israel, king of Syria, the same Syrians that you made an

alliance with. You know what he's saying by

this? If you had just relied on God,

not only would have God-given you Israel, He would have given

you Israel and Syria, but you forfeited that by trusting in

your own strength instead of God's.

People wonder, do I miss out on prayer?

What? Do I really miss out?

Is it really practical? I don't want to live a life

where I can navigate through it comfortably but not know what

else could have been done if I had just sought God.

Some Christians are comfortable with it.

That's why this part of the message isn't moving you a bit.

I'm not interested in that kind of Christianity, because again,

you can go about, you can do ministry and not pray.

But Jesus said this kind cannot come, it cannot come out but

anything but prayer. Meaning you always will reach a

ceiling of potential being prayerless, but there is

unlimited possibility for the prayer fall.

So do it, but you'll always reach a limit.

You only come so far this kind. There is a level that you will

never reach if you don't pray. Why does this church pray?

Why? Why do we put a meeting

uncomfortably during the week? So because we have nothing else

to do. Is it because we're bored?

Is it because we want to eat something together on a

Wednesday night? We don't eat anything on

Wednesday night. The reason why we pray is

because we know that we can't know God's full potential unless

we do. That's why we pray.

That's why we take time to see God's faith.

Because we don't want to be like disciples and rely on our

strength and our gifts and our money and our hopes and plans.

God, if you don't come, we're finished.

If you don't help, we will not go far.

And I look at this in verse eight.

He reminds him of the past. We're not The Ethiopians and the

Libyans, a huge army with very many Chariots and horsemen.

Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your

hand. That's that bothers me because

this man was a prayer man. He was at one point.

Usually when people are early in their ministry, early in their

walk with the Lord, we usually become prayerless as time goes

on. And so here's the reminder.

Just to get an idea of how this man prayed, go to Chapter 14.

This is ASA as well. Look at verse nine of Chapter

14. Zero.

The Ethiopian came out against them with an army of 1,000,000

men, a million men, and 300 Chariots, and came as far as

Marisa and ASA went out to meet him and drew up their lines of

battle in the valley of Zepha. Marisa did.

Did ASA have an army here? Yes, he had an army here, but he

has something else. Verse 11.

And ASA cry to the Lord his God. Oh Lord, there is none like you

to help between the mighty and the weak.

Help us oh Lord our God, for we rely on you and in your name we

have come against this Multi the Oh Lord you are God.

Let not man prevail against you. The power of ASA and his Kingdom

was not his army. It was in prayer.

And Hannah and I says you were a praying man before you knew how

to rely on God. But then you got smart.

Then you being confident. You allowed your track record

and a time of peace to convince you that you don't need to plead

before God. What happened to you?

ASA? And then he gives verse 9 as a

motivation for us. Unfortunately, one that was too

late for ASA, though he could have repented verse 9 for the

eyes of back in chapter 16. For the eyes of the Lord run to

and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support to

those whose heart is blameless toward him.

ASA, do you know why you can pray?

Because God is actively looking for those whose hearts are

completely his, and that will seek him so that he can bring

about his power through them. Can you imagine that the eyes of

the Lord in 2023? Not just then, 2023, are still

scaling the earth to find a man, a woman, a mother, a father, a

church whose heart is blameless toward him and that shows itself

by relying on him in the place of prayer?

What is God looking for in this hour?

Intelligence, looks, Charisma, Prayer.

It was true then. It is true today.

It'd be very strange to end this meeting by singing 2 songs and

not allowing it to bleed into some kind of response.

Let's pray. What do you need God to do in

your life? I do not stand here to present

to you a nice religious lesson. I present to you the truth of

the living God. What do you need to What do you

need God to do in your daughter's life?

What do you need to see God do in your son's life?

What do you want to see God do through your ministry?

What do you want God to do? And as delfo as it may seem, as

drug addicted as they might be, as confused as they might be, as

rebellious and hardened, as difficult as the fruit has been,

as limited as the opportunities. Are I believe help my unbelief I

I I did my part I I mean if if if after this your heart isn't

start to pray. I mean I can't do anything I

can't make you pray put your neck down and get on you.

I can't do that. It's between you and God.

But I pray that we would remain prayerful as a church, and pray

that this church will remain prayerful, whether that prayer

meeting is 5 or 500. May God find a praying people in

this place. What do you need God to do?

That's the answer. That's the response to this

message. What do you need God to do?

And the praise team will come. They'll set themselves up.

We're ready to sing. But we would be remiss not to

seek the Lord after hearing all of this.

And so don't get distracted by who's on your left, by who's on

your right. If you need to fast a little

bit, by waiting a little bit longer to pray and not get your

lunch. It's good.

Fasting is good. Ask the Lord.

I need your help. Lord, forgive me for my

presumption. Forgive me for trusting in

myself. Forgive me for not looking to

you like the disciples that help me be like that, Father, who

knew how to come to you still in weakness and unbrokenness.

And the Lord will honor that kind of faith.

What do you need to see God do? Don't let your mind wander.

Engage with your God and praise team when you're ready.

After you have finished praying, please come and prepare so that

we can sing together. It's not.