(BONUS EPISODE) August 10, 2025 - Sunday Evening Bible Study with Larry Walker - Jesus Casting Out Evil Spirits - Mark 9:14

Father, thank you again for your provisions,

for your love and for your watch care over each

one of us. Thank you that Aaron did get this

insurance. And now Lord, as we turn our focus

away from the worldly things and toward your

word and our behavior and our reaction and different

things, I pray you just Help us to forget all

the things around us and just to focus just these

few minutes on you and what you're trying to

accomplish as we look at these disciples what

you are trying to accomplish in their lives is

really the same thing that you're trying to accomplish

in our lives. Thank you again for your patience

with us. Thank you that you are dependable as

you show through Scripture especially in the

Gospels and in the Old Testament as well that

you were dependable to repeat. We're so so grateful

for that. Help us to be ever dependent upon you.

Thank you again. We just pray for their hearts

as well. Thank you again for your patience and

for your love and for your grace that you show

to us each and every day. In Jesus' name, Amen.

I'm going to read our text first of all tonight

and then I'm going to do our, I guess, our review.

And that way we get a, I think it's important

to read the whole text because that way we get

a whole flow of the story. It said, and when

he came to the disciples, this is Mark 9, 14.

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

multitude around them and the scribes disputing

with them. Immediately, when they saw them, all

the people were greatly amazed. and running to

him greeted him. And he asked the scribes, what

are you discussing with them? Then one of the

crowd answered and said, Teacher, I brought you

my son who has a mute spirit. And whenever it

seizes him, it throws him down, it foams up the

mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.

So I spoke to your disciples that they should

cast it out. But they could not. He answered

and said, O faithless generation, how long shall

I be with you? How long shall I bear with you?

Bring him to me. Then they brought him to him.

And when he saw him, immediately the spirit convulsed

him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed,

honing half a mile. So he asked his father, how

long has this been happening to him? And he said

from childhood, and often he has thrown him both

into the fire and into the water to destroy.

But if you can do anything, have compassion on

us and help us. And Jesus said to him, if you

can believe, all things are possible to him who

believes. Immediately the father of the child

cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe.

helped my unbelief. When Jesus saw that the people

came running together, he rebuked the unclean

spirit, saying to it, Death, a mute spirit, I

command you, come out of him and enter him no

more. Then the spirit cried out and bulged him

greatly and came out of him, and he became his

one death. So that many said, he is dead. But

Jesus took him by the hand. lifted him up, and

he arose. And when he had come into the house,

his disciples asked him probably, why could we

not cast it out? He said to them, this kind can

come out by nothing but prayer and fasting. By

prayer and fasting. As we come again to Mark.

We are not too far from the base of Mount Huron,

where Jesus and his closest disciples Peter,

James, and John have just came down from the

Mount of Transfiguration. What they arrive to

is Jesus's other nine disciples are in argument

with the scribes, and a great number of people

are surrounding them. What we find out is that

the desperate father has Has come bringing his

only son who is demon possessed and has been

has been to be healed by Jesus But Jesus was

not there. So they asked Jesus's disciples to

heal They were known for doing miracles before

As we have found out they could not heal the

boy. I believe this is where the argument began

The scribe sees the opportunity to discredit

not only Jesus' disciples, but Jesus as well.

Naturally, this will bring doubt to the onlookers,

including, I believe, this boy's father. We have

seen where it has caused doubt in him. So as

the story progresses, there have been some things

we have seen. The boy's father spoke. before

anyone else can and begins to tell why he is

there. I brought my son to you who needs healing

and is demon possessed. And the father gives

a brief description of why he believes his son

is demon possessed. He has a mute spirit, he's

thrown to the ground, he foams up the mouth,

he grinds his teeth, becomes rigid, which I which

can mean to waste away, meaning he's lost a lot

of weight and things. And it can mean to stiffen

up. He tells this to Jesus, and that his disciples

had failed at healing his son. And Jesus' reply

was, O faithless generation, it's as if Jesus

can't believe what has been shown to them all.

Over the past two and a half years, all the miracles,

signs, and wonders, and teachings like no other.

Even the religious leaders knew this. And yet,

they are without faith. Jesus says, bring the

boy to me. As he is being brought, an evil spirit

is wrecking havoc on him. Looks as if it is trying

to kill him. Mark gives a vivid picture. of what

it looks like. You know, and one preacher I listen

to says if they were going to do a movie, Mark

gives a lot of details in his gospels. He doesn't

necessarily quote a lot of scripture, but he

gives details where you can make a movie about

where the other two gospels don't, Luke and Matthew.

So Mark gives us a very vivid picture of what

this demon -possessed boy looks like. And Mark

gives us twice as long, if not three times as

long, of a picture of this story than the other

two gospels, which is kind of rare in Mark, because

Mark is usually... Boom right next to the next

story, but this one gets a lot of attention As

all this is happening Jesus is listening to the

father Tell his story and we talked about that

before Jesus asked him how long he's been like

that. He wanted the father to tell a story To

where everyone around could hear especially the

disciples Which seems like a hopeless case. At

the end of the Father's story, out of desperation,

he asked Jesus, if you can do anything, have

compassion on us and help us. You know, that's

man's final plea too. Should be the gospel. The

gospel should, when all else fails, And man will

try everything before coming to the gospel. There's

an empty void that's inside all of us. We're

going to talk a little more about that. But it

seems like man will try everything before coming

to the gospel. And in verse 23 it says, Jesus

replied, if you can believe, all things are possible

to him who believes. Immediately, the father

of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord,

I believe. Help my unbelief. I love that. I love

how the father puts it. I mean, he's just, he's

not holding nothing back. He's saying these things

with tears. And he's just putting it out on the

tape. It doesn't matter who's listening. He just

needs help and wants help. Well, we can empathize

with that. We can't, especially with our own

kids and things. A lifetime with that situation.

Oh, no one knows how long it's been. A long time.

You're exhausted. I mean, you are mentally exhausted.

And you're approaching this teacher who by all

rights is supposed to be able to alleviate this.

I mean, you've seen nothing happen up till now,

you know. Nothing's worked. And you're out of

your mind. Now this is like the last stop right

here. You're white. Mentally white. And you're

supposed to believe that this man can cast this

demon out of your soul. And to have that kind

of a response. That is an end of the line response

right there. And the big thing is... I don't

believe. Help me with my unbelief. That's right.

I want to believe. How can I believe that you

can do this? Well, obviously he had some belief

because he brought him to Jesus. He did. Yeah.

But he found out pretty quick that it didn't

seem to help. Yeah, and that's why I think it

was because his disciples had failed. Right.

That's right. Why did his disciples fail? Because

I don't think they were the same thing. They

were. Jesus had a prayer infesting. They were.

And we're going to look at that. They forget

to pray? Well, in short, in short, we fall into

this same trap of teaching or doing something

a certain way and we get self -dependent, even

in our jobs, even in the things that we do and

sometimes we forget where that authority comes

from. And I believe this had happened to these

disciples. They had a certain method of doing

things. And early in their ministry, they were

relying on the power of God because He gave them

the authority. And He hadn't taken that authority

away. But they just wasn't relying on His strength.

They were relying on their own ability. You know,

we talked about that last time. I'm telling this

demon to get out. They only came by fasting and

praying, right? Getting your mind back where

it needed to be. That's right. Jesus always fasts,

always prays. We're going to talk about that

more toward the end. sicknesses and healings

that Jesus gave you, the thoracic that you've

overcome, were gone pretty quickly. It wasn't

a great hassle until then. And we'll talk about

later. Really, this is what looks to be like

a trial run for these disciples. It's really

the first time that they've been away, Jesus

and these three leaders. And it's interesting

to me that they were gone as well. Peter, especially

Peter since he was, I don't know if you'd call

him a ringleader, but he was one of the chief

apostles or chief disciples. And they had been

called away and this I believe is a little test

for them. They failed. They failed. That's right.

Because of their self -reliance on themselves.

It was a good learning experience for them. There's

a reason why this whole context is here about

them arguing. And you can just see that where

Jesus and, like you say, your James and John

of God were absent, right? Meanwhile, all this

gathers and there's healing maybe, probably some

other healing going on perhaps, and then all

of a sudden this situation rises and you start

getting... And when you get into an argument

with somebody, your pride starts... Oh yeah,

I'm... yeah. And then I think you're on the right

target there, that you start getting self -reliant

and you forget where you're... resources and

Peter who is the one that is primary source for

Mark's account. In his epistle, 1 Peter writes,

God opposes the problem against grace and honor.

I think you may be right about that. So I wonder

about it too, how do they not have the power

to do this? Yeah, again, you know why why is

that need to tell him about the argument? I think

there's there for a reason. Yeah and Yeah We

looked at this verse last time short version

is the father believed Jesus wants To help but

the circumstances surrounding this event has

put doubt that Jesus simply can't And that's,

I say that because of the disciples' prayer to

be able to heal. If the disciples can't do it,

then most likely Jesus can't do it. I think the

disciples got used to having that authority,

and then when it seemed to fail the way it had

done in the past, they were trying to reconcile

that. Then it looked like to the Father that

it was not going to work out. Yeah, I agree.

I agree. The disciples have much to learn about

their lack of dependence on divine power from

above. We will say they were not in communication

with the one who gave them the authority they

had. And I say that because of that last verse,

verse 29, this kind can come out by nothing but

prayer and fasting. You know, we're going to

talk more about that, but we should constantly,

the Bible tells us to constantly be in a state

of prayer. And I think that's not simply with

your head bowed. That's being constantly aware

of God's presence around you all the time. And

that communication, just thinking, you know,

referring back to scripture. and including him

in your thoughts about different things that

you're going to do, even your work or your activities

or your play or whatever, just recognizing. You

know, we were out fishing yesterday, me and a

couple of fellas, and just God's beauty, I was

just aware of creation that God had created and

the beauty of it. Pray in or anything like that,

but just being constantly aware, you know But

but in certain circumstances I'll mention this

again, but in certain certain circumstances You

need more prayer. I Mean you need to separate

yourself and I think that's where the fasting

comes in if you have a hard situation to come

to That's just not normal every day things or

incidences, so you need to confront somebody.

And a lot of us have had to do that. Not just

about spiritual things, but about other things.

You want to make sure you spend time in prayer

about that. I don't always do that. Sometimes

when I confront somebody, it's on the spur of

the moment. You know, you're retaliating, I guess

we did. Better word, but you don't need to do

that. You need to you need to pray about it And

then even if that if you don't feel like that's

sufficient Do without something in your life

and that's what fasting is doing without something

that you normally do For a particular purpose

and that would be pray about that situation And

apparently they had not considered this prayer

Or he wouldn't have mentioned it down here in

verse 29 Yeah, I was going to ask that a little

bit. That fasting is not just food, is it? No,

it could be. It could be anything. Any worldly

pleasure at all. Yeah, it could be anything.

We associate it with food. You're right. Well,

food's pretty good, ain't it, Pastor? Yeah, it

is. That's a tough one. That's one of the toughest.

Yeah. But I guess, yeah, any worldly input, just

stop it. Yeah, the Bible uses that also with

having a relationship with your wife. Yeah. We've

seen from that whole period. I think they had

television back in the day. Television would

be at the top of the list. Exactly. I was thinking

about that too. Fascinating. Because that takes

up a lot of time. Fishing shows. Soccer games

and fishing shows and stuff. Exactly. How worldly.

I believe this man's request was answered. The

Bible doesn't tell us that explicitly. But the

Bible tells us that his son was healed. And I

believe the man's faith had grown from this experience.

Does it say fasting? Oh, okay. That in verse

29? Well, let's look at his prayer translations.

Well, this is the legacy we got here, but it

just says prayer. I think this is the King James

version of New King James is this one. I think

this one is, no I think this one just says this

is the King James, the one that's got all three.

I like it because it's got all three of them

right back to back so I can compare them really

easily. The point is that prayer was needed.

Apparently the disciples didn't look for it.

How hard is prayer? Serious prayer, if you're

not fast. Every time you do the same prayer,

and just like that, you're off somewhere else.

You're not in prayer at all. Especially if you're

driving and praying. I think more than just prayer,

it was a special kind of prayer because of the

situation. Pretty serious situation. Pretty heavy.

I think so. He came humbly asking in a submissive

way, acknowledging Jesus as Lord. If you notice,

he called him Lord there. Jesus will not turn

away from those asking in this way with the right

spirit and the right heart. We know God does

the drawing, and I'm not leaving that out of

the equation, but this man does come with a humble,

and we can see the humbleness in the words that

he says. And then Mark jumps quickly to the next

scene. in verse 25, when Jesus saw that the people

came running to get him. It seems Jesus does

his healing away from the crowd. Remember, his

ministry and work for the multitude is basically

over. He is focused on his chosen twelve. Jesus

is preparing his disciples as leaders. Being

a leader often requires being a servant. Mark's

gospel demonstrates Jesus as a servant. And we've

talked about that toward the beginning of chapter

nine, the end of chapter eight is where Jesus

is making his descent toward Jerusalem or toward

Calvary. And so he's turned away from the people

more or less, but he's still got some things

he needs to. to teach his disciples, and I think

Mark gives us 10 or 11. It's on the back of that

clipboard. I wrote them down on that last page

there. The last two ones are sticking out. Lessons

that Jesus will teach his disciples in the next

chapter or two. The first one is faith. The second

one is humility. The third one is offenses. The

fourth one is seriousness of sin, marriage and

divorce, a place of children in the kingdom,

earthly riches, true wealth, leadership, sacrificial

service. And then chapter 10, verses 46 to 52

is on faith again. So he begins on faith here.

and he ends up again on faith. And then in chapter

11, Jesus enters Jerusalem. So there's several

things that we're going to be looking at that

Jesus is heading towards and he's training these

disciples. It seems Jesus is not looking for

repair or the attention. It may even be Jesus

wanted to get this done. in a hurry before the

crowd came. He rebukes the unclean spirit. Jesus

shows authority over the spiritual world, which

will speak volumes to his disciples. Notice again

the action that Jesus shows. Say to it, deaf

and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him

and enter him no more. Notice Jesus himself speaks

directly to it on his authority from God. Matthew

28, 18, Jesus said to them, all authority in

heaven and on earth has been given to me. All

authority comes from heaven and is delegated

from heaven. Jesus received that earthly delegation

and therefore he was able to delegate it as he

wills. We know he did this. to his earthly apostles,

that's in Matthew 10, 5 to 8, and also to 72

others to heal the sick in Luke 10, 1 to 11.

So he gives certain people, and we know even

in the New Testament he delegated that authority

to Paul because he was able to do some miracles,

but it wasn't to everyone. Jesus told us who,

basically, he delegated those signs to, those

miracles. And it was, again, not for their benefit,

but to prove who he was, to prove who Jesus was.

We have been delegated, I believe, as believers

to make disciples of all nations. Our job is

to train followers of Jesus. those He calls out

of darkness. So we've not been delegated to do

miracles and things like that, but we have been

delegated to make disciples. You got something

to say, Dave? He was in constant prayer, so He

did the will of the Father. And like you said,

we're delegated to make disciples. Now Jesus

didn't just... He did the will of His Father,

and He showed up here. He was totally up to the

Holy Spirit to... orchestrate the rest of it

through time to bring all the examples and everything

right before Christ to use it as an example.

He's teaching these disciples. I mean it wasn't

just Melee that this guy showed up with his son

to exemplify the teachings that he just made

while they were walking along the road, you know.

And as you disciple, ship, others. I believe

those instances come in right in front of you,

too, to be an example or to show them the power

of God. The Holy Spirit, he's never been sitting

down relaxing much, has he? I mean, the more

that you see these type of events and stuff like

that, and the way he orchestrates these events

in the life of Christ. We see it easily in the

Father's actions and the Holy Spirit's actions.

It's definitely not just the Son and the Father.

You're right. It's the Holy Spirit that does

it all. It's been done for generations and generations

to make this one point in time. With this man

and his son, and the son's need and desire. It's

easy for us to pick these things out of Scripture.

We can read on them, re -read on them. we can

get this visual picture, but when it happens

to us, it's... But he does that through our entire

life. We miss a lot of it. Yeah, it's hard for

us to see. But he brings those examples in front

of you a bunch, and we miss the mark quite often.

We miss the point of the hard time. So Jesus

commands the evil spirit to come out of this

boy, and that's not all. He says, never enter

him again. As I read through this story, it is

one of the most severe cases of demon possession,

maybe even equal to the man in the tombs in Mark

5, 1 -20. We have seen how severely beaten this

boy has been. By all human wisdom, he should

have been dead. There may have been more than

one demon to do all this damage. I don't know

the Greek language here. But it seems he may

have been Demon possessed more than one time

With more than one coming in because it says

enter him no more And I'm not sure if this if

if he had been demon possessed and the demons

left You know, there's a I think it's over Matthew

where it says that Demons can come in and if

they leave Remember the house is swept clean,

or you've cleaned up your life, but the house

is still empty. But there are more demons even

worse than the first that can come in. The 325

says come out again and enter him no more. The

question, can a soul of a person be unoccupied?

And I looked that up on Google. The Bible suggests

that souls should be occupied ideally by the

Holy Spirit, and a relationship with God rather

than being left empty and vulnerable to negative

influences of worldly pursuits that ultimately

leave people feeling unfilled. Matthew 12, 43

-45. These verses suggest that a person's soul

can be empty, but if so, it is in danger of being

occupied by evil spirits. And if not occupied,

influenced by them. Satan or his demons are not

our worst enemy. You know, and sometimes we think

that. We think that Satan... and his demons are

our worst enemy. But our worst enemy is our own

selves. It's our sin. Our sin is our worst enemy

and it does us the most harm. All that said,

we all do have an empty place in our soul that

only God can fill. We try to fill it with earthly

pleasures and we never can. Jesus tells us that

this evil spirit Will never enter him again He

was protected from being occupied by evil spirits

again There's only one way to do that To fill

the void It would seem like I Don't know I don't

know if that's the case. I mean Jesus has all

authority over the spiritual world That was my

initial thought, Dave, that this boy came to

a point of salvation. But the Bible doesn't tell

us that. He just tells us that he commanded that

the evil spirits not go there anymore. It may

suggest that he was occupied now. It could just

be a suggestion. I mean, and that's a very logical...

suggestion, but I'm not. I don't know if I'm

willing to go that far. We've seen the father's

plea on the boy's behalf, but we never hear from

the boy. You know, we can go on behalf of our

children all day long, but they're the ones that

have to make the final say. I'm sure that had

an impact on the boy, too, later on. I'm sure.

I'm sure. I'm sure. You're right. If he does

it around no go, that's awful. And Jesus shows

a lot of compassion. He had a lot of compassion

for people. And it is very possible that he said

this boy has suffered enough. No more. But it

doesn't say that. It doesn't say that. It doesn't

say either way. It doesn't say either way. He

just commanded him not to come back. Not to come

back. He said he was healed. Yeah. Yeah. It's

like the moment they get a dog, it goes in no

more. Yeah. Yeah. But the Bible does say that

if you're occupied by the Spirit, by the Spirit,

that you can't be occupied by anything else.

Never. Never. That's pretty cool. So I'm gonna

leave it at that. That's pretty cool. And according

to Mark, he left it at that too then. He left

it at that. And time to move. Yeah, Mark and

Peter, they left it at that. As Jesus commands,

we can see the resistance of the evil spirit,

or at least, again, this evil spirit trying to

kill this boy. In verse 26, it says, then the

evil spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly,

and he came out of him. Again, we see the disciples

see how great the authority of Jesus is. And

one, they can put their faith in. And again,

Jesus' ministry here is to these disciples. So

the healing of this boy is a by -product of Jesus

working through the disciples, wanting to teach

his disciples something. And that's okay. If

God wants to bring good to my life because of

my wife, then I'll take it. It's okay. It don't

have to be because of me. If it's because of

her, it's almost like an unbeliever being married

to a believer. The unbeliever. sanctified or

set apart. That's right. That's right. The cause

of this bullying. It's almost like that demon

was unusual and resistive and determined to do

it his own way. He convulsed him and stuff like

that. for a beginning, for a moment or two until

Jesus and you come out. Yeah, that was it. It

probably also displays the great authority that

Jesus had when we needed this kind of resistance.

Yeah, John McArthur said at the very least this

boy should have been severely had brain injuries.

Yeah. And it gives him... statistics on football

players that get hit so many times and what do

they call that? CTE. What is it? CTG. Yeah, but

not necessarily the brain traumatic. Concussions.

Concussions. Concussions. Having several of them

can lead to that. Yeah, that's the word I would

look for. Is that the same thing as sick to you,

Brian? Sorry? Is that the same thing as sick

to you? No. Pay attention. I'm just kind of drifting.

Okay. Yeah, yeah. But you're right. God did save

him. Save him from that. I think what else is

interesting here is that Jesus says, bring him

to me. So they bring the boy, and then apparently

he wasn't convulsing and whatever by that point,

but as soon as the demon, the boy sees Jesus,

he fills him. And this whole conversation that

he has with the Father then, how long has this

been happening? Meanwhile, he's in the background,

he's convulsing, foaming in the mouth and carrying

on, and they're just having this little conversation.

I just, I don't know what to make of that other

than here's another example of where Jesus is

just completely chill. Yeah. About things that

I would be freaking out. I'd be like, let's get

this guy quiet. Let's help my son. So that we

can talk. You know, we'll have a conversation

later. Yeah. Or even the father, you know, let's

talk about this later. Let's heal him now. Yeah,

right. You're right. We talked about that in

our... one bible study you may have missed it

but we talked about that how as Jesus is calling

him that this evil spirit is wrecking havoc on

this boy and they are just they're having this

conversation and the father's pouring out his

heart to Jesus giving him even more detail than

he did at the beginning you know and again as

this As the boy would walk by either fire or

water, this evil spirit would break him down

to where he would fall into that fire. Where

he would fall into the water. It was just at

random. I mean, the evil spirit had his will

and way over that boy. And it was for this very

purpose, I believe. of teaching these disciples

about faith. I thank God. Also, when the boy

was convulsing, and it says that the father kept

talking to Jesus, it shows that Jesus was not

desperate or concerned that maybe something would

happen too severe for him. He was in charge,

even with all the... Language all the argument

everything that Jesus knew he was in charge and

he was not gonna let happen what? That's right

It says as the spirit came out and he began And

he became as one dead so that many said he is

dead It appeared to all witnesses that Jesus

had lost the battle the boy is dead until verse

27. Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him

up and he arose. Luke adds that and he went back

to his father. Jesus has seen many times taking

people in need by the hand or touching them and

Mark 1 .31 remember Peter's mother -in -law.

who Jesus heals. Mark 1, 41, the leper that wanted

to be cleansed, and Jesus touched him. Mark 5,

41, the ruler of the synagogue's daughter, where

Jesus and I think three of his disciples at that

time, too, went into her. And I think the parents

went into, and Jesus touched her, and she rose

from the dead. And then the blind man, who was

healed in stages, in 823. And then after this

event, after he rose up, he was healed, he went

back to his father, Jesus goes into a house away

from the crowds, verse 28, went in and come into

the house, his disciples asked him privately,

why could we not cast it out? And that was a

good question, a very good question. And he said

to them, this kind can come out by nothing but

prayer and fasting. The disciples evidently began

to trust in themselves and maybe their methods

of miracles. Their faith had turned away from

depending on God's authority to their own abilities.

And you know, I overheard Pastor Peter one time

tell a missionary, that we supported years ago,

not to drift from depending on God's activity

and his ministry to his own abilities. That was

because he was a very gifted and very interesting

speaker. Do you remember that? No. I do. I remember

that very vividly. Just here in the background,

it was that... That family that went over to

Rome, went over to Rome, had them kids and then

came back. He was a very gifted speaker. And

I remember Pastor Peter telling me, I remember

when they came to our church and spoke. I remember

very vividly, Pastor Peter, you told me that.

That's really stuck with me. And it is true,

it's very true. You know, it's interesting what

sticks in your brain when a lot of other things

don't. But I remember that very, very vividly.

That's good for any kind of ministry, whether

it's preaching or singing or whatever it is.

It's easy to rely on your gifts. That's right.

Yeah, even teaching. You know, you do it time

and time and time again and eventually you build

up a confidence, I guess. And you can, that confidence

can be... direct it on yourself rather than on

God and His Word. I don't have that problem.

I'm not a very gifted speaker. Well, at the time,

the Holy Spirit would tell the man, not for his

benefit, but for your eavesdropping. For my eavesdropping.

So be careful what you say in church. I've only

been worried where Larry Walker is, been worried.

I mean, he's spoken to the man. The man might

have been looking out the window. But just like

when he's up there at the pulpit, I'm sure you

can see the faces. You can. And you can see when

you're speaking, even though it's not even in

your notes and you're speaking, you don't even

know why you're speaking it. The Holy Spirit's

speaking it. And that person's reaction immediately...

absorb it. And then you get back to your notes.

Why was that done? That was for that person.

And he told it to the missionary. For you to

hear, I mean the other guy probably heard too,

but for you to hear and for it to affect your

life. That's just what he does. That says a lot

about this prayer. Prayer is necessary, so don't

go before, and I've done it. I've picked up my

Bible and started studying, writing notes before

ever praying. I'm guilty of that, and that's

not the way it needs to be. You need to go humbly

in prayer, asking the Lord to show you and give

you direction. and give your thoughts, clarity

of thoughts, and things like this. And your understanding

of all these things. No, it ain't. You didn't

write it. No. And that's why you compare Scripture

with Scripture. That's why you compare Scripture

to Scripture. Matthew 17 .20 says it plainly.

It says, because of your unbelief. And the ESV,

that's in the New King James, the ESV reads,

because of your little faith. Matthew even says,

he says a little more, he gives a little story,

Matthew even says, a little bit of faith can

accomplish things unheard of. And he compares,

if you have a little bit of faith as a mustard

seed. And that is small. I've never seen a mustard

seed. I don't know if it's a small seed. It's

a small seed and a small amount of faith can

move a mountain. That's what it says over Matthew

concerning this account too. This whole scene...

was like a trial run. Jesus and the lead disciples

were absent and they failed. More work being

needed. It also seems to imply that there are

situations that may take more prayers and even

fasting. Our life should be one constantly in

true communion with God, always being aware of

His presence and involvement. in our lives. But

at times, more wisdom is required and should

be asked for in special prayer and even fasting.

So the faith was the big issue. So we finished

that whole section tonight, which I'm glad. Thank

you. But that's essential. I like your little

addition there. And so more work to be done.

More work to be done. More work to be done on

us. Another failure. More work to be done. More

work to be done on us and on these disciples.

So as we read it, we put ourselves in their situations.

The scripture is speaking to us just like it

is speaking to them. The disciples just didn't

have it together like we do. We seem like that

sometimes. Yeah, we do. We think that. They needed

some serious work, didn't they? We can look at

it like that sometimes. I can't believe they

couldn't just see it. Yeah, they could just pick

up the Bible and read it for themselves. That's

right. Because they hadn't written it yet. We

are very blessed to live on this side of the

cross. More and more every day I realize that.

Every time I pick the Bible up, I'm very appreciative

of living on this side of the cross. I sure am.

One of our many Bibles. One of our many Bibles.

That's right. Many, many. I'm glad we also don't

have to take lambs down to the temple for the

slaughter. Get some of those places. They get

a chapter tore out and handed to them, you know?

Yeah. to pass around chapters, that's right.

They're excited to get it. So, Diana, if you

want to close us in first. You got anything to

add? I was just thinking. Think out loud. That's

what you're supposed to do, is think out loud.

Now I was just thinking, Jesus as an example,

I would say that He prayed before He did none

of miracles. And as an example, I don't know,

you know, that the disciples, we were healing

everything. Does that mean that they weren't

praying before? You know what I'm saying? The

healings? Yeah, where they actually, when He

gave them the authority, where they actually...

praying before they were doing When he kept when

he sent him out two by two, is that what you're

is that what you mean? I Don't know there was

a more dependence upon Upon Jesus and the authority

that was given to I think because I think it

was brand new and it was it was something that

they They cherished and they realized where that

authority came from they realized Jesus is authority

because it's something that they've never done

before I mean this was I mean if I had the power

of healing I would Where'd this come from? You

know it came from Jesus man. You know I'd be

thanking You know thank you Lord that I can do

this, but as time goes on You know it's even

even like when we're first first saved it's been

said many times when you first saved you're very

very appreciative and you want to spread the

gospel and you want to tell people but as time

goes on it just kind of becomes get over it get

over it kind of thing you know and i think that's

what had happened to them i think they were very

dependent on Jesus in the beginning Jesus also

identified that spirit by saying this kind So

maybe it was because of the kind of spirit that

they were dealing with? Were they dealing with

health issues? They were dealing with everything.

They were casting out demons. It could have been

a different spirit. And that's why I was saying,

situations in our life... Take more than just

a casual prayer. Like I said about confrontations

and things like that which I'm not good at. I

always pray about a confrontation before I go

because I don't want to do it. I hate confronting

somebody about anything. Usually I stay awake

all night worrying about it. Am I gonna hurt

this person's feelings? And prayer, actually.

Fighting that, with that boldness. I want to

be bold and do that, and yet I'm not wanting

to. So I'm asking God to help me to make that

choice. I know the choice I need to make, but

I'm asking for... confirmation for that choice,

I guess. As well as the church prayed that the

Lord would give them bonus. Yeah, and I pray

the same thing. And I think some things require

a deeper prayer. I think so. And I think that's

the point here. This kind of spirit requires

something more. I think that's what fasting is,

is intensifying self -denial and self -pray.

That's the missing ministry in the church that

we don't fancy. I guess we're not desperate enough,

really. Well, like I said, sometimes I do it

without... One particular thing I can remember,

when the guys started putting my roof on, and

they were friends of family, and when I came

home, they put four or five sheets. sheets up

and it looked terrible. I mean, it had big dents

in it. Screw it. And I knew that evening. I knew

that day I was going to have to call them that

next morning and tell them, you know, I don't

need your services. And I laid awake all night,

all night, debating over that. How do I say it?

And I prayed and I lost sleep. And I guess that

could be a type of fasting without even realizing

it, you know. You kept yourself from sleep or

rest. It was. Instead of food, it was rest. It

wasn't even something that I even thought about

as far as fasting, but it's just something that

naturally happened. You deprived yourself of

sleep or rest. Yeah, and that next day I called

that fellow that next morning and I said, I hate

to tell you, but I said, the job that you're

doing is just not up to par with what I was expecting.

He said, well, he said, I'll come back out and

take it down. And he says, we'll be done. I said,

yeah. I said, I'm going to pay you for a day's

work, a day's labor. And I think I gave him $500

for the day for him and the guy. They came down

and took it. Took it down and that was it. I

was just thinking about that, I hadn't thought

about that before, but that fasting coming in,

laying awake all night, thinking about that,

praying about that, and some situations just

take more prayer and doing without something

to have an outcome that's suitable. And the guy

wasn't mad, you know, I don't know, maybe...

I think he would have been mad at himself. I

don't know, screw it. Yeah, but anyhow, maybe

he didn't think it was a shot of job, but anyhow.

But that fasting, that was the point of the story

there. Kyle laid awake, doing without sleep.

You beat yourself a little bit. Yeah, I didn't

even know if I was fasting, but I looked back

on it. Anyhow, anything else? No, that was a

very good lesson. It was? On faith. That's what

I said this morning. in some of the school we

weren't there for, but we've been introducing

John 17 where this is Jesus' prayer. It's the

longest prayer of his recorded in scriptures.

And I've been studying the armor of God in Ephesians,

the very end of Ephesians. Thursday Bible study,

we're entering that. And you see this close parallel

there where, of course, Jesus... as our higher

priest is praying for us and receiving for us.

But we're called to do the same thing in the

context of spiritual war. Paul, that's where

we get the believer's armor, right? The armor

of God. And a lot of people, myself included,

there's six pieces of armor there, but there's

seven ingredients. Six of them have armor, but

the last one is prayer. Paul says this praying

at all times with all prayer petition in the

spirit and to this end being on the alert with

all person and petition for all the saints as

well as on my behalf that words may be given

to me and opening my mouth to make known with

boldness mystery of the gospel which I am an

ambassador of things that I may choose so that

in proclaiming it I may speak boldly as I ought

to speak. It's kind of similar to what you're

saying. But here, he's talking about each believer

putting on the armor, but then us, the importance

of us praying for one another. And I've just

been, not that you never say, oh prayer's not

important, we all know it's important, but in

the context of spiritual warfare, prayer is absolutely

indispensable as part of God's equipment that

he's given us. for each other. So you put on

your armor, but you're praying for God's strength

and support and blessing for believers as well.

As Paul says here, to speak boldly, to exercise

the gifts that God's given each of us. That's

important. That's why it's important. Vital it

is, you know, I mean Satan is all about destroying

relationships And you know, so just pray pray

for each other's marriages pray for each other's

relationship with your children parents All these

areas that are sinking boats come in and destroy

and attack. He sinks to isolate us. Yes, he does.

That's what he sinks to isolate us. Just like

a wild animal would do in a herd. I know you've

all seen National Geographic where you've got

this lion chasing this herd of zebras. And one

will follow back. And that's the one they bounce

on. That's what saves them. Satan does, he tries

to isolate us. So if you have something that

you need prayer for, you don't need to announce

it to everybody, but find somebody that you have

confidence in and ask them to pray with you.

Especially if it's something that you don't want

to spread. We don't gossip at church, but find

somebody to share that with. I can share that

burden, and we'll really pray with you. You don't

have to share it with everybody. But don't isolate

yourself, is what I'm trying to say with that.

Because prayer, prayer is, it moves the hand

of God. It does. It moves the hand of God. What

does that mean? I'm signing to husband, so moving

the hand of God, we can... Have God changed his

mind about something, right? Yeah. Just like

Moses? I think so. Who was it that changed God's

mind? Coming out of Sodom and Gomorrah. Yeah.

Remember he was coming out of Sodom and Gomorrah

and said, Lord, if I can find 50 believers here,

will you spare them? You know, he got all the

way down to, what, 10? 10, I think. And he couldn't

find them. But he said he would if he could find.

He thought he had. If he could find. But he said

he would. But he couldn't find. And you know,

we know that God is sovereign and he knows the

end. So that's kind of a loaded question. I think

too what I said to her about that was, you know,

that scripture uses anthropomorphisms, meaning

it's a literary term for... assigning, ascribing

to God human characteristics then. But we have

to remember He's not human, right? He's divine.

And so, He doesn't, like the Scripture says that

He is in the sea of forgetfulness. It doesn't

mean that God has amnesia, you know, as if He

never... I don't remember that saying. What it

means is that He doesn't bring it up again. He

doesn't remember it before you, before one else

again. And the situation where Moses interceded

on God was like, get out of my way, I'm going

to destroy these people, right? They come out

of Egypt, and Moses intercedes. It's not that

God needed Moses to do that, but in that particular

situation, Moses is like a type of Jesus for

us, how Jesus intercedes. before the bar of God's

justice. But Jesus is very clear that He's on

a mission from the Father, right? He's the priest

appointed by God to intercede for us. So there's

this interesting tension in a way. God has to

execute His judgment. He's getting ready to do

that. But then God the Son comes and intercedes

for us. But the point is that He uses... not

only does He ordain the ends, but He ordains

the means. And in that particular case, he ordained

Moses pleading on behalf of the Israelites. And

Moses did that too, by the way. He also said,

hey, wait a minute, what about those watching

nations? You've done all these great signs to

deliver your people, and now they're going to

destroy them and wipe them out. Moses wasn't

thinking seriously about that. But the point

is, there's a scripture of him where it says,

God is not a man, and he should change his mind.

He doesn't need more information to, oh, okay,

well, I thought this, but now you've given me

more information, so now I see this is the better

course of action. It seems to me like Moses'

intercession was an intercession against real

judgment. God said He was going to bring judgment,

and He knew Moses was interceded, and He did,

and He spared him. We owe a lot of... Thanksgiving

to the Lord for interceding for us. Against immense

judgment and anger. He gives us a lot of examples.

I know. He gives us a lot of examples. Even in

the New Testament about this lady that comes

before the judge. That's an illustration. Wanting

some type of restitution. I don't remember exactly.

But she comes several times and she keeps basically

badgering the judge. You know and finally he

gives in you know, and I think that's that's

what we've got to do with even prayer You bring

it before prayer So you keep bringing it. You

were lost cause to them. And on the same hand,

you can think, well, why do I even bring it to

God? Because he already knows what you're going

to pray for. But he wants you to tell him that.

He wants that communication. I think that's really...

What's that? He wants to hear the words out of

your mouth that you want that new Subaru. He

knows the beginning and the end. There are some

people that bring light to the conversation and

turn the light off. He knows the beginning and

the end. He knows it by design. He designed it.

We can move the hand of God during that time

to create a different situation, a temporal situation.

It's not going to change the end result. Like

Moses did, we can ask for this to happen. And

God can hear you and He can move that example

situation, not in any way disrupting the end.

It's amazing how many minute little things through

life happen to create the end. That's right.

That's why I say He's... And you can ask God

to move these. temple issues around. And as it

turns out, that prayer that you pray, God uses

that to accomplish the... It still accomplishes

His absolute... But you can move the hand back.

We have a privilege of being participants in

that. So did you pray of your own accord to move

the hand of God, or did God cause you to pray...

so that he could use your prayer to move his

hand in the direction he wanted. That's getting

complicated. The answer is yes. You probably

can't figure God out that easily. Prayer, I will

go in on this. Prayer will always make a difference

in your life. Whether it makes a difference in

the other person's life or not. The one you're

praying for will always make a difference in

your life. That's exactly right. So pray. Continue

to pray. Amen. Okay. Thank you. Dear my Father,

I thank you for this time, Lord, and the study

of Mark the Lord. And I just thank you for your

examples for us, Lord. And thank you for the

example of prayer, Lord, and the importance of

it, Lord. Just thank you. for that and I pray

that we will not only in prayer but we will during

the day think about you and everything that we

do Lord. I pray for safety as we go home and

I also pray that we will think about what we've

talked about tonight Lord and apply it in our

lives Lord. Pray these things from your sensei.

I agree.