PRAYER THAT RAISES YOUR LEVEL OF FAITH
(4-minute read)
You're in a crisis. A deadline is looming closer. The cost of inaction is increasingly painful and hard to ignore. There are different voices around you. Cynics say do everything you can to save yourself. Pessimists say nothing you do is going to make a difference. Christians say turn to Jesus – He is the Rock to lean on. The voice of pragmatism says take everything with a pinch of salt. Who will you listen to?
In Mark 9:14-29, we find a distressed father in a quagmire. His grown son had been possessed by a force that caused him to have violent seizures, foam at the mouth, and frequently threw him into life-threatening danger. Life was intense, and it was exhausting to be on constant vigil for his son’s safety. What’s more, even Jesus’ disciples could not set the boy free from the spirit that possessed him.
Today, if the disciples’ botched deliverance had been posted on social media, it would have created an instant internet uproar. Keyboard warriors, Christian agnostics, apologetics who defend the Christian faith, mainstream and activist media, plus anyone with anything to say would enter the conversation and escalate the divide between the skeptics and critics of Jesus on one side, and His followers on the other side. The antagonism between them would have been as palpable as it was recorded in Mark 9 when an intense argument broke out in the open between the teachers of the Law and the disciples for all to see and hear.
Indeed, the setting was ripe for a controversy - a distraught father, his demon-possessed son, Jesus’ discouraged disciples and the public disagreement about Jesus Christ. The multiplicity of opinions soon threw the man’s faith into crisis. Who was he to believe in?
And it was this crisis of faith that Jesus addressed when He approached the crowd and asked “What are you arguing with them about?” (v16). Without being prompted, the distraught man stepped out of the crowd to respond. In the first instance, he had quietly approached the disciples with a private problem though it was quickly exploited by the teachers of the Law who used it as fodder for a public debate. The trending topic was whether Jesus had credibility as a spiritual leader. Yet no one could offer him any help.
Jesus ignored the personal attacks and continued speaking with the man, “How long has he been like this?” (v21). Badly shaken, the man did not go into too much detail before he blurted out, “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Whatever faith he had when he first approached the disciples had now been defeated by the cacophony of divergent voices. There was desperation, deep misery and disconcertion in his voice.
“…if you can do anything…”. In essence, he was saying, I’ll take whatever you give! It was his last roll of the dice.
Jesus was not impressed. His response in verse 23 says, “‘If you can’?... Everything is possible for one who believes.” Paraphrased in today’s lingo, Jesus would effectively be saying: Serious? If you can? Is that your best shot? No one who believes in Me asks, ‘If you can’.
Immediately, the man cried, “I do believe, help me overcome by unbelief!” (v24).
He realized that he had lost focus; allowing arguments and contradicting voices to confuse his thinking. He recognized that his doubts had morphed into mountains that blocked faith-empowered perspectives. Doubts and limitations that attacked his belief in Jesus had brought a deficit of faith in his heart.
But as soon as he admitted his loss of focus and began to see Jesus as his only source of hope and life (even if the disciples had failed him), he recovered his faith in full measure for the miracle he needed.
Are you waiting on God for a life-partner, a job, a specific direction, or a breakthrough in your situation? Maybe the people around you are saying that you are unrealistic, too selective or uncompromising. Maybe they are saying be pragmatic, time is running out, you’re no longer young, don’t expect too much. They sound so reasonable; yet, you know they conflict with the voice of God within you that you must listen to.
You know the One who answered your prayers before still hears you now. He had been there for you in the past and He is still here with you now. You know that your faith can only increase; it cannot stop growing. Obstacles and delays will be there, but they don’t mean the absence of God. You know you can take down another mountain with Jesus - no matter how long it takes.
Today, may your prayer be filled with a new level of faith. May you say once again, I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief!
This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 03 September, 2022.
