2006-12-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Let's continue on the path the Holy Spirit is taking us in learning about prayer and fasting. This time, we'll look at some NT examples with powerful lessons for all of us. I read the story in MK 9: 14-29. The placement of this story of Jesus healing an epileptic boy of an evil spirit is right after Mark writes about the Transfiguration and Christ's comments in (12-13) about the coming of Elijah (notably in the KJV referred to as Elias) and how He must suffer much as was prophesied in the Scriptures. Elijah did come in the form of John the Baptist, and we know he was beheaded for his faith. As for the Son of Man, the OT contains prophesies of what He must suffer at the hands of people who didn't recognize Who He is can be found in places like IS 53: 1-12, for example. At the time, those who heard him make these statements were unable to fully understand them or their ramifications. We don't know if this is stubbornness to accept the truth or whether it is true inability-not being equipped with sufficient faith. The story of Christ's healing of this young boy after the boy's father beseeches Him to do this allows us to see some of the frustration that Christ, and of course, the Father, at the stubbornness of mankind in learning what must be understood-the power of prayer and fasting.
The boy's father begins by describing what we know today to be a grand mal epileptic seizure that his son has endured for most of his life. He explains to Christ and the large crowd present that he had appealed first to Christ's disciples to drive out this "evil spirit," but they couldn't. The first indication of Christ's frustration comes in (19). "Jesus said to them [the crowd], 'How unbelieving you people are! How long must I stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy to Me!' This was done, and as soon as the evil spirit saw Christ, it threw the boy into a seizure. The father continued to beg our Lord to do something about this. In (23), Christ agrees saying, "If you yourself can! Everything is possible for the person who has faith." The father, who is refreshingly honest, replies, "I do have faith, but not enough. Help me have more!" This confession, much like any genuine confession we might offer, is also is also an acknowledgement that we need God's intervention in our lives; we can't live righteously relying only on ourselves. Christ commanded the evil spirit to depart from the boy in (25b), "Deaf and dumb spirit, I order you to come out of the boy and never go into him again!" The spirit screamed and departed from the lad, leaving him looking like he was dead. But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him rise to his feet. Later, in (28), the disciples were alone with their Lord and asked Him why they couldn't drive the spirit out of the boy. MK 9: 29 has a crucial lesson for all of us. "Only prayer and fasting drive this kind [of evil spirit] out. Nothing else can."
We are given some added insight here regarding the nature of certain kinds of evil. Ordering them to depart isn't enough. Christ is telling us that prayer and fasting may be necessary to negatively impact them. How do we know? Only through our own experience and our faith in Christ can we know. I can't imagine doing a task for God without prayer at this time. As for fasting, the Lord will lead a person to that, if He feels it's appropriate. Admittedly, I didn't always realize the value and power of prayer. God had that lesson awaiting me when I took over the e-mail portion of our congregation's prayer chain.
How many times have good servants of Christ felt the frustration of not seeing their efforts work? I'm sure there have been plenty of times. Then, they went back to the Lord in prayer and possibly fasting, to finally approach it His way. "Lord, what do You think I [we] should do? How long must I [we] wait?" These questions might not be answered right away, causing the servant big time frustration. But whatever happens, His loving Lord has an important lesson for him to learn, if he is willing to look for it. If we are looking for Christ's power to equip us and guide us, we need only look at JN 14: 6, 9b, 11, and 21. "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to the Father except by Me...Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father...Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. If not, believe because of the things I do...Whoever accepts My commandments and obeys them is the one who loves Me. My Father will love whoever loves Me; I too will love him and reveal Myself to him." JN 5: 19 really helps us understand the righteous power we can only have from true faith in Jesus Christ. "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; He can do only what he sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does." The connection between Christ and the Father is unbreakable and complete. After all the Son of Man is the Father's second personality. Now, we need to bow our heads in prayer and maybe even fasting about the supernatural connection between ourselves, the Father, and the Son- which we are given by having true faith in Him. We are also connected, as Christ is, to every other true believer. Please pray about that too.
PRAYER: O Lord, our words seem inadequate to express our faith and dedication to You. You deserve our worship, thanks, and praise. Our adoration of You must one day be perfect. While still imperfect now, we ask You to expose pockets of unbelief that still linger in us. We know this might be painful, and that in the past we have reacted with stubbornness about both recognizing them and stopping them from plaguing our lives. You have warned us in, 1 PET 5: 8, how cunningly persistent the evil one is. "Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." In (9) You remind us that we don't suffer alone. "Be firm in your faith and resist him, because you know that your fellow believers in all the world are going through the same kind of sufferings." You are a loving God Who won't allow our suffering to go on indefinitely. 1 PET 5: 10-11, "But after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, Who calls you to share His eternal glory in union with Christ Jesus, will Himself perfect you and give you firmness, strength, and a sure foundation. To Him be the power forever! Amen." The advice You give us will equip us to do battle with the adversary with victory in the name of Christ. Throughout the Scriptures, You have kept Your promise not to abandon us, Your children [DT 31: 6 & 8; PS 9: 9-12; PS 16: 8-11; PS 37: 25; PS 94: 14; IS 49: 14-16; HE 13: 5-6]. The issue of power to do spiritual battle is clarified in EPH 1: 18-20. "I ask that your minds may be opened to see His light, so that you will know what is the hope to which He has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings He promises His people, and how very great is His power at work in us who believe. This power working in us is the same as the mighty strength which He used when He raised Christ from death and seated Him at His right side in the heavenly world." Dearest Abba, we bow before Your throne today to express our faith in You and demonstrate our belief that both prayer and fasting are powerful weapons against the dark powers that beset us. They are also expressions of our love, adoration, worship, and praise of You. We say these things in Christ's mighty and holy name. Amen.
Next week, we will look at a short but very revealing passage from Dr. Luke's gospel, LK 2: 36-38 and more, if space permits. These will give us further insight into occasions for prayer and fasting. As I mentioned above, I had to experience a personal conversion to faith in the power of these tools to focus on God, to get rid of certain kinds of evil being done, and to reveal God's glory through the circumstances of our lives. God must have been laughing when He saw to it I had to spend seven days a week for at least some time every day in both personal and intercessory prayer. After all, I had little to no prayer life before this. My own experience over the last several years in my prayer chain calling has revealed to me how foolish my prior life was without believing in prayer and fasting. Little did I know that God would equip me to do this job. But then, finding these things out showed me how much I personally need God's hand in my own life. Then, what I saw on the prayer chain as people followed up their requests with notes showed me God at work. This brought about my faith in His power for everyone who believes. Not every prayer request will be answered in the time and way the requester may desire, but each prayer is heard and answered in God's perfect way and time. We must have patience for that and faith that God never does anything that isn't in the subject's best eternal interest. Our God loves each and every one of us. JN 6: 39-40 and EPH 1: 4-5 reveal both the Son's and the Father's mission statements. Know that both contain God's desire to bring us back to Him for an eternal life of bliss and close fellowship with Him. What greater love can there be?
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn