"The Place of Prayer" (Mark 9:14-29)

Introduction

In this passage from Mark chapter 9, we encounter a significant life challenge, combined with high expectations as to how Jesus’ disciples would be able to handle it. When they couldn’t cope, this passage goes on to reveal why. When it comes to our faith, we need to adopt patterns of deepening our experience of God, such that we can actually make a difference in our community.

1. A Significant Challenge

What we have here, seems to our modern mind to be a very bad case of epilepsy. Yet, two thousand years ago, such a condition, given the extreme physical manifestations, was identified in general terms i.e. having an “unclean or evil spirit”. Thus, there was grave seriousness attached to this matter, and significant social stigma. In these times, there was no understanding of what was happening within the body and mind of this boy, and of course no drugs available through which to treat him. Scary stuff! To complicate this further, the boy also seems to be mute and suffer from deafness.

The strong emphasis here is the gravity of the personal situation being presented. The only possible recourse was a miracle cure. The boy’s behaviour seemed extreme and dangerous – a major concern for the boy himself and anyone around him. This condition was certainly life-threatening! And to make matters even more intense, this boy had been suffering these ‘fits’ from childhood, reflecting much misery and hardship. The father himself was also suffering, in empathy with his son of course, but no doubt also in the midst of the trials of having to care for him – he said to Jesus, “have pity on us and help us” (v.22b).

2. High Expectations

Having heard about Jesus, and also about what his disciples had been doing (which included ‘casting out demons’ – 6:13), this boy’s father had high expectations that they would be able to help in this case. With Jesus absent for a time, the father still expected that the disciples could heal his son. In this he was disappointed. And this all occurred before a large crowd of onlookers, which no doubt included sceptics and opponents – but also seekers and new believers.

The father and members of the gathered crowd, were not the only ones with high expectations – Jesus himself had high expectations of what should have been achievable through his disciples. Here was an opportunity for the disciples to show what they could do, and what they had learnt, and how close they could model Jesus … while he was absent from the scene! Jesus had instructed, and therefore enabled, these disciples to deal with “unclean spirits” – Jesus “gave them authority over unclean spirits” (6:7, also 3:15). Why couldn’t the disciples meet these expectations – we shall see!

3. Difficulties in Believing

Note the strong words of Jesus in verse 19: “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you”? Here was a bit of a rocket for the disciples; but it would seem also for the wider community, in its failure to recognise, fully appreciate, and properly respond to … their visitation from God (in the person of Jesus). This “faithless generation” comment of Jesus … was likely targeted generally at the whole cultural context of his incarnation, especially those, who through their prophets, should have known better. Jesus was clearly exasperated.

The father too copped a bit of a retort from Jesus (refer to verses 22-23). The father slipped in a bit of an “if”, which Jesus seems to have taken exception to. We would have to ask though, whether it was the disciples lack of success that caused the father to second guess what Jesus himself could do!! The father had started out with great hopes, but was now only able to say, “if … you are able to do anything”. It does seem that the disciples unwittingly had a negative impact on the father’s fragile confidence in Jesus. Happily for all though, the father quickly rebounded from any backtracking, and asked for help to deal with his doubt and wavering faith (v.24).

4. Disciples’ Ineffectiveness

Jesus went on to heal the boy completely. So healing was possible … why couldn’t these disciples have done this? They had done similar, although not as complex, restoration in the recent past. Jesus was training and empowering his disciples to do what he had been doing. So, we wouldn’t call this inability, because clearly Jesus himself felt that they should have been able to achieve this. Perhaps we would call the disciples, in this particular situation, ineffective! But why? This passage is leading our thoughts down the track of repeatedly asking ‘why’, right through to the crescendo!

5. Contemporary Life

Life brings many complex challenges. Just because we have made it through certain challenges, doesn’t mean we will necessarily be up to the stronger, deeper more significant challenge – especially if we don’t apply all of the available resources, or if we try to go it alone in the limitations of our own individual capacities. We could also look at this in a community or church sense, and consider the implications of certain challenges or threats, and whether we apply fully all of the resources available to us.

And this is not just about the results we can bring for ourselves and our family. We have to remember the crowd – who are watching to see how we go. Do we want to add to their disappointment or cynicism, or rather cause them to wonder and draw them towards faith. There may be high expectations placed on us. We sometimes talk up our game … talk up our capacities because we have God on our side! How does Jesus feel when we are less than we could be? What reactions does Jesus have when we let someone down or miss an opportunity?? How does our less than best reflect on Jesus? Would we ever want to be called “faithless”?! Rather than being ineffective, do we want to be as effective as possible? What does this entail??

6. The Solution is Prayer

The real issue is that we shouldn’t need to ask these questions. We shouldn’t be in the position for these questions to have to be asked of us! For we well know the resource we have been given – and it is free, available, unrestricted, and has been found time and time again to be remarkably effective. The answer is so stark, and almost jumps off the page with its suddenness!! The disciples had not been effective … because they had not utilised prayer. In the complex circumstances that had presented themselves, the disciples had not been prayerful (enough)!!

To their credit, these disciples didn’t shy away from their lack of success … they wanted to know why. Verse 29: in the privacy of a house, Jesus said to his disciples, “This kind can only come out through prayer” – we might say, “This level of complexity can only be dealt with through prayer”.

So, for some reason or another, the disciples hadn’t been prayerful about the significant ministry they were called upon to be involved in; and because of this got themselves into a bit of a pickle. This might have been because of the attitude they brought to it – they may have come to think they could handle it all themselves … that they were past having to rely on power outside of themselves. They may have got ahead of themselves. They may have, even subtly or unconsciously, disconnected themselves from God. They perhaps just didn’t get it … they didn’t yet understand the place and power of prayer! After all, they later fell asleep when they were supposed to be praying with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane … not just once but twice (14:37-40)!

Mark’s Gospel gives us an honest picture of the struggle it was for Jesus’ disciples to live up to their calling. This is both an encouragement and a challenge to us: an encouragement because we sometimes struggle to, and these early struggling disciples grew into exercising great ministries and became involved in significant mission activities; a challenge: so that we will learn the lessons as best we can. We do live daily with sometimes overwhelming uncertainty.

Why is it … that we don’t pray? Especially given the results we often experience!

• We think we can do things in our own strength, even in the most complex of matters, even when it has been clearly shown that we can’t. Often when we run off and try to fix things, without due prayerful consideration, things just get even more pear-shaped.
• We think we can maintain control, even though the fragility of life, demonstrated in this passage, and again in London this week, denies this is ever possible.
• We may be somewhat interested in God’s plans, but not if they critique or change our plans – we’re not sure we really want to give our life over to God’s purposes. So we don’t pray … then we may not have to!

It could be that prayer doesn’t seemed to have worked for some of us. I invite anyone in that situation to talk to someone about this – to try to work out what might be getting in the way.

7. The Place of Prayer (in our lives)

1. Jesus was able to heal the boy, and prayer was stated as the difference. So, prayer resources us as Jesus was resourced. Not to pray … denies us resources; which is even more problematical in the more challenging circumstances. The implication of this passage is clear – the disciples could have healed this boy, if they had fully appreciated that Jesus could work through them, and they had properly prepared themselves in prayer!

2. There is a connection between faith and prayer. When the disciples’ efforts were ineffective, Jesus DIDN’T call them ‘prayer-less’, but he called them “faithless” or at least connected them with the “faithless generation”. This was because they were not believing enough to apply themselves to prayer. If we are believing, then this would be both proved, and activated, through prayer.

3. Prayer opens the space for God to work. How?

• Prayer leads us away from our own agendas and egos, toward fully cooperating with God
• Prayer builds relationships – ours with God; and as we pray with others – these horizontal relationships as well
• Prayer unites us with God, and with God’s own purposes and will in the world
• Prayer connects us to the full resources of God, then releases these resources through our daily activity
• Prayer allows us to recognise Jesus in others, and others to see Jesus in us

4. There is a connection between prayer and peace. We pray, and we sense a peace that, despite how things currently appear, they are about to improve … in some way, shape or form, if we are observant enough to see it, and ready to experience it.

Conclusion

Prayer is about resources, activation and effectiveness. That is, gaining the resources we need, activating our faith in community, and bringing about results. This is because we are not seeking to act alone, but rather in God’s power, into God’s will, bringing about God’s future. “Your Kingdom come; Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”!

Sometimes we feel clueless, but prayer activates our imagination – a sanctified imagination – and we have new understanding of what to do, what decision to make, where to go, how to speak, how to forgive, how to reconcile, how to bring healing, how to be Jesus! It’s amazing how the most difficult of prospects gains new perspective, insight and ultimate resolution through prayer.

It is God’s undertaking, blessing and guidance that we will need, if we are going to get … where we are meant to be!! It is only in prayer, that we can truly prepare ourselves to participate in what God wants to do amongst us and through us (into the community)!

Application

What will you be doing this time tomorrow?

What challenges will there be in this for you?

How can we pray for you (and others in a similar situation)?