25 And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again." 26 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." 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
28 And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" 29 And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer." (Mark 9:25-29)
First, Worse
I want you first to notice how the boy seems to have gotten worse before Jesus delivered him. Satan would not give up easily. He convulsed the boy. He threw the boy down. The crowd that day thought he was dead.
Jesus loves to save. And sometimes he will save us by allowing things to get worse before they get better. In the time of worsening, you must still believe, even with imperfect faith, in his ability and desire to break through.
All of us have people we are praying for, hoping for God's salvation to come into their lives. And we often watch them grow worse before they get better. Keep on trusting Jesus! Lean on him. Believe he is faithful. Trust him.
The Disciples' Failure
After delivering the boy, Jesus and the disciples entered the house (28). Privately, the disciples asked Jesus why they couldn't cast out the demon (28). As a reminder, Jesus had sent them out two-by-two earlier in Mark, and they had the power then to cast out demons (Mark 6:12-13). So, they wondered, why couldn't we cast out this demon? We did it before. Why not now?
Prayer (and Fasting)
Jesus said this kind could only come out by prayer. Many ancient New Testament manuscripts also include fasting -- this kind can only come out by prayer and fasting.
I don't think this was Jesus' way of saying there are just some demons - or trials, individuals, or problems - that require prayer and fasting, while others do not.
Instead, I think Jesus was pointing out their self-sufficiency. Their question was straightforward, "Why could we not cast out this demon?" They thought they could do it. They couldn't do it. Why?
Jesus Rejects Self-Sufficiency and Looks for Dependence On God.
Jesus was trying to show them the error of self-sufficiency. They should not have trusted in their own strength. They forgot they were dependent on God for power. If they had been dependent, they would have been praying.
In one sense, a prayerless life is a prideful life. It is a way of living that thinks God has no help to offer, and that you can get by without his power.
But Jesus rejects self-sufficiency and looks for dependence on God. He wants us to be a dependent people.
There's a story in the Old Testament that illustrates the life of dependency Jesus wants. When Israel was set free from Egypt, they entered the wilderness. One day, while traveling, they were attacked by the Amalekites. Moses sent Joshua down into the valley to fight for the people, but Moses went to the top of a nearby hill with his brother Aaron and a man named Hur. Moses held the staff -the staff God had given him -in the air and prayed. Whenever his hands were held up, the Israelite warriors below were victorious. When his hands sank down, they began to lose. When Aaron and Hur noticed this, they propped Moses' hands up when he was tired (Exodus 17:8-16).
Moses' raised hands are emblematic of a life of prayer, one continually dependent upon God for its success. This is what Jesus wants. He rejects self-sufficiency and looks for dependence on God. His disciples needed to learn this back then, and we need to learn it today.
