July 30, 2021

Jul 30, 2021    Shirlene Peterson

In Mark 9 Jesus & his disciples are approached by a man whose son has been sick for a long time. He has demons that cause him to have seizure-like episodes, leaving him hurt when they are over. The father is desperate to get help for his son, so he pleads with Jesus. The disciples had tried to rid him of the demons, but they were unable.

Mark 9:19 “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

It sounds like Jesus is upset with them for not having the faith to accomplish this.
Mark 9:22-23. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
9:24. Immediately the boys’ father exclaimed, “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief”.
And there it is! I love this verse. The first time I read it I thought “OH! Someone else suffers from not having the faith that I think we should”. It would be impossible in these human bodies to have perfect faith in every situation.
Matt 17:20. 20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
Our faith building exercise for today is: Hear the word of God, by reading the word, by going to church, and even praise music has God’s word in it.
Secondly, ASK for faith. Mark 9:24 shows that we can ASK and God will give us faith.
Romans 12:3 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

We each have a different measure of faith. I think mine may change day to day and situation to situation. Thankfully, I know where I can get more!!
I’m feeling so privileged that I can seek Him to ask for ANYthing, including an increase in faith!

We know that He does not answer every request the way we want, but He knows the “whole story”. He has his reasons why some are healed, why you get the job you want (or not), why the person you want to date will not go out with you….. HE KNOWS! So ask Him. Submit petitions, but ask for faith when you need to. What an amazing God we serve!