Unlocked: The Power in Prayer

Mark 9:14-29

Mark 9:14–29 NIV

When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked. A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” “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.” So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “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.” “ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

Unlocked: The Power in Prayer

Heavenly Father, I pray that you decrease me in this moment… And You increase in Your people’s sight…

Hide me behind your veil, so that the hearers of this word do not see me… but only hear from you… May this word fall on tilled soiled and take root in fertile ground…

Heavenly Father, bless this preached Word that it may transform the hearts of the listeners… So that they may go out transform the lives of those they come in contact with…

Let the words of my mouth… And the meditation of my heart… Be acceptable in your sight… Oh Lord, my Strength, and my Redeemer. Amen

INTRO

In the small town Mt. Vernon, Texas… The Drummond Bar & Grill begin erecting a small tavern in close proximity to a local church there in Mt. Vernon… The church not wanting to have the influence of liquor on it’s children’s ministry and the adults that suffered from addictions… Vehemently opposed the opening of the tavern in such proximity began to there church… Not believing they had much influence to petition the city to stop construction, they did what any good Christian would do… They began to pray…

They prayed individually and they prayed collectively… They gathered together for large group prayer meetings with the sole purpose to ask God to stop the construction of this tavern in such proximity to their church…

Couldn’t have been too many of us I understand...

So they begin to pray… Over the course of some months, a huge storm hit the small town and lightning struck the tavern still under construction… The lightning struck an electrical line and burned the tavern to the ground… The members of the church were delighted to find out that the lightning had struck and that building would no longer be coming up… Until they received a subpoena in the mail…

Turns out Mr. Drummond, the owner that was building the tavern, heard about their prayer meetings and he decided to take them to court and sue for damages. Mr. Drummond’s lawyer argued that the lightning strike was the direct result of the church’s prayer and they should be held responsible for all damages… The attorney for the church replied to the judge, “My client has told me to tell you their prayers had nothing to do with lightning striking the building and burning it to the ground…

The Judge Riley commented in his opening remarks, “I’m not sure how I’m going to rule in this case; but one thing is clear, the tavern owner believes in the power of prayer… and the church does not.”

And that brings us to the scriptural text of the morning… Jesus is about to instruct his disciples of the necessity and the potent power that comes through prayer in the Spirit… There is no power in the church without prayer… and we as followers of Christ can never fully enjoy the life has designated for us without a life of prayer… To be sure… 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 NKJV

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Pray without ceasing literally means: to have our minds always on the things of God, to be in constant communication with God, so that every moment may be as fruitful as possible

Transition #1

We find a peculiarly interesting scene being played out… One clearly crafted for a Jordan Peele sci-fi thriller…

At the top of Chapter 9 Jesus takes his inner circle of disciples - Peter, James, and John to the top of a mountain… At the mountain peak, we receive a glimpse by the author Mark of what happens… Jesus is transfigured… Jesus’s appearance changes and he clothes change to a glowing white… Elijah and Moses appears in this moment and the disciples with Jesus become frighten… In the midst of all of this, a large cloud appears and a voice states in Mark 9:7 “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”” The voice of God speaks in this moment to further confirm Jesus place in this world… Jesus IS the son of God to deliver the message of God… As they are coming down from the mountain summit, Jesus gives them strict orders to not discuss what happens until AFTER Jesus is risen from the Dead…

Can you imagine what Peter, James, and John are experiencing… They have witnessed something that cannot be explained in ways for someone to understand… This is one of those “You had to be there” moments… You know what I mean… One of those experiences that only happen when you are in close proximity to Jesus… When you have a close relationship with Jesus… When you are in tuned with the voice and direction of Jesus… And to be sure, there are going to be times when walking with Jesus will cause you to question what you’re going through… There’s no way that being with Jesus will cause me to see something like this… A living man glowing… and two dead prophets appearing… And Jesus speaking of His sequential death and resurrection... Let’s not act like this is an ordinary occurence… Walking with Jesus will cause of to experience Glory and Grief… The glory of the impossible happening… and the grief of not being able to explain why tragedy happens to good people… God’s people...

Transition #2

As Jesus and the Big Three reach the base of the mountain… They are met with chaos… A large crowd of people have surrounded the remaining disciples… and the teachers of the law are arguing with them… and when Jesus hits the scene… the people run away from the disciples and head to Jesus… We can imagine those disciples took a collective sigh… They probably said: He may not come when you want him, but he will be right on time…

At this… The other disciples are being antagonized for not being able to heal the child… The religious leaders would teach the expectation of their students and followers to be able to do what they can do or better… So this is the moment the leaders are waiting for to disqualify Jesus… To show AND prove that Jesus is NOT the healer… the leader… the messiah… the Son of God… that he claims to be… This is the moment of moments to catch a liar in his tracks…

But isn’t that like the enemy… Causing you to question your own abilities based on the abilities of others… If they can’t do it… I know I can’t do it… This friend is the smart friend… If he failed the test, I know I’m bound to fail it… If there relationship didn’t work, How can I expect my relationship to work… if my parents marriage didn’t work… How can I be a great parent… If I had absent parents…

But God… Our examples may be of the people around us… But our foundation is built on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ… On Christ the solid rock I stand… All other ground is sinking stand… Even when I am questioning my worth and my abilities and my education and my ability to maintain relationship… I can stand firm in who I am because I know WHOSE I am… First John 3:1 reminds me that “I am a child of God…” First Peter 2:9 reminds us that we “are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

This is why it is important to not run away from church… In times of trouble, we should run to the church… Spending time with people that have a relationship with God… Opening up and sharing with those that want the best for you in your journey…

Transition #3

Jesus enters the scene… He asks what’s the issue… Why all of the commotion… And the Bible says a man in the crowd speaks up… Mark 9:17-18

Mark 9:17–18 NIV

A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”

The heartbreak in this man’s voice… His son that can’t speak… Has constant seizures… Foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth… And he becomes stiff like a statue… And what’s worst… He has come to the body of believers to help him and yet he’s still left without any positive resolution… Too be sure… The father is in a worst place than he started… His hope is almost gone...

How many times have we almost lost hope… It seems like no matter how many times you try to do right… Things continue to go left… You’ve budgeted for the month, but your car breaks down… New expense… You’ve set to start a meal plan and a diet, then the company wants to throw a surprise lunch offer nothing but Chic-fil-a… And Who can say no to the Lord’s Chicken...

Jesus turns to his disciples and calls them an “unbelieving generation”… The New Living Testament Translation says “You faithless people!” Jesus is not upset that they don’t believe in His… He is upset that they call themselves followers of Christ and don’t believe the power that is on the inside of them… We all love to quote the scripture “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” But when we get into a bind… we don’t truly act as if we can believe that we have the power of Christ on the inside of us…

Let’s be honest… Do we really think we can make a mountain move??? Think about it… And be honest… Do we REALLY think we can tell a mountain to lift up and move… And if I’m completely honest… I believe I can do it, until it’s time to perform… But Jesus says in Matthew 17:20 if we have faith the size of the tiniest of seeds… The size of a mustard seed… We can tell a mountain to get up from here and go there…

We face spiritual mountains and psychological mountains and financial mountains and relational mountains everyday… And often times… the reason we can’t seem to overcome the mountains… is because we don’t truly have the faith that the mountains can be conquered… We are so comfortable with walking through the valley of the shadow of death… that we can’t imagine what walking in the light feels like anymore… So mountains we can tell to get up and move… Other mountains we have to climb… But when we have Christ’s strength on the inside of us… All things are possible… What man says is impossible… Christ says “I’m possible.”

Jesus asks the man “How long has he been like this?” and the father tells him “since childbirth”… And if you and I thought it was bad before… Remember… He’s already told Jesus that it causes some horrific things… But NOW he tells him that this spirit also tries to kill his son…

Mark 9:22–24 NIV

“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.” “ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

As this man please to Jesus… Jesus in all of his Jesus self says to this unnamed distressed filled father IF YOU CAN??? But here is the GOOD part… Don’t miss it… Jesus did not say “Of course I can… You must not know bout me… You must don’t know my name… Aint no cap in my rap…” No… Jesus replies… “Everything is possible for one who believes.” WHICH IMPLIES… That the Father could heal his son if he truly believed in the power of Jesus working inside of him…

There is a Holy Ghost power working on the inside of us that is ready to work if WE ONLY BELIEVE…

And the father immediately replies I DO BELIEVE… BUT JESUS HELP MY UNBELIEF…

This is so good… We are witnessing a spiritual collision right before our eyes… An all too familiar situation… We believe in God… We believe in the power of Jesus… But often times we wrestle with the unbelief… We wrestle with whether or not our faith is strong enough… We wrestle with whether or not God truly is there for me during my times of need… But if we can pray this prayer of the father… God I believe in you in this situation of my life… But help me in the areas of my unbelief… Father, help me in the areas that I struggle to believe that I truly can be set free… Praying this prayer will allow us to truly walk in victory...

I love how Jesus speaks to this impure spirit in verse 25: “You deaf and mute spirit. I command you, come out of him and never enter him again…” Jesus put a name to the spirit… And he commands the spirit to leave and never return… Too many times we talk to the symptoms of our situation and not the cause… Just like taking Tylenol for a headache… The pain temporarily goes away, but we don’t deal with the stress and stressors causing the pain… Jesus says you Deaf and Mute spirit… You spirit that’s refusing this child to hear and speak… Leave his body… And never return… It’s the never return part for me…

Depression get out of my life and never return… Sore knees and aching back get of our my life and never return… Student load Debt get out of my life and never return… Are we praying to get out of situations and also praying to never return to those situations???

Transition #4

After all of this… the spirit reluctantly leaves the boy and causes him to appear dead… But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and the boy stood…

I know… I know… We see this miracle and the precursor to Jesus being raised from the dead… We also see how a touch from Jesus can take what looks dead and He can give it new life…

But that’s now what this entire sermon is about… This sermon is NOT about a father taking his sermon to Jesus’ disciples and they can’t heal him… This sermon is NOT about Jesus admonishing those that call themselves Christians but don’t live like Christians… And it’s not about this boy being healed and given a new life… And a new walk…

This entire message is about what happens in the last two verses of the scripture in this text… If there is anything I want you to take with you as you leave today… As you journey through life’s challenges over the next week or two… I want you take and hold on to this tightly…

Jesus removes himself from everything that has happened… And has gone into a private residence with his 12 disciples and they begin to have a private conversation… We are so blessed to have a peak into this short but powerful dialogue…

Mark 9:28–29 NIV

After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

There are things in our life that we can only accomplish through prayer… Prayer is the key that unlocks the power of God in our lives… My grandfather, The Rev. Alfonso Williams, once said: Prayer is not being God’s will to our will… But bending our will to God’s will… Prayer is a solemn request for help, or expression of thanks addressed to God, or an object of worship.

Prayer is our ability to communicate to God during our times of trouble… Prayer is our ability to express to God thanks for all that He has done and will continue to do for us… And Prayer is an object of worship… I love that last description… Worship is how we overcome the enemy… Worship is how we prepare our hearts to hear from God… Worship is how we wait on God’s will to be done… The Bible says of God in Psalm 22:3

Psalm 22:3 (NKJV)

But You are holy,

Enthroned in the praises of Israel.

This word ENTHRONED speaks to God sitting or dwelling in our worship… God lives in our worship… God lives in our prayer life… And prayer is not just you speaking to God… Prayer is a form of communication… We speak to God AND God speaks back to us…

Another version of that scriptures says Jesus responds to his disciples… to us… in regards to that spirit released from the child...

Mark 9:29 NKJV

So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”

Fasting without prayer is simply a diet… Prayer is the key that unlocks the power of Christ that dwells in us…

Closing

If you want to know more about that power… If you want to know more about this man name Jesus that died on the cross… And rose three days later with all power in his hands… I invite you to allow us to take this walk with you…

The Bible says in Romans 10:9

Romans 10:9 NIV

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

I invite you to right now to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior… Simply Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord… And Believe he died on the Cross and God raised him from the Dead… and walk into the freedom of being released from the struggles of the world…

Today, I come asking you to put your faith in Jesus… Let Jesus be your comforter… Let Jesus be your provider… Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” And then you may ask, why do I even need faith… Hebrews 11:6 answers that question, “6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

This isn’t about adding members to the Bridge… This is about adding souls to the Kingdom… Say this prayer with me…

Because we KNOW that Prayer is the key to unlock God’s power within us… Let’s repeat this prayer together…

Sinner’s Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. Amen