Faith and Prayer
Mark 2026 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them. And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him.
And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them? And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;
And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
Introduction
Introduction
In our passage this morning, we see the power of Jesus revealed in a spiritual victory over a defeated foe. Jesus challenges those who read to greater faith. We will see how faith and prayer are connected in the life of the believer.
Mark was likely the first Gospel written. Under the inspiration of God, he writes with an intent to point his readers toward the Cross and the Empty Tomb. Those who read are faced with a question: who is this Jesus? All of the miracles of Jesus point to the answer that He is God Himself come as the Suffering Sacrifice for the sins of the world.
As we grow in our walk with God this year, we want to be Following in the Life of Faith. The Life of Faith begins with salvation through the Gospel and carries on toward the daily life of service to Jesus. Mark gives us the message of Jesus to all people.
Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Will you look to Jesus for your salvation today? Will you live as a faithful disciple of Him? Will you look with eagerness to His return to establish His earthly kingdom? Let’s Follow in the Life of Faith this year and see God do something amazing!
Prayer is a challenging topic to preach on. We all fall short in our prayer lives. We all face distractions when we try to pray. Sleep, our phones, thoughts about the day - these keep us from having our attention only on God. God is the object of our prayers and He is the only one who can grant the petitions that we bring.
Studying prayer throughout the Bible, we would see that there is a constant mention of this act in the crises of faith. Abraham prayed when God revealed the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. David prayed when his family was missing from the city of Ziklag. Hezekiah called out to God when he was told that his life would end soon. Prayer and faith are together the action of the believer in the spiritual battles of life. Our trial of faith and our spiritual battles are designed by God to bring us to greater dependence on Him. This is the message of this passage on faith and prayer.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
How is your faith and your prayer life this morning?
Declaration
Declaration
The cry of our heart must always be for more faith. The disciples and the man with a possessed son have the same need in this passage. Today, we must grow in our prayer and that growth comes through a strengthening of our faith.
1. Prayer Begins with Jesus
1. Prayer Begins with Jesus
And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them. And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him. And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them? And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
Jesus has just come down the mountain from the Transfiguration. He revealed to the disciples who He was and pointed their eyes to “Jesus only.” In this passage, we see that the application of the Transfiguration is that Prayer begins with Jesus.
The disciples are surrounded with many people when He arrives at the bottom of the mountain with the three men that were with Him - Peter, James, and John. The leaders in the interpretation of the Law are having an argument with these nine followers of Jesus. When Jesus asks what is going on, a man steps up to explain the need of the hour.
In verse 17, he tells Jesus that he has brought his son who is possessed of a demon for removal by Jesus but found Him missing. Without Jesus, this man turns to His disciples to remove the demon but they cannot. The man is desperate, like the Syrophonecian woman, because of the unbelievable pain and destruction that the child is going through.
This is the last time that we see the removal of a demon in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus about to show His disciples the connection between spiritual victory and the life of carrying the cross that He instructed them in chapter 8. The connection is Jesus Himself.
The man has come to the right place and to the right Person for help. Only Jesus could remove the demon from the boy. Only His power brings victory in the spiritual battle. He tells those around Him,
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
And so it is with our needs today! Prayer begins with Jesus. Bring your needs to Him. We must be sure that He is the recipient of our prayers and petitions. So one writer has said,
The Gospel according to Mark Mark 9:28–29
Grundmann correctly notes that “prayer is faith turned to God.” Prayer is the focusing and directing of faith in specific requests to God. Both faith and prayer testify that spiritual power is not in oneself but in God alone, and both wait in trust upon his promise to save.
Prayer and faith are together the key to spiritual victory in Jesus only. In response to the words of the man, Jesus addresses all those present in verse 19. He calls them a “faithless generation.” The disciples could not cast out the demon because they lacked faith in the correct Person. The scribes lacked faith because they were missing the arrival of the kingdom of God in repentance and faith. All were faithless because they were not willing to believe what they could see. Jesus is referencing the words of God to Moses,
And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: For they are a very froward generation, Children in whom is no faith.
Jesus asks how long this will continue. He then ends his speech in verse 19 with a command. He tells the man, “bring him unto me.” We are to likewise bring what we have need of to Jesus alone.
Where is your faith this morning? Is it in Jesus alone or in yourself? Are your eyes open to Him and do you begin with Him when you are in need? Prayer begins with Jesus.
2. Prayer is a Spiritual Battle
2. Prayer is a Spiritual Battle
And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
The man has come for help. He brings the boy to Jesus. As the boy approaches Jesus, we see that Prayer is a spiritual battle.
The demon is not willing to submit to Jesus. The demon instead is bent on destroying the boy. This is the nature of sin whether in the flesh, the world or the devil. Since the time that this boy was a child, he has dealt with this sinful condition. Worse than just a sinful nature, the demon has direct control over the boy’s action.
There is a spiritual battle that is taking place here in King William today. People are out and about living their own way. They have no care for the things of eternity - salvation in Jesus alone. This has been the case since the time of the flood. God looked on the heart of man and saw the evil bent of our nature.
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
The heart of God is hurt by the evil heart of man. When we come to Jesus for help, we are in a spiritual battle. The flesh, the world and the devil are in danger of losing their power when we come to Jesus. Bringing the boy to Jesus caused the demon to fight harder to destroy the boy’s life. As one preacher has said,
The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations Prayer and Satan
Satan dreads nothing but prayer.
Samuel Chadwick
In the midst of the battle, the man asks Jesus for help. He needs divine help for the spiritual conflict. The man asks for compassion from Jesus in verse 22. Jesus has compassion four times as recorded in Mark; we see it in Mark 1:41, 6:34, and 8:2 to this point. This man asks for Jesus to feel with him once more. The compassion of Jesus is only shown by Him in the Gospels as a pattern for us to see the heart of God in response to the effects of sin and the curse in the world.
The cry of the believer in the midst of a spiritual battle is for compassion from Jesus! We need God to do something that only He can do. We are not fighting in our strength but in His alone. The battle drives the believer to help in God alone. We see the example of Jehosophat in the book of Chronicles,
It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazon-tamar, which is En-gedi. And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the Lord: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.
Prayer is a spiritual battle. We cannot win the battle without the help of Jesus, who has won the war. Are you looking for help from the right source in your need? Victory is nigh when we face the battle with the power of Christ!
3. Prayer Includes Faith
3. Prayer Includes Faith
And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
The situation was dire; the spiritual battle was visible. But the focus of Jesus was not just on the battle, but also on the heart of the man and his spiritual condition. Prayer includes faith.
Jesus is willing to help the man. But, in the midst of the cry for help, there must be faith that Jesus can do the impossible. The goal of the demon in possessing the boy is found in verse 22. The work of the enemy is always to destroy what God created and desires to be glorified in. The goal of Jesus is the restoration of all things which here is accomplished through the removal of the demon.
Look at verse 23. This is a challenging verse when looked out without context. Many take verses like this and use them by way of “name it and claim it.” No wonder that many do not look for truth in the Bible because they don’t see constant blessing or success in the lives of believers!
The passage is deeper than just the surface reading of only the one verse. Jesus makes a statement of fact in verse 23. In essence, there must be a choice to have confidence in the midst of discouragement, hardship, and trial. This situation requires in the life of a person a looking up to Jesus. He says “all things are possible to him that believeth.” Immediately, “And straightway”, there is an opportunity and a challenge to faith.
In verse 24, we find the heart of the passage. The man expresses the paradox of the growing, fruitful Christian life. We believe but we need help believing. We suffer but we grow in grace. We look back at what God has done but we choose to look forward to what God can do. Paul tells Timothy,
For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
We believed in Jesus for salvation. We believe in Him for victory in the spiritual battle. The Bible is clear that the faith of a Christian is to be a growing faith.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Have you believe in Jesus for salvation? Has He taken away your sin? Only the blood of Jesus is sufficient to remove the debt that we owe and wash our sin away. Every person must come to Him and look to the sacrifice of the cross for sins alone for their eternal life.
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
Prayer includes faith. The man calls out to Jesus to help his faith, but he choose to have faith in Jesus first. This must be the cry of every believer in our trials. As one writer says,
“The point is not, of course, that with enough faith you can do anything. It is rather that God has the power to do anything. It is not the amount of faith that is important; it is the object of that faith.” (Strauss, pg. 398)
Jesus answers the faith of the man with the removal of the demon. The boy is brought back from apparent death by the life of Jesus. Prayer includes faith. Do you have faith in Jesus when you pray?
4. Prayer Alone is the Remedy
4. Prayer Alone is the Remedy
And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
The final two verses give us the application to the passage. The disciples ask Jesus what the reason is that they were not able to remove the demon. In answer, Jesus tells them prayer alone is the remedy. Someone said,
The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations Faith and Prayer
Faith dies through lack of prayer.
Author unknown
So it seems to have been with the disciples. They had cast out demons in chapter 6 by the authority and command of Jesus. Here, they cannot. Something seems to have changed. Their dependence on Jesus seems to be lacking like often is our case today. Jesus is here teaching all of the disciples the lesson that He had taught the three in the previous section of chapter 9. One commentator tells us,
“Prayer is more than just communicating with God. It is acknowledging one’s dependence on him for all our needs.” (Strauss, pg. 400)
How is your dependence on Jesus? Are you praying like you ought? Where is your heart today and on who is your dependence for help? Jesus told His disciples,
And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
“Biblical Faith is never a kind of wishful thinking or a vague hope that does not have any secure foundation to rest upon. It is rather trust in a person, God himself, based on the fact that we take him at his word and believe what he said.” Grudem, pg. 384
In the walk of faith and the spiritual battles of life, prayer is the remedy. The dependence that we have on God is the only thing that will bring us through. Faith and prayer together help us to follow Jesus and grow in Him.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The cry of our heart must always be for more faith. The disciples and the man with a possessed son have the same need in this passage. Today, we must grow in our prayer and that growth comes through a strengthening of our faith.
The need of the hour in our country is great. As we celebrate 250 years of God’s blessing and protection of our nation, we must return to the heart of prayer. God can do and has done what only He could through these years. In this passage, we see a desperate need and a powerful Saviour who helped when approached in faith and prayer.
How is your prayer? How is your faith? We all need to choose to make a daily habit of calling out to God for help. Paul tells us to “pray without ceasing.” We all need to believe that God will do His will and will hear our prayer. We need faith and prayer together to see God work.
Will you live a life of faith and prayer? That is the need of the hour. That is the application of this passage. The man and the disciples both needed faith and prayer. We need it today as well!
Robert Hall was a Baptist preacher in the late 1700s and early 1800s. One account of his life records this about him,
Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals Hall, Robert, Jr
From his childhood Hall suffered from a painful recurring condition diagnosed posthumously as a build-up of kidney stones. In his youth his brothers often had to carry him around during attacks. As an adult he was not allowed a full night’s rest by the pain and suffered extended setbacks. By 1826, seeking to alleviate his misery, he had developed an opium dependency. Hall died at Bristol on 21 February 1831.
This man who was acquainted with such hardship and struggle had this to say about the need of prayer,
No Easy Road: Discover the Extraordinary Power of Personal Prayer A Sovereign Remedy
Robert Hall declared, “The prayer of faith is the only power in the universe to which the great Jehovah yields. Prayer is the sovereign remedy.”
How is your faith and prayer today? What would Jesus say about your defeats in spiritual battles? This morning, let us live a life of faith and prayer so that we might bring glory to God through spiritual victories until Jesus returns!
