I Believe, But...

We are resuming our slow walk through the book of Mark this week.

We spent a large portion of last year covering the first part of the book, and we are going to try to speed up our study of the last half.

My goal is, Lord-willing, to wrap up Mark around Easter, so we may have to jump over a few passages to make that happen.

We are picking up in Mark 9:1 this morning, but let’s back up and catch what we have seen so far.

We began this study last January because we wanted to filter out what the Bible says about who Jesus is and filter out the noise of what our culture says about him.

We have seen Jesus living out the message he first proclaimed in Mark 1:15

Mark 1:15 CSB

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

He has been teaching in parables and direct lessons, demonstrating God’s power over sickness and even nature itself.

As we will see this morning again, he has shown his power over demons and the spirit world, and he has even shown that he can give that same authority to those who follow him as he sent out his disciples to take the message of the kingdom to those who hadn’t heard.

He has multiplied bread and calmed the storms, yet his closest followers, the disciples still don’t understand who he is or what it means to follow him.

They are beginning to understand that he is the Messiah, the promised one that God would send to redeem his people and usher in his kingdom. Once Jesus told them that would involve his death and resurrection, though, they balked and refused to believe that Jesus was going to have to die for us.

We pick up right after that event. In fact, we are only six days away from when Peter first acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah and then rebuked him for saying he had to die.

In verses 2-13, you have an incredible event take place that we are just going to summarize to bring us into the context of what we are going to talk about this morning.

Jesus takes three of his disciples, Peter, James, and John, off to a solitary place on a mountain. There, Jesus is transformed before their eyes and receives some of the visible glory he deserves as God. Look at verses 2-3...

The Old Testament prophets Moses and Elijah show up with Jesus, and Peter offers to make shelters for each of them.

I love Mark’s note in verse 6 - Keep in mind that Peter was the one who likely gave Mark most of his information, so this was an eye-witness statement. Peter said the first thing that came to mind because he was scared out of his.

Perhaps he wanted to build shelters for them because he thought this was going to be the launching point of Jesus’ conquest over the Romans and his setting up of God’s kingdom.

God the Father then speaks from the cloud (verse 7), challenging Jesus’ disciples to listen to what Jesus said.

It seems that, just as suddenly as it happened, everything returned back to normal.

On the way back, Jesus told the three disciples with him not to tell anyone anything about this until Jesus had risen from the dead.

Look at verse 10 - here we have another honest statement to remind us that these men were just like us in many ways.

In 8:31, Jesus clearly said that he was going to have to die and be raised from the dead. Then, in 9:7, the Father says, “Guys, listen to what he is saying!”.

Jesus clearly says to them that he is going to rise from the dead, and they just can’t figure out what the meant!

I love it, because it is exactly how we act. They heard, but they weren’t listening!

After some more discussion, Jesus and the three travel back to the other disciples.

Pick up with me in verses 14-29, which is where we want to spend most of our time this morning.

Let’s read through the passage, and I will make a few observations as we read...

There is a key theme that runs through this section: the nature of faith.

We see it in both the disciples’ lack of ability to cast out this demon and in the father’s discussion with Jesus.

From this passage, we can make this observation: prayer is the lifeblood of faith.

Before we can really dive into that, though, we have to understand what faith is.

Some think faith is a blind leap into the dark, but that’s not really true.

Instead, faith is trusting in who God is, what he has said, and what he is able to do.

It may feel like a blind leap because you can’t see the bottom, but you are trusting in the God who knows what is going to happen.

Faith believes what God says about his power and our limitations and trusts the promises he makes instead of trying to figure it out on our own.

So, how do we make sure we are on the same page as God regarding what he is up to? Through prayer and Bible study.

Let’s look, then, at what this passage teaches us about faith and its connection to prayer.

First, we see that...

1) Faith fades when we neglect prayer.

The disciples had the unique privilege of walking and talking with Jesus on earth, which gave them a unique connection to God.

They got to hear Jesus, God the Son, speak directly to them with an audible voice on an ongoing basis.

Back in chapter 6:7-13, Jesus sent them out to take his words and call people to repentance.

What happened? Here’s what Mark says:

Mark 6:12–13 CSB

So they went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons, anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

In that instance, they were able to cast out demons.

Why couldn’t they do it now?

Jesus seems to give us a hint in verse 19 - a lack of faith.

With Jesus gone, it seems like the disciples weren’t putting faith in God to heal. When Jesus says in verse 29 that these kind can only be driven out by prayer, it seems that they didn’t pray about casting out the demon.

They had done it before, so they thought they could do it again.

Their faith was placed on them instead of on God, which weakened it.

Here’s something to remember: your faith is only as good as the object it is placed in, right?

Ever sat in a chair that broke underneath you? You put faith in it, but that faith was misplaced!

Have you ever made a bad investment because you trusted someone who didn’t know what they were doing?

Have you trusted someone in a relationship and were ultimately betrayed?

The disciples faith in God was weakened when they didn’t stay connected to Christ, so they put their faith in themselves.

When they trusted in themselves, they couldn’t do anything worthwhile.

The same is true of us, by the way. Apart from a trust in Christ, you and I can’t do anything.

Some of you here this morning have been trying to work your way to God, earn favor with him, but you can’t do it on your own.

Do you wonder why you can’t get past this addiction or change this habit? Do you wonder why any success still leaves you feeling empty?

It’s because you are trusting in yourself, and it’s as worthless as the disciples trying to cast out a demon on their own.

What you need is to stop trusting yourself and put your trust in Christ, who died to save you and rose to give you new life.

You can find hope and life and peace and joy by turning to him with the faith we are talking about this morning:

Ephesians 2:8–9 CSB

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast.

That’s how you are saved: by responding in faith to the grace God is extending to you through Jesus.

After you place your trust in Christ to save you, though, you figure out something interesting.

Faith is something that has to be grown, daily refreshed, tended. It isn’t a “set it and forget it” thing.

Think of faith like a muscle. Without regular use, a muscle will lose strength. Some of you know what it is like to have an injury and have to go through a physical rehabilitation process to get it back up to full strength. If your arm or leg is in a cast or sling, you lose strength and have to work to get it back.

If you want to keep a muscle strong, you have to keep using it.

Faith is similar. You have to keep exercising faith or you will find it wavering and failing.

We see this all throughout the Bible, especially in places like Exodus and Numbers.

Lots of us skip over these passages because they get boring in places, but we find out that God’s people haven’t changed throughout history!

The Israelites saw God do mighty miracles to deliver them from the Egyptians. Almost immediately, they doubted God’s ability to deliver them and showed a lack of faith.

God delivered them, and then they would hit another challenge. They would forget about what God had done, get scared or upset, and then God would deliver them again.

Isn’t that the same thing we do? We are so quick to forget who God is and what he has done!

How do we strengthen our faith, then? By cultivating an open communication with him.

We pray, seeking his face. We cry out, asking for the help of the only one who can sustain us in every situation.

We hear from him in his word and through the way he answers prayer and works through us.

That continual communication and obedience strengthens our faith and allows us to surrender to God in greater ways, allowing him to do whatever he wants through us.

As we communicate to God and cultivate a life of prayer and faith, we see an important aspect of this relationship:

2) Faith requires honest communication.

Look back at verses 22-24.

This is one of the most relatable passages of Scripture for me.

I can totally picture me saying something like this.

Think about it. You are the parent of a young child who has been possessed by a demon from the time they were a baby. They would go mute and deaf, thrash around, and the demon would even try to kill the child.

You hear Jesus’ disciples are in town, and they have cast out demons before. Maybe they can do it again!

You bring your son to them, they try, and they fail.

A debate breaks out over whose fault it is and why they can’t cast out the demon, when Jesus shows up.

Your son immediately gets thrown down into a seizure, with the demon acting out.

You’re tired, exhausted really, and so you slipped up when you answered Jesus. “If you can...”

If your filter had been up, if you had been less tired or disappointed, you might not have said that. As it is, the truth of your heart slipped out.

Jesus calls you out on it, and it sounds like this chance might slip out of reach.

You immediately respond with what you know you should say, what what you still feel, “Lord, I believe…only help my unbelief.”

That is an incredibly vulnerable, open, honest statement.

“I believe, I really do, and I really want to, but after this didn’t work, I just don’t know anymore.”

Have you ever been that honest with God?

Maybe you couldn’t be honest with your parents or your spouse like that, so you’ve never felt you could be honest with God about how you feel.

Did you notice what Jesus did, though?

Did he rebuke the man for not having perfect faith? No, he powerfully and permanently healed the man’s son.

The dad was real, he was honest, and he cried out for the help only God could give.

Do you realize that God knows you better than you know yourself? He created you, loves you, and sustains you.

Do you think he has somehow missed what is going on?

Do you think he will be surprised when you come to him with your doubts and your fears?

Our faith falters because we think we can figure it out on our own.

We are not willing, like this father, to pray openly and honestly, seeking God’s help even when we don’t fully know what we need.

Jesus drives home the point with his disciples privately, where we explicitly see that...

3) Faith is dependent on prayer.

Away from the crowds, the disciples have a question for Jesus. “Why couldn’t we do it?”

Look at verses 28-29.

Why couldn’t they cast out the demon? Because they tried to do it in their own strength.

Their faith was weak, so they put it in the wrong place instead of crying out to the God who could deliver from demons.

That’s why I am saying that prayer is the lifeblood of faith.

Some have made this verse more challenging than it should be. They have tried to say that this was some kind of advanced class of demon that could only be prayed out instead of just cast out.

We know from the book of Acts, though, that demons could only be cast out by those who had a genuine relationship with Christ.

Others tried to do it, using Jesus’ name like a magic word, and they met with disaster.

The only way to have spiritual power is to exercise faith by crying out to God to work and move as he can.

This applies to much more than casting out demons, though.

Do you want to see God work in your marriage? Talk openly and honestly with God about your struggles, and ask him to intervene, trusting him to work. Do the same with your finances, your job, your health, your school, your future, and everything else.

Stop trying to figure it out without his help!

Listen to the promise he makes:

Philippians 4:6–7 CSB

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

It may not be immediate, which is why the old timers used to have a saying called, “praying through”.

“Praying through” is the idea of not letting up in prayer until I either have an answer from God or a peace from him about the situation.

Maybe we give up to soon and settle for less than God’s best because we won’t honestly wrestle with God.

We never pray long or hard enough for something to hear clearly from God or to gain an answer.

In fact, if you got a bulletin today, we gave you a little tool to help with this. I don’t usually give homework, but this is something to get you started. You’ll notice two columns. The first says, “Lord, I believe...”. The second says, “only help my unbelief.”

In the first column, write down things you know are true about God. Put down Bible verses that teach you those things. Remember: if you can’t find it in the Bible, it may not be true. Do some research, ask a friend, or get in touch with me and we’ll see what we can find.

In the second column, you are going to write your doubts, concerns, fears, anxieties. In fact, it may be easier for you to start with the second column and then work backwards. “God, here is what I am concerned about, but I believe <this> because your word says <this>”.

For example, if you are facing a financial situation, you might put “I don’t know how I can pay my bills this month” in the second column. Then, you would turn to God’s Word and find passages that teach you how God works through that, things like Philippians 4:19, where God promises to supply all our needs or Psalm 37:25 where the psalmist says he has never seen the righteous abandoned or his children begging for bread.

Your prayer would then be something like this, “God, I believe you are able to meet the needs I have. I believe you care for me, but I am wrestling with how you are going to provide this month. Help me be faithful to obey you with my finances and trust you with how you are going to work.”

Then, when the end of the month comes and your bills are paid, make sure you connect the dots! God was faithful to keep his promise, so you be faithful to thank him!

Keep praying through until he either changes you or the situation you are facing, and see how it strengthens your faith!

You see, you will never be able to live the life God has called you to live unless you are directly connected to God in prayer.