PRAYER POINTERS FOR POWERLESS DISCIPLES

PRAYER POINTERS FOR POWERLESS DISCIPLES Mark 9:14-32 February 14, 1999 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introductory The subject of PRAYER just keeps coming up lately. What I keep hearing, both in my quiet times of reflection and in my conversations with believers, is stories of failure. A recent confession I encountered went like this: When I was a new believer, the thought of talking with the God of the universe, the thought of Him listening to me, responding to my cares and concerns, was so overwhelming I could barely take it in. I prayed all the time with I first discovered I could. I prayed when I got up. I prayed on my way to work. I prayed when I sat at my desk. I prayed at lunch. I prayed with my family at dinner. I prayed with my kids when I put them to bed. I was a praying monster. It brought me such joy. God was answering my prayers. My life was changing, and I could see others’ lives changing. Then I don’t know what happened. The whole deal just cooled off. I don’t pray much any more. This man is still a Christian and active in his church, but he has given up on prayer. It strikes me that every believer I know goes through that same kind of experience. I have. In fact, as I scan the history of my 29 years in Christ, I can see seasons when I prayed feverishly and frequently. I looked forward to quiet times of prayer and times of corporate intercession. Then, for some reason or another, my prayer life would take a nose dive--to the point where I believe I almost gave up on prayer. I could continue to carry on in public--you know, prayers at meals and at church functions--but very little beyond the mandatory. Then something would happen which would catalyze my prayer life again, I would see my relationship with the Lord enliven, the activity of God would be evidenced in my life again, and I would pray like crazy. Only to see the fade return in short order. Can any of you relate to this rhythm? Why is this? The terrible thing about the roller coaster ride of prayer faithfulness is that we are robbed of God’s power during the down time. We are robbed of that sweet fellowship with the Lord. And we are robbed of the confidence of our Christian walk. I have a clear and unapologetic agenda today. I want to motivate the church here at Metro-East to a renewed time of prayer. That is, that each of us individually would be renewed in our commitment to seek the Lord regularly and faithfully in prayer and that we would find again that joy of prayer relationship. Further, I believe it is the Lord’s will that, as a corporate body, we pray more--in prayer groups, cell groups and other group gatherings. I stumbled across some teaching on prayer as I studied further into the gospel of Mark. Turn to Mark 9: 14-29. We have a familiar story here, but we will mine some different minerals from this story than we normally hear preached when this text is approached. The Narrative This event in the life of Jesus and His disciples comes right on the heels of the awesome spiritual event we know as the Transfiguration. Right before Peter, James and John in the glory of heaven Jesus is transfigured into a realm somewhere between the heavens, and He is seen visiting with Moses and Elijah. And they heard the voice of the Lord in person, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to Him.” As they descend the mountain they find the other disciples in a mess. Isn’t that just the way it goes after every great and moving experience in the Lord it seems you end up in messy problems afterwards? READ 17-18. This is a pretty severe case of demonic possession, certainly beyond your standard case of epilepsy. Jesus sizes up the situation quickly and right away He knows why the disciples could not cast out this demon. READ 19-23. Indeed it was an evil spirit, and it recognized Jesus, throwing the boy into a grand mal seizure which must have been quite a show. When the father timidly asks Jesus if He can do anything for him, the Lord picks up on it, IF you can? And the whole point of the narrative is born as Jesus introduces the topic of faith. Everything is possible for him who believes. Now the dad is not so timid, but he launches into what I call the most honest and powerful prayer you could ever pray, READ 24-27. This is a very dramatic display of the power not only of Jesus in deliverance, but also of the devil and his ability to rob and destroy life. When you see this account in the Jesus film you will never forget it. The utter spiritual competence of Jesus is on display here. What was going on before Jesus arrived was chaos, confusion, arguing and inadequacy. But when Jesus shows up there is order, peace, healing and power. With an authoritative word the demons flee and everything is fine. Do you know anyone whose life is out of order, confused, powerless? Maybe your life is messed up? Jesus is the Master over confusion and inadequacy. When He enters a life things shape up and life begins to look and feel like life is supposed to be - I came that they might have life and have it abundantly. Mark it well, when you are out of control, Jesus is your deliverer. One man was witnessing about Jesus to another who was complaining that Jesus could not have turned water into wine. A third man overheard and interrupted with his own testimony. “I don’t know about turning water into wine, but when Jesus came into my life He turned beer into furniture!” I suppose it is tempting to speculate on a number of things at this juncture: Is epilepsy always demon possession? Sometimes? Is it ever today? Was Jesus reprimanding the father and the disciples for their lack of faith or just using the opportunity to teach an important principle? What is meant by “EVERYTHING is possible to him who believes”? Why did Jesus have to rebuke the spirit before casting it out? And why all the fuss when the demon left? But the real question of this narrative is the same one the scribes and the father of the boy had--”Why couldn’t the disciples cast out this demon?” After all, they were commissioned by Jesus to perform exorcisms when they were sent out on a ministry tour by the Lord back in chapter six (vs. 7). And Mark 6:13 says They drove out many demons. Why were they suddenly powerless? Was this a “super demon”? When Jesus went indoors, the disciples followed. READ 28-29. (Some later manuscripts read, “by prayer AND FASTING”, but this was probably not what was originally said.) Now, how exactly did Jesus answer their question? First, it doesn’t appear He is angry or impatient with them, as we might have thought when earlier at the scene “O unbelieving generation!”. Jesus wasn’t out to demean them--He didn’t single out a couple of them and tell them they could no longer be called disciples because they had failed an assignment. Jesus waited until He was out of range of the crowd, when He was with His disciples in the house. He waited for a debriefing meeting to explain what had gone wrong. His answer, This kind comes out only by prayer at first blush seems a little odd. Surely the disciples had prayed as they attempted to cast out the demon?! Maybe not! Actually, though, this is not what Jesus meant--that with this kind of demon, one must take time during or before the exorcism to pray. He’s not saying this is the “technique”--You must add a prayer to your formula. How do we know? He Himself did not use a prayer in the exorcism He performed. And if ever He were in a position of teaching and modeling before his disciples HOW to cast out demons, it was now, while they were feeling the heat of failure and most ready to learn. When He cast the demon out of the daughter of the Syrophonecian woman, He did not pause for prayer--He spoke, and at a distance (the girl was back home), and she was instantly delivered. There was no hastily called prayer meeting at the Gadarene cemetery when Jesus sent Legion out of the man and into the pigs. The demons asked permission and Jesus granted it. Well, Rich, why did He say, This kind comes out only by prayer? And, I thought you were preaching on Prayer anyway?! What Jesus was saying to the disciples is that a LIFESTYLE OF PRAYER is what it takes to work the miracles of God. It wasn’t that they didn’t pray on the spot while they tried to cast out this stubborn demon--they probably had, out of desperation. But, Jesus was pointing out to them that, though the power of God had flowed through them to drive out demons when He had earlier given them authority, they had taken it for granted and had stopped praying. It isn’t the momentary prayer of power that’s important. It’s staying in communion with God in everyday prayer that brings the kind of power that faces down the enemy. We see this modeled in Jesus’ life and ministry. Often He was all night in prayer. Regularly we see Him up early in the morning before daylight going off to pray. Lk 5:16 - “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” He was getting a steady charge of miracle-working power, not in the moment of crisis ministry, but in the off-peak prayer times. When you are faithful in prayer before the Lord you don’t need a hurry-up emergency prayer meeting before some important ministry--you’re already ready! Even when Jesus DID pray publicly, He would say things like Father, I thank You that you have heard me. I knew that You always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you have sent me. (John 11:42) The secret to Jesus’ power in ministry was His consistent prayer life, His secret history with God--all those private hours of conversation and petition for people in the private prayer times--it all pays off in the moments of crisis ministry. Jesus is never feverishly begging Father God to “show up” when He’s about to heal someone or to raise someone from the dead. He’s already done the homework! It’s not “flash-in-the-pan” prayers that bring power, it’s the steady simmer of a faithful prayer relationship with the Heavenly Father that is the power source of the disciple. That’s what Jesus taught His disciples that day in the house. He effectively shot down three mistaken beliefs of the disciples. 1. Once you’ve got it you’ve got it - that is, if you are used of God to work a miracle, then you are automatically His agent of power from then on. Listen, God can use a donkey to prophesy, too, but He doesn’t always. 2. Once you’ve prayed down the power of God, you don’t need to pray for it anymore - the faith to work miracles is not a one-time blessing, it is an ongoing relationship. One author said it this way: We can be called and gifted, prepared and ordained, to be the disciples of Jesus Christ, but if we do not remain in constant contact with the source of our power, we will fail in crisis . . . When the father brings his demon-possessed son to the disciples for healing, they fail in the face of a ‘critical incident’ because they lack the resources of spiritual power that are sustained only through constant prayer. The third mistaken belief of the disciples was that you can take God for granted. That He’ll be there every time, no matter what relationship you maintain with Him. Bill Hybels tells about his relationship with his dog, Buster. “Sometimes I’m assigned to call Buster in from the back yard. So, I’ll call, ‘Buster, come on in.” He’ll look at me, and he’ll tilt his head back and forth as if he’s deciding. So I say, ‘I’ll give you a treat if you come in!’ Most of the time he’ll come cruising in, and he goes right to the laundry room door where the treats are. I give him a treat and he walks away. Occasionally, Buster will be stubborn, and not even the offer of a treat will get him in, so I have to chase him down. When I finally grab him and take him into the house, he’ll cruise over to the laundry room door. He’ll stop, look at the door, look up at me, and think, ‘I’ll bet there’s not a chance in heaven I’m going to get a treat is there?’ EVEN A DOG KNOWS YOU DON’T DEFY THE POWERS THAT BE AND EXPECT BUSINESS AS USUAL!” Concluding Exhortations 1. Make this church a powerhouse of prayer We will do nothing of value for the Lord if we do not pray. And I’m not talking about praying for the sick. We must add to that prayers for this community, prayers for lost people to hear the gospel and find the Lord. Sometimes it seems to me we spend all our time praying to keep sick saints out of heaven and hardly anytime to get lost people into heaven. If we don’t pray, our witnessing and preaching lack power. If we don’t pray there will be no “signs and wonders” accompanying the preaching of the Gospel. We have been given a vision from the Lord, and it will never get done if we don’t pray. Your cell group is never going to reach a lost person for Jesus if we don’t pray. We have a set of seven goals we believe we are called to accomplish for the Lord in 1999 and we will never reach one of them if we don’t pray, and pray continuously. There will be a marked difference in the way you worship when you pray regularly. There will be a marked difference in the way you walk as a Christian when you pray regularly. There will be a marked difference in the say you win over temptation and the devil’s schemes in your life when you pray regularly. There will be a marked difference in the way people receive your witness and ministry when you pray regularly. There will be a marked difference in the way MECF impacts this area for Christ when we pray regularly. There is an entire metropolitan region around us that is crying out like the man in the story, “If you can, take pity on us and help us.” Do you know the reason God has allowed Metro-East Christian Fellowship to exist in this South western corridor of Illinois? Why the Lord willed that we as a church would be planted here and now? He has a purpose for us. And that purpose is that we might pray and work to make it hard for people to go to Hell from the St. Louis metro-east. I’m encouraging you today to pray for God’s power every time we need it. To ask Him NOW to begin to build in us all that we need so that when crisis ministry faces us we will be prepared to stand for Him in power. Listen, how do you want to face the demons of the future? Like Jesus who was already prayed up and empowered to deliver? Or like the disciples who in the face of a challenging ministry found their faith to be anemic? 2. Establish and maintain a prayer time and place In His most direct teaching about prayer, Jesus said, “WHEN you pray...” We need a regular, disciplined time of prayer. Why? Because we do best when we have it. Did you know that during the Apollo missions to the moon the spaceships were off course 90%of the time? But, through continual contact with Mission Control they were able to make the necessary corrections. If we’ll stay in touch with God, even though we get off course most of the time, we’ll get the necessary corrections.Make your prayers a life habit, not just crisis management. Let’s not make the mistake of the nine disciples whose faith was weak at a critical time of ministry. Let’s pray during the calm so we can stand and deliver during the storms. When the ship is rocking and the waves are crashing in it’s easier to pray. When that phone call comes in the middle of the night about an accident or sudden illness. When the boss says your job is on the line to get cut. When the doctor says it doesn’t look good. It is then we stoke up whatever faith we can muster and pray fervently and desperately. God is looking for a church who will learn to pray in faithful and self-disciplined ways during the calm of life. And He stands ready to bless them in the times of critical ministry with great faith and great power. What is our motivation for prayer? Just to get our needs met? Shouldn’t it also be to get His will accomplished? God’s history with His people from Exodus to the third millenium A.D. has been unfortunately the same. He says to His people, “Every time you got in a jam and you prayed for divine intervention, every time you needed protection and guidance and you pleaded for 11th hour rescues, I cam through. Then, after the storm passed, YOU REMEMBERED ME NO MORE. You don’t talk to me much when your seas are calm. 3. Don’t give up when it seems pointless or fruitless Here is perhaps the most important message of all. We must believe Jesus when He said that our prayers BUILD OUR FAITH. We are so used to firing off our prayers in crises in order to get immediate response, that we forget that His plan is for us to grow in our faith and faithfulness by praying regularly and consistently. Isn’t this what He was saying to the nine disciples when He said, O unbelieving generation? When He said, Everything is possible for him who believes (whose faith is strong)? When He said This kind can come out only by prayer? .       [Top]