Help My Unbelief ~ Mark 9:24

excerpt from MtB ~ Mark 9:14-29
The Casting Out of a Deaf and Dumb Spirit

Next, the casting out of a deaf and dumb spirit, that is, a demonic spirit that makes someone deaf and unable to speak.

When he came to his disciples.
Now remember, now they are at the bottom the mountain. They have had the discussion coming down, remember the nine disciples that were down at the bottom of the mountain?

So when He came to his disciples, these nine, He saw a great multitude and the scribes were questioning them. And immediately all the people, when they saw Jesus, they were greatly amazed, and they ran to Him, and saluted or greeted Him. And he asked the scribes, “What are you questioning them about?” They do not answer. Somebody from the crowd answers and said, “Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit.” That is, the demonic spirit keeps him from speaking. “And whenever this demon takes him, he tears him: and he foams at the mouth, and he gnashes with his teeth, and he pines away: and I spake to your disciples that they should cast it out; and they could not do it.”

Remember, this is way after Jesus sent the disciples out two by two, gave them the authority to cast out demons and the whole thing, right? Well, that was only for the trip. And this is where they got off-track because when they came back He said, “Okay, now you know. I am giving you a little preview here of what it is going to be like to be empowered by me when I give you My authority.” Well, they kept going with it.

While Jesus is on the mountain with the three disciples they are down there trying to cast demons out and they cannot do it. And so the scribes are getting on them. And that is when Jesus said, “Hey, what is going on?” So this man says, “Well, I brought my son to You but You were not here, I brought him to your disciples to have the demon cast out and they could not do it.”

And He answers and says, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you (or support you)? Bring him to Me.” That is the key. Bring him to Me.

And they brought him: and when He saw him, immediately the spirit tore from him; and he fell on the ground, and was wallowing and foaming at the mouth. And He asked his father, “How long?” How long has this been going on with him? He said, “Since a child. Often times this demon takes him and throws him into a fire, and then into the waters, and he is trying to destroy him: going back and forth.” Throw him in the fire, throw him in the water. “But if You can, if You can do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.” If You can. And Jesus said unto him, “If you can, if you can believe, all things are possible to the one who believes.”

But look what the man says, beautiful, beautiful picture of how we ought to approach the Lord. Immediately the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.” No where in the Bible does it ever challenge someone to come up with their own faith so that Jesus can perform in your life. That is the cry of a person, “I believe but Lord Help my unbelief because I cannot believe.” Only God can give me that. Help my unbelief.

It is always the strong point in a person’s life when they can approach the Lord even as a nonbeliever, even if you do not understand the things of God. You can do what I did. I stood up out on a pier, one hundred fifty foot pier out in Pensacola, Florida looking up at the electrical storms taking place over the south and I said, “Lord if you are real make Yourself real to me.” I mean as a nonbeliever, as somebody who did not believe in God, I was asking God to do it all because I realized my human inability to figure Him out. I saw this awesomeness of these electrical storms and I just had this sense that there is an awesome God behind all of this because this is just a drop in the bucket compared to the universe. But how am I going to find God? How am I going to know about Him?

You know, when you come to Him and say, “Help my unbelief,” you know? I am empty, magnify Yourself to me, show Yourself to me. I do not have the ability to know. And He reaches down to those people to manifest Himself.

And so when Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, the unclean spirit, saying unto it, “Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and enter no more into him.” And the spirit cried, and tore him severely, and came out of him: and he was as a dead man; so much so that the crowd got around him and looked at the boy and said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.

And when he was come into a house, his disciples asked him privately – now this is very nice that Jesus didn’t embarrass them in front of all the people. “Why could not we cast him out?” See, they are thinking that they still have that authority that Jesus gave them. And He said unto them, “This kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting.” And again, just like the Matthew text that little phrase and fasting is added to many manuscripts. Originally it was just prayer, but if you keep the fasting in there that is not a problem, it is not part of a formula. What is the first thing He said? He said, “The answer is bring him to Me. And if I am not here, pray. Bring him to Me.”