Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / Help My Unbelief | Mark 9:14-29 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

Transcript

Help My Unbelief | Mark 9:14-29 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

• 0:00
  If you have a copy of God's Word in your hand, please meet me in
• 0:03
  the Gospel according to Mark in Chapter 9 in verse 14, Mark
• 0:08
  9/14. This is a lengthy portion of
• 0:13
  Scripture that going we're going to be covering and so we're
• 0:16
  going to read it in its entirety before we see it in smaller
• 0:21
  portions. Just want us to have a holistic
• 0:25
  view of this scene, this episode of God's demonstration of power
• 0:30
  and mercy and so follow with me beginning here in verse 14.
• 0:37
  And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great
• 0:40
  crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them, And
• 0:45
  immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly
• 0:49
  amazed and ran up to him and greeted him.
• 0:52
  And he asked them, what are you arguing about with them?
• 0:57
  And someone from the crowd answered them.
• 0:59
  Teacher, I brought my son to you, For he has a spirit that
• 1:03
  makes him mute, and whenever it seizes him, it throws him down,
• 1:06
  and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid.
• 1:10
  So I asked her disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.
• 1:16
  And he answered them. Oh, faithless generation, how
• 1:20
  long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?
• 1:24
  Bring him to me. And they brought the boy to him.
• 1:28
  And when the spirit saw him, immediately convulsed the boy,
• 1:32
  and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the
• 1:34
  mouth. And Jesus asked his father, how
• 1:38
  long has this been happening to him?
• 1:42
  And he said from childhood, and it has often cast them into
• 1:45
  fire, into water, to destroy him.
• 1:48
  But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us,
• 1:53
  And Jesus said to him, if you can, all things are possible for
• 1:57
  one who believes immediately the father of the child cried out
• 2:01
  and said, I believe. Help my own belief.
• 2:05
  And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he
• 2:07
  rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it you mute and death
• 2:11
  spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him
• 2:14
  again. And after crying out and
• 2:17
  convulsing him terribly, it came out and the boy.
• 2:19
  Was like a corpse, so that most of them said he is dead.
• 2:24
  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose
• 2:28
  and we had entered the house. His disciples asked him
• 2:30
  privately why could we not cast it out?
• 2:35
  And he said to them, this kind cannot be driven out by anything
• 2:42
  but prayer. Let's pray we confess our
• 2:50
  reliance and dependence upon you, Oh God.
• 2:53
  We do not presume that our desires are enough.
• 2:59
  We confess our neediness, and we ask that you would help us in
• 3:04
  the experience of this moment. As the Word of God is delivered,
• 3:09
  may it be delivered in the power of the Invisible One, the Holy
• 3:14
  Spirit. We ask.
• 3:17
  Oh God, that our hearts would be receptive, and that more than
• 3:21
  just a stirring of the mind or the heart, there would be a deep
• 3:24
  work done where you would inspire us onto greater
• 3:28
  obedience, and that you would cause us to be moved to walk
• 3:32
  closer with Thee. This is our prayer.
• 3:35
  And so, Lord, even now, humbly, sincerely, genuinely, we say we
• 3:39
  are nothing without you. We cannot do anything without
• 3:43
  you. Help us now and Lord for some
• 3:48
  help our unbelief in Jesus name. Amen.
• 3:54
  This is an important story to the Holy Spirit and one reason
• 3:59
  why we know that is because it is not exclusively found in the
• 4:02
  Gospel of Mark, but it is also found in Matthew and then Luke's
• 4:06
  account. But what's interesting is that
• 4:07
  if you find the story in Matthew and Luke, you'll notice that
• 4:11
  Matthew and Luke have a much shorter version of this account.
• 4:15
  Mark gives around double the attention in terms of verses
• 4:21
  than the other gospel writers. And as we read this we realize
• 4:27
  comparatively that Mark is being very careful to give details
• 4:33
  about this scene. And a simple reading of it, like
• 4:37
  what you and I just did, reveals the rich reporting that Mark
• 4:42
  offers concerning the interactions and the activity.
• 4:45
  And it gives us much to work with in terms of historical
• 4:49
  accuracy and reliability and godly application into our own
• 4:53
  lives. It almost seems overwhelming,
• 4:56
  right? You look at a text like this and
• 4:58
  you can you can make four or five sermons out of it, right?
• 5:01
  But we won't do that for the sake of our time together.
• 5:04
  Instead, we'll try to investigate all that it has to
• 5:06
  say and we'll divide it. We'll divide it just by really
• 5:09
  going through it. But the way I looked at it, I
• 5:12
  see five things, around 5 things here.
• 5:15
  I see that there is a specific scene.
• 5:17
  I see that there is a situation, I see that there is the servants
• 5:22
  example. I see that there is a stumbling
• 5:25
  block. And lastly, I see that there is
• 5:27
  schooling. Notice everything starts with an
• 5:30
  S Preachers like to do that stuff.
• 5:33
  We have a scene, we have a situation, we have the servants
• 5:36
  example, we have a stumbling block, and we have lastly
• 5:40
  schooling. There's a lesson at the.
• 5:43
  End of this as you heard. And so let's examine this
• 5:46
  carefully. We read here in verse 14.
• 5:49
  And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great
• 5:52
  crowd around them and scribes arguing with them.
• 5:55
  Just envision it and immediately.
• 5:58
  All the crowd, when they saw him were greatly amazing, ran up to
• 6:01
  him and greeted him. So there's chaos going on here.
• 6:05
  You have disciples and scribes arguing and debating.
• 6:09
  You have this crowd. Now we're probably leaning in
• 6:11
  and paying attention, and the sight of Jesus descending from
• 6:15
  that mountain with three of his disciples caught the attention
• 6:20
  of the multitude. And they turn away from this
• 6:22
  debate and they come to Jesus like a celebrity, the celebrity
• 6:26
  that he is, the only celebrity you should really care about,
• 6:28
  really, and follow in terms of example.
• 6:32
  And they greet him. And it's hard to move on without
• 6:37
  contrasting the scene here with the scene that you and I enjoyed
• 6:42
  in our previous sessions. What a contrast it is.
• 6:47
  When Jesus and those three were on the summit of that mountain,
• 6:50
  that atmosphere was holy. That atmosphere was glorious.
• 6:55
  That atmosphere contained heavenly fellowship.
• 7:00
  And as they came down, there is a chilling shift that takes
• 7:03
  place now. They've entered into a very dark
• 7:07
  place, filled with pain, filled with brokenness, demonically
• 7:14
  energized. What a difference.
• 7:18
  And looking at this, I wondered in the perspective of Christ.
• 7:23
  You can see by looking at Jesus coming down here how this is
• 7:27
  almost like a miniature illustration, a miniature
• 7:30
  picture of what he did and coming into our world, the glory
• 7:36
  that he left in order to come into our environment, our mess,
• 7:43
  in order to save us. You know when we read Second
• 7:46
  Peter verse one, we are told that on that mountain, according
• 7:49
  to Peter in verse 17, Jesus was. Crowned by the Father with glory
• 7:54
  and honor. And that is not the only time
• 7:58
  Jesus enjoyed glory and honor by virtue of being the Son of God.
• 8:03
  He knew glory and honor from eternity past.
• 8:07
  But at the perfect time, at the right time, he set aside such
• 8:11
  status and recognition. He turned his back on it in
• 8:15
  order for him to come here. To come into our world that is
• 8:20
  mirrored quite accurately by this scene, what do we see here?
• 8:25
  We see Jesus entering into a place that is prevailed by sin.
• 8:29
  We see Jesus entering into a place where Satan's power is at
• 8:32
  work. We see Jesus here entering into
• 8:35
  a place where there is layers and levels of pain and misery
• 8:39
  and brokenness and so even allow this sequence of events to
• 8:44
  inspire you to realize how Jesus.
• 8:49
  Not just in a moment left a mountaintop of glory to come
• 8:52
  into a world that is devilish and heartbreaking.
• 8:59
  He turned his back on a heavenly abode where there was angelic
• 9:04
  love and perfect praise, and because of.
• 9:10
  A great love. He came to not keep us in this
• 9:13
  mess, but to save us and to deliver us.
• 9:18
  I thought, wow, even in this you see a gospel truth.
• 9:21
  But I didn't just want to see it through the perspective of
• 9:24
  Christ. I thought to myself, what about
• 9:25
  the perspective? The disciples, the disciples
• 9:29
  were also on that mountaintop, and we've used this.
• 9:32
  Term We've used this phrase and and perhaps it came from
• 9:37
  testimonies like this in the Word of God.
• 9:39
  Mountaintop experiences, Right, brother?
• 9:43
  How's your walk with the Lord? I'm in a valley.
• 9:48
  How was the conference? Oh, it was a mountaintop
• 9:51
  experience. What does that really mean?
• 9:55
  I think it simply means that you and I experienced something of
• 9:59
  an unusual intensification. Of God's presence, his
• 10:04
  revelation, awakening and affection, awakening, sense of
• 10:08
  faithfulness and desire for Him that seems to be almost
• 10:13
  unbroken. So strong and consistent.
• 10:19
  And when we are in those moments, whether it's a moment,
• 10:22
  whether it's a season, we like Peter who was on that
• 10:25
  mountaintop, say, Rabbi, it is good that we are here.
• 10:32
  It is good that we are here. And more than that, we're like
• 10:34
  Peter and wanting to make tent so that we can stay there as
• 10:37
  long as possible. It is good that we are here.
• 10:40
  Can we stay here? Can we remain here?
• 10:45
  If you've had those moments of the Lord, you know what I'm
• 10:47
  talking about. But just like how these
• 10:51
  disciples learned that this permanence of the glory of God
• 10:55
  being experienced and tasted, that glory will not be permanent
• 11:01
  until a time to come, what is more common is what you and I
• 11:04
  see in this valley. That's more real to us than
• 11:08
  anything else. Now what do we see here?
• 11:12
  We see bullies, right? Even religious bullies.
• 11:14
  You know religious people can be bullies.
• 11:17
  What do you see here? You see the brokenness of a
• 11:20
  parent who can't seem to get control of the erratic behavior
• 11:24
  of his child. Is that common?
• 11:29
  What do you see here? You you see here, Satan working
• 11:33
  in and through people, tormenting them, harassing them,
• 11:39
  afflicting pain. And on top of all of this, what
• 11:44
  else do you and I experience in this world, followers of Jesus
• 11:47
  Christ who don't really have it all together, just like these
• 11:51
  disciples? That's what you and I are
• 11:55
  familiar with. And the hope that we have is the
• 11:59
  hope of the glimpse that they got on that mountain.
• 12:01
  It's not going to stay this way. There is a time coming where
• 12:05
  Jesus will subdue. All of Satan's power and save
• 12:11
  us, not just from temptation, not just from the power of sin,
• 12:14
  but from the very presence of it.
• 12:16
  That time is coming. But may I add, and may I suggest
• 12:20
  that our hope for that future is not merely something that you
• 12:24
  and I can't enjoy today. To some regard, what do I mean?
• 12:27
  Because this scene in the Valley, though it is common,
• 12:31
  though it's inescapable for you and I in this life, it can look
• 12:36
  different based on one premise. And that is the presence of
• 12:39
  Jesus Christ in it. You see, Christ is going to
• 12:42
  enter into the scene and things are going to change.
• 12:45
  Things are going to be different.
• 12:47
  And may I say to you that though you and I can't ultimately
• 12:51
  escape until we go to glory or glory comes to us, we can
• 12:55
  navigate through it with a joy and a peace on one reality.
• 13:00
  Whether or not Christ is in it with us, Jesus is going to make
• 13:04
  all the difference here. Jesus is going to come and bring
• 13:06
  solution here. And you and I can be encouraged
• 13:11
  to know that although there is an ultimate fulfillment, there
• 13:13
  is also a relief that we can enjoy now that is totally
• 13:17
  dependent upon one thing, your relationship with the Lord Jesus
• 13:20
  Christ. So Christ comes now and he's
• 13:25
  going to do some work. He's going to bring some
• 13:28
  alleviation here, a level of salvation and deliverance, one
• 13:33
  that you and I can also expect and believe God for not just
• 13:37
  when heaven comes, but even now in this pain filled world.
• 13:43
  So Christ is coming, Christ is here, this is the scene now.
• 13:48
  We look here at the situation we read, He asked them.
• 13:52
  What are you arguing about with them?
• 13:55
  And he gets no answer. He gets no answer from the
• 13:57
  scries, perhaps because they were more than willing to debate
• 13:59
  with the disciples. But now here comes the master
• 14:01
  debater. Maybe we shouldn't say anything.
• 14:05
  And he doesn't get an answer from the disciples because
• 14:07
  perhaps they were embarrassed. They're ashamed that they
• 14:12
  couldn't fulfill what they've been given power to do, by the
• 14:14
  way. And the silence is suddenly
• 14:17
  broken by the voice of a father. This father interrupts.
• 14:22
  He speaks up, and he gives the answer to what is taking place
• 14:26
  here. And he says, Teacher, I brought
• 14:29
  my son to you. For he has a spirit that makes
• 14:32
  him mute. And then he goes on to explain
• 14:34
  what happens. What happens when the spirit
• 14:37
  takes a hold of the sun? And he's saying, I brought, I
• 14:41
  brought him to you. I I came expecting you.
• 14:43
  You weren't here. So I gave him to the disciples,
• 14:45
  and they were not able to do what I had hoped.
• 14:49
  That can be done in your name, and there's so much to say about
• 14:55
  this, so much can be expounded upon.
• 14:57
  But I want to make one point clear based on this example and
• 15:00
  it is this that the Holy Spirit through this text wants you and
• 15:03
  I to be informed about the heart of the evil One.
• 15:08
  Satan absolutely hates not just those creating the image of God,
• 15:15
  but even little children who are creating the image of God.
• 15:20
  We read later on, and you heard it, that when Jesus asked how
• 15:22
  long has this been going on for, He said from childhood.
• 15:25
  From childhood. So the evil one, his hatred is
• 15:31
  not reserved for those who have reached a certain age of mental
• 15:35
  and physical maturity. No, he loads them at the
• 15:40
  earliest phase possible. He loads them while they're in
• 15:42
  the womb. And if they escape the womb, if
• 15:46
  they are born into this world, we should not think for a moment
• 15:49
  that he has the decency to restrain himself from afflicting
• 15:54
  and assaulting these vulnerable and fragile gifts from God.
• 15:59
  I'm not presenting this truth to you, to frighten you, or to
• 16:02
  cause you to live in anxiety. Grandparents, parents, older
• 16:06
  siblings, uncles and aunts. But why?
• 16:09
  I am bringing this to you so that I can remind you that there
• 16:12
  is a war for our children. There is an allout war for our
• 16:18
  children. And I'm saying this so that you
• 16:22
  and I can be aware of the nature of this war, lest we fight it
• 16:25
  aimlessly. So that we can be more
• 16:29
  effective, as his father was effective in fighting for the
• 16:34
  soul of his son. And we can make the rest of the
• 16:39
  sermon about how it is that we can fight for our children and
• 16:42
  defend our children and raise our children and disciple our
• 16:45
  children. But let me summarize it in this
• 16:47
  The best thing that you can do, the best thing that you can do
• 16:50
  for your offspring, for the gifts that God has given you, is
• 16:54
  that no matter how old they are, young or old, no matter how
• 16:57
  receptive or rebellious they may be, learn to bring them to
• 17:01
  Jesus. Learn to bring them to Jesus.
• 17:06
  What does this man do? Evidently he he felt as though
• 17:10
  there was nothing he could do in his own strength and his own
• 17:13
  ability. And yet this is how many parents
• 17:18
  feel about their own They're exhausted.
• 17:22
  They've run out of solutions. And all they do is, as they get
• 17:28
  older, see their children becoming more and more
• 17:30
  influenced by evil, by the flesh veering further and further away
• 17:35
  from the truth that you love and hope would be replicated and
• 17:39
  emulated by your own children. And I want to tell you this
• 17:45
  afternoon that as helpless as you might feel, you cannot
• 17:47
  afford to be hopeless. You might feel helpless.
• 17:51
  That's okay. Hopeless is not Okay.
• 17:57
  You need to have the faith to surrender them to the Lord day
• 18:02
  after day, month after month, year after year, even if they go
• 18:06
  from bad to worse. Learn that you can give them to
• 18:12
  Christ. And don't you dare allow your
• 18:14
  faith to shrivel up for them. Don't let it die.
• 18:20
  This man could have given up. He could have been dissuaded by
• 18:24
  the fact that these disciples, who supposedly had a reputation
• 18:27
  of radiating the power that's been given to them, But he
• 18:30
  doesn't. He remains.
• 18:32
  He stays right there. And there are some, perhaps
• 18:36
  parents, now and again. Siblings, older siblings, aunts,
• 18:39
  uncles, grandparents. You're heartbroken.
• 18:43
  You're tired. Maybe you're even numb.
• 18:50
  I want to exhort you. Though you may be feeling those
• 18:52
  things. Whatever you do, don't let your
• 18:55
  hope die. Don't let your faith die.
• 19:02
  In fact, Jesus reveals that the absence of faith in God's
• 19:05
  ability to intervene the life of someone you love is to be
• 19:10
  denounced and rejected altogether.
• 19:12
  Look what he says here in verse 19.
• 19:15
  And he answered them. Oh, faithless generation, how
• 19:19
  long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?
• 19:23
  Bring him to me. Is he?
• 19:25
  Is he rebuking the scribes? Is he rebuking the crowd?
• 19:30
  Or is he speaking about his disciples?
• 19:32
  Well, you can say He's including all of them.
• 19:34
  But the most concerning out of them all is the disciples, the
• 19:38
  ones who have confessed Christ and have vowed to follow him and
• 19:41
  to learn from him. Oh, faithless generation.
• 19:48
  How long am I to be with you? You you should know this by now.
• 19:53
  Your your faith in me should be stronger than this.
• 19:55
  Well, what about the faith of the disciples proves to be weak?
• 20:01
  How did their faithlessness manifest?
• 20:03
  What was it here, in terms of observation, that the Lord was
• 20:07
  righteously exasperated about? I think the clue is here.
• 20:12
  Look at the last part of verse 18.
• 20:14
  The Father says So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and
• 20:17
  they were not able. They were not able.
• 20:21
  And then you come down here in verse 28 and what do you see?
• 20:24
  And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him
• 20:27
  privately, why could we not cast it out.
• 20:31
  The situation here, the the the dilemma is that the disciples
• 20:35
  were expected to bring about results and they didn't.
• 20:40
  So the father says they couldn't do it and the disciples realized
• 20:43
  they were guilty that so in a private meeting with the Lord
• 20:46
  they said Lord, why could we not do it?
• 20:49
  Remember earlier Jesus doesn't give him an explanation but he
• 20:53
  does give commentary. Faithless generation.
• 20:57
  What's synonymous with faithless, Unbelieving,
• 21:01
  unbelieving generation. Then the disciples say, hey, why
• 21:05
  couldn't we do it? Well, he said earlier.
• 21:07
  Because you're faithless. But then now Jesus narrows it
• 21:10
  down and explains what faithlessness looks like in this
• 21:14
  context. And he said to them, this kind
• 21:18
  cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.
• 21:23
  Oh, so now we understand what the disciples failed to do.
• 21:30
  It wasn't just unbelief. It was an unbelief that led to
• 21:34
  prayerlessness. It was a lack of trust and
• 21:38
  understanding of how God relates to this situation that caused
• 21:41
  him not to even inquire of God. Jesus underscores that true
• 21:47
  faith in God. This is so important to hear.
• 21:50
  True faith in God, a faith that pleases him and a faith that
• 21:54
  unleashes his power is not tapped into when you argue or
• 22:01
  debate about a situation, when you think about the situation
• 22:04
  and ruminate over, or even if you desire the outcome of the
• 22:07
  situation to be favorable, Even God glorifying the faith that
• 22:15
  brings about results is faith that expresses itself in
• 22:18
  supplication, prayer, and so when Jesus says, oh, faithless.
• 22:26
  You know what you can almost say?
• 22:28
  And part what he means is this, Oh prayerless generation, oh
• 22:32
  prayerless generation, when will you learn to depend on me?
• 22:39
  When will you believe that I can actually intervene even
• 22:44
  immediately, and bring about my power?
• 22:48
  When will you learn not to rely on your own wisdom and strength?
• 22:52
  And the reason why Jesus was righteously frustrated with his
• 22:55
  own disciples was because they needed to learn how to exercise
• 23:01
  that power, How to walk in such a faith, Faith that expresses
• 23:04
  itself in prayer. Because he soon was going to
• 23:07
  leave, and he was hoping that they would have learned that
• 23:11
  lesson while he gave him a trial run.
• 23:14
  Where was Jesus while this was taking place?
• 23:16
  Was he with them? No, He was on the mountain.
• 23:20
  He was on the mountain. And there would be a time coming
• 23:23
  in a few short months, where Jesus would die, rise and
• 23:27
  ascend. And the disciples need to know
• 23:30
  by now. I'm not always going to be with
• 23:33
  you. And because of that, you need to
• 23:35
  know how to connect with me. How?
• 23:37
  Not through conversation, not through pulling me aside
• 23:40
  privately, but in prayer. Disciples, you should know by
• 23:44
  now how to pray. You're going to need prayer if
• 23:47
  you're going to fulfill the Great Commission.
• 23:49
  You're going to need prayer if you're going to go and preach
• 23:51
  the Lost. You're going to need prayer if
• 23:52
  you're going to plant in churches.
• 23:54
  You're going to need prayer when people come in with demons and
• 23:56
  disease, how will you do it if you don't know how to pray?
• 24:02
  And This is why he's rebuking? Because they're supposed to be
• 24:06
  trained by now. Can I ask you a question this
• 24:09
  afternoon? Does your faith pray?
• 24:15
  Does it pray? I don't care how you articulate
• 24:17
  it. I don't care what you blog about
• 24:19
  it. I don't care how many debates
• 24:21
  you win. It doesn't matter how you can
• 24:24
  articulate your theology and your doctrine and systematize
• 24:29
  it. Does your faith pray?
• 24:35
  If so, keep praying because you're doing the best thing that
• 24:40
  you can do with your faith. If not, I ask that you allow
• 24:46
  this sermon today to encourage you to take up spiritual arms
• 24:50
  and to fight. In the place of prayer,
• 24:52
  especially for your children. It's the best thing you can do
• 24:56
  for your son. It's the best thing that you can
• 24:58
  do for your daughter. It's the best thing that you can
• 25:00
  do for your niece, for your nephew, for your grandchildren.
• 25:03
  Yes, I know. Examples important.
• 25:04
  Yes, I know life is more practical than that.
• 25:07
  But there are certain levels of demonic influence that only
• 25:13
  prayer can deal with. This is the situation at hand.
• 25:19
  Oh, faithless generation. Oh prayerless generation, But
• 25:25
  now we come to the servants example in verse 20.
• 25:28
  And they brought the boy to him, and when the spirit saw him,
• 25:32
  immediately it convulsed the boy and he fell on the ground and
• 25:37
  rolled about foaming at the mouth.
• 25:41
  And you would think at this point then here is this boy now
• 25:44
  manifesting, and this demon is clearly trying to destroy him
• 25:47
  even before the Messiah. You would think that at this
• 25:51
  time Jesus would immediately interject and bring about the
• 25:54
  deliverance that only he can bring.
• 25:55
  But we read something quite strange, Something maybe that
• 25:57
  you might have just read past. But I find it to be absolutely
• 26:00
  fascinating in light of how Mark writes about Jesus verse 21 and
• 26:04
  Jesus asked his father, how long has this been happening to him?
• 26:10
  Is Jesus ignorant? No, he's all knowing.
• 26:15
  Is Jesus trying to discover something about?
• 26:20
  The length of this possession so that he would know exactly how
• 26:23
  to exercise his power. No, it doesn't matter if the
• 26:26
  demon was there for 5 minutes or for 50 years, he can deal with
• 26:30
  them equally. Why is Jesus asking this
• 26:35
  question? Does he want the crowd to know
• 26:37
  something? Does he want the crowd, the the
• 26:38
  scribes to hear something? No, no, no.
• 26:41
  The reason why Jesus is asking this question is because Mark
• 26:44
  wants to see how the perfect servant serves.
• 26:48
  Luke omits this detail. Matthew omits this detail.
• 26:52
  Mark is the one who tells us and shows us that he asked this
• 26:54
  question to the Father. And when you consider and I
• 26:58
  reminded again, This is why it's beautiful to go through a book
• 27:01
  and its entirety, what kind of portrait Mark is trying to paint
• 27:05
  concerning Christ? You remember that what it's
• 27:07
  about Jesus fulfilling the prophecies of him being what,
• 27:10
  the perfect servant of Yahweh. That's true for the prophecies,
• 27:14
  and it's helpful for us practically because the Lord
• 27:17
  here. Is engaging with the father, and
• 27:20
  by asking a question, he is showing his sympathy and caring
• 27:26
  heart for this man. Asking Listen, asking questions
• 27:30
  isn't always about finding answers, but sometimes it's
• 27:35
  about showing that you are invested and that you actually
• 27:39
  care and desire to connect with the sufferer.
• 27:43
  And here's the Lord just giving a chance for this father to
• 27:46
  unburden his heart. As much as he is concerned about
• 27:51
  this boy who is being tortured, he's also concerned about this
• 27:55
  father whose heart is heavy. And so he turns to this father,
• 27:59
  and he asks, and he's inviting him to unload.
• 28:03
  And he wants him to know that he is approaching a personal God,
• 28:07
  not just a powerful one. A personal.
• 28:10
  God, not a vending machine that if you press the right button
• 28:14
  and if you get the right amount of faith, you'll get some
• 28:16
  results. But one who actually cares.
• 28:19
  How long has this been happening?
• 28:23
  You've met people like that They they don't just they don't want
• 28:26
  to just a surface relationship. They ask more.
• 28:28
  They ask more because they actually, genuinely care.
• 28:30
  At least hopefully they do. And I looked at this verse last
• 28:35
  night and I thought to myself, if this is Jesus demonstrating
• 28:37
  what it means to serve God in very practical ways, then surely
• 28:41
  there's instruction here for you and I as a church.
• 28:44
  There's instruction for you and I.
• 28:46
  When people come into this place and we pray that people would
• 28:50
  visit this place, believer or nonbeliever, they're not coming
• 28:55
  here for a performance, nor is our aim for them to come to be
• 28:59
  plugged into a program. We want them to come to meet
• 29:04
  people, caring, loving people. When you and I are planning to
• 29:11
  go out to the world, we did and we're going to go again, we
• 29:14
  don't want people to see us heartlessly proclaim a message
• 29:18
  of righteousness. We want them to see people who
• 29:20
  care. They care about my soul.
• 29:25
  They care about my life. They're not just try to satisfy
• 29:29
  the religious conscience. They're not just trying to do
• 29:31
  this so that they can say something to others about how
• 29:35
  much they serve and stand for the truth.
• 29:37
  They actually care. This is Jesus actually caring.
• 29:43
  He pauses. He gives time, he inquires, and
• 29:49
  he convinces this man and encourages him that he does
• 29:53
  care, and this this man was able to perceive that.
• 29:56
  So he finds the courage to look at Christ and to say, if if you
• 30:02
  are compassionate, I perceive that you are compassionate, help
• 30:06
  me. Please help me.
• 30:09
  I can't do this anymore. And so on verse 22 we read that.
• 30:14
  Now we look at the stumbling block it says here at the end of
• 30:20
  verse 21, he said from childhood.
• 30:22
  And it has often cast them into fire, into water to destroy him.
• 30:25
  You just imagine that kind of a life.
• 30:27
  Imagine being a father or a mother.
• 30:30
  And so much of your time is to protect the unpredictable
• 30:35
  behavior of your child, where demon is in him and launches him
• 30:39
  into a fire pit, and if not into a fire pit, into some kind of a
• 30:42
  well or a pond. To try to drown him.
• 30:44
  Imagine all that time and energy rescuing, putting out fires,
• 30:51
  trying to arrest them by while trying to be kind and letting
• 30:55
  them live as much of a normal life as possible.
• 30:59
  This is what this father is dealing with then, he says.
• 31:04
  But if you can do anything, but if you can do anything, have
• 31:08
  compassion on us and help us. But if you can do anything, does
• 31:17
  that sound like strong faith? But if you can do anything, even
• 31:22
  Jesus gives this surprising expression.
• 31:25
  If you can. If you can, I would have loved
• 31:30
  to hear the Lord say that if you.
• 31:33
  Can that does it sound like strong faith?
• 31:38
  What does strong faith look like?
• 31:39
  You know, I'm reading Romans. I was reading Romans this week
• 31:42
  and this first came to mind. Every time I go to Romans
• 31:44
  chapter 4 and read about Abraham, my faith is always
• 31:48
  checked. Always.
• 31:51
  Because the Holy Spirit describes this Father of faith
• 31:55
  in such a detailed manner and it gives us language.
• 31:58
  To what strong faith looks like. Can I show you what strong faith
• 32:01
  is? According to the Bible, we know
• 32:03
  what faith is, but what does strong faith look like?
• 32:05
  Well, turn to Romans 4 with me. Romans 4 and let's go to verse
• 32:09
  19 Every time I come to this chapter, in this portion of this
• 32:15
  chapter I examine the quality of my faith.
• 32:21
  Romans 419. It says here about Abraham.
• 32:27
  He did not weaken and faith when he considered his own body,
• 32:32
  which was as good as dead since he was about 100 years old, or
• 32:36
  when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb.
• 32:39
  So Abraham didn't weaken in faith the older he got.
• 32:43
  He didn't weaken in faith the older Sarah got.
• 32:48
  That's an astounding commentary. Look at verse 20.
• 32:51
  There's an end there. No unbelief made him waver
• 32:54
  concerning the promise of God. But he grew strong in his faith.
• 32:58
  OK, this is strong faith. He grew strong in his faith as
• 33:02
  he gave glory to God. Verse 21 is a description of
• 33:04
  strong faith. You ready?
• 33:06
  Fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised?
• 33:10
  That's strong faith. Fully convinced.
• 33:14
  Not partially, not 90% completely.
• 33:20
  As a shirt as I am. That this is a wooden pulpit,
• 33:22
  That this is an ESV Bible, That this is a white shirt.
• 33:27
  That's how you are with the promises of God.
• 33:30
  There's no doubt. There's no question.
• 33:32
  I'm fully convinced that what God has said he would that's
• 33:36
  strong faith. That's what you and I should
• 33:38
  strive for. That's God glorifying faith.
• 33:43
  You come back to this man, is he?
• 33:45
  Fully convinced If you can do something, that's not Abraham.
• 33:51
  Like faith, Abraham didn't weaken in faith, he was fully
• 33:58
  convinced. So the opposite of weak faith is
• 34:00
  fully convinced faith. But that's not what we read up
• 34:03
  in this story. Let's come back.
• 34:08
  May I add that this man is not coming to Jesus blindly.
• 34:11
  He wasn't taking a walk with his son and saw Jesus and heard for
• 34:15
  the first time. You know this.
• 34:16
  Jesus can do miracles. I'm sure this man was very, very
• 34:19
  aware of who Jesus was. I'm sure he has heard the
• 34:22
  reports and the eyewitness testimonies.
• 34:23
  That's why he came to Jesus to begin with.
• 34:26
  So this man is informed. He's not in the dark concerning
• 34:30
  the reputation that Jesus had, but despite the reports, despite
• 34:34
  the accounts, there was still doubt in him, there was still
• 34:38
  this uncertainty. And Jesus takes this opportunity
• 34:42
  to say something not just for this man, but also for his
• 34:45
  disciples, his disciples, who were also going to live most of
• 34:49
  the life without the immediate physical presence of Jesus
• 34:52
  Christ. This is what he says, if you
• 34:55
  can. All things are possible for one
• 34:57
  who believes. All things are possible for one
• 35:01
  who believes. That's really the center.
• 35:03
  That's the core of what this is all about, Believing.
• 35:06
  Believing that as long as what you're believing for doesn't
• 35:10
  contradict the word of God is in alignment with the will of God.
• 35:13
  It can happen. All things are possible.
• 35:19
  And if we're honest, if we're honest, let's be honest, we're
• 35:22
  in church. We're Christians.
• 35:24
  We should be honest when we hear that all things are possible for
• 35:30
  one who believes. Our response is more like this
• 35:33
  man than it is being fully convinced.
• 35:36
  This is a little too good to be true.
• 35:40
  All things are possible for one who believes so we can resonate
• 35:46
  with his response. I'm sure more than anything else
• 35:49
  in verse 24, immediately the father of the child cried out
• 35:53
  and said I believe this end there, I hope my own belief.
• 36:00
  I believe there's a motion here. There's like an outburst, right?
• 36:03
  Like something was triggered. I believe help my own belief.
• 36:10
  I believe help my own belief. Which one is it?
• 36:12
  Do you believe or you're not believe?
• 36:13
  It's both. You're familiar with that,
• 36:17
  right? You believe, but there's a
• 36:21
  little bit of doubt. I don't know.
• 36:26
  I'm not sure really. Can it?
• 36:31
  You know what's amazing? This man says, I believe, help
• 36:34
  my unbelief. And before you read verse 25,
• 36:37
  you would anticipate that Jesus would respond with what we saw
• 36:40
  earlier in verse 19. Oh, faithless generation.
• 36:45
  Like, when does the faithlessness stop here?
• 36:48
  Oh, faith, That how you're just this is just not going to stop,
• 36:51
  is it? You would think so.
• 36:52
  You would think that would be the appropriate.
• 36:53
  Reaction that Christ would have, but he doesn't give that.
• 36:56
  What does he do? He actually performs the
• 37:00
  miracle. And when Jesus saw that a crowd
• 37:04
  came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit.
• 37:07
  He rebuked it, and he brought deliverance to this child.
• 37:11
  How can this be? He?
• 37:13
  He said to the disciples, mainly of faithless generation.
• 37:18
  And when you go to Matthew's version, you don't have to turn
• 37:20
  there. Matthew 17.
• 37:23
  You read there that Jesus actually tells them why they
• 37:26
  couldn't cast it out. Mark emphasizes prayer.
• 37:29
  Jesus says because your faith is weak, it's weak faith.
• 37:34
  They didn't have 0 belief, it was just weak.
• 37:37
  Well, isn't this man's faith weak?
• 37:39
  So why isn't he rebuking him? Why did he rebuke the disciples
• 37:43
  for their weak faith? But here's a man with equally
• 37:46
  weak faith, and Jesus doesn't rebuke him but actually honors
• 37:50
  him. I'll tell you why.
• 37:51
  You ready? It's because what the disciples
• 37:54
  did with their weak faith was much different than what this
• 37:56
  man did with his weak faith. The weak faith in the hearts of
• 38:00
  the disciples caused them not to pray but to be self reliant.
• 38:03
  The weak faith of this man though was weak.
• 38:06
  There was enough of it for him to act upon and say I need you.
• 38:10
  It's weak but I still give it to you.
• 38:13
  It's contaminated with doubt, but I still cry out to you.
• 38:16
  Do you see the difference? It's not necessarily the
• 38:20
  strength of the faith, though that strength can glorify God.
• 38:24
  Is that despite the measure of it?
• 38:26
  Can you act upon it and still move?
• 38:29
  Forward with it. And if you really think about
• 38:33
  it, this man is acting in more faith than you might perceive.
• 38:38
  I believe help my unbelief. Do you realize that in his
• 38:42
  unbelief he's actually believing?
• 38:45
  This is I love this miracle for this this reason right here,
• 38:49
  help my unbelief. The fact that you're identifying
• 38:53
  that unbelief is good, but the fact that you're surrendering it
• 38:56
  to the Lord is an act of faith in itself.
• 39:01
  So it's not necessarily the presence of doubt or fear or
• 39:04
  anxiety that disqualifies God channeling through our faith.
• 39:10
  It's that though you see that doubt, what do you do with it?
• 39:15
  And here's the mercy of Jesus Christ, here's the glory of his
• 39:17
  compassion that you can even take your doubt.
• 39:21
  Give it to the Lord, ask him to help you with it, and he'll
• 39:25
  honor the faith behind that request.
• 39:28
  Does not move you. Doesn't that stir you?
• 39:32
  You can't lose. Only way you can lose is if you
• 39:35
  don't come to him at all. You you see earlier where he
• 39:38
  says, if you have compassion, have compassion on us and help
• 39:43
  us. That same word for help is being
• 39:45
  used here about his unbelief. Help us concerning my son.
• 39:49
  And then when it came to his lack of faith, he goes help my
• 39:52
  lack of faith. I'm desperate for my doubt to be
• 39:57
  dealt with, and the Lord honors that.
• 40:01
  The Lord answers that the Lord works with that kind of faith.
• 40:05
  And so I don't believe God in the story earlier as strongly as
• 40:08
  I know I should. Well, don't be like the
• 40:10
  disciples and reserve yourself from coming to him altogether.
• 40:13
  Come to him, even with that mustard seed.
• 40:16
  Like faith. One that is murky and slimy, not
• 40:23
  rock solid. Say, Lord, I I know I should
• 40:28
  believe you more about this, but it's not as strong.
• 40:30
  Can you help me here? That's faith, and that's the
• 40:34
  Lord and his goodness willing to answer and rescue us and even
• 40:38
  bring about results and fruit. You won't prove of that in Acts
• 40:41
  chapter 12, when the church there praying for Peter to be
• 40:44
  released from prison, Rhoda hears some knocking at the door.
• 40:47
  It's Peter at the door. She runs back to the perming,
• 40:49
  says, you know, Peter is here, they go, You're out of your
• 40:51
  mind, no? No, no, it's it's really Peter,
• 40:55
  the one that you're asking God to deliver.
• 40:57
  He's actually outside in the courtyard is probably his Angel.
• 41:00
  What kind of faith is that? OK, and yet that was the kind of
• 41:05
  faith they were offering to heaven.
• 41:07
  And God still was willing to send an Angel and deliver Peter,
• 41:10
  How good is our God? How awesome is he?
• 41:13
  How can you not pray? How can you condemn yourself to
• 41:16
  the point of being paralyzed in your prayer?
• 41:18
  Life may not be so. This man says, help my own
• 41:23
  belief. I can pray to God in my own
• 41:25
  belief, and he'll recognize the act of faith behind that plea.
• 41:29
  And finally we come not just to the stumbling block that was
• 41:32
  overcome, but we come to the schooling.
• 41:35
  The boy was delivered verse 27, but Jesus took him by the hand
• 41:40
  again. Mark loves to use that language.
• 41:42
  He loves to show Jesus touching and looking and asking more and
• 41:47
  being more personally, takes him by the hand and lifted him up.
• 41:50
  And he arose, and now the scene shifts again.
• 41:53
  There's a there's a private meeting.
• 41:54
  They go to a house. We're not told which house it
• 41:56
  is. And when he had entered the
• 41:58
  house, his disciples asked him privately why can we not cast it
• 42:02
  out? Now the disciples have the right
• 42:06
  to ask this question, obviously because of their failure, but in
• 42:09
  light of their previous experience.
• 42:11
  This is not the first time that the disciples dealt with demons.
• 42:15
  It's not the first time that they were confronted with a
• 42:17
  problem in the supernatural. Go back to Mark chapter 6.
• 42:20
  Very briefly, look at verse 7 and Mark 6.
• 42:28
  And he called the 12 and began to send them out two by two, and
• 42:31
  he gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
• 42:34
  And then you come here to verse 13 and they being the disciples.
• 42:41
  Cast out many demons and anointed with oil, many who were
• 42:43
  sick and healed them. So the disciples had a history
• 42:47
  of success with demons before, and now they come to this, and
• 42:52
  there's no fruit, there's no power, there's no demonstration
• 42:55
  like what they have known. And they're they're they're
• 42:56
  confused. Jesus, we're not understanding
• 43:01
  this. You gave us authority.
• 43:03
  We've seen results. Now we're here.
• 43:05
  Why isn't anything happening? Why didn't anything happen?
• 43:09
  And Jesus is something so insightful.
• 43:11
  This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.
• 43:16
  What is the Lord getting at here between Mark Chapter 6 and Mark
• 43:20
  Chapter 9? For some reason the disciples
• 43:24
  developed a prayerless attitude and the disciples relied on
• 43:31
  previous success, maybe even technique, maybe some kind of
• 43:36
  methodology. But where they went wrong is
• 43:40
  they stopped being depended upon God Almighty.
• 43:45
  And where do you stop being depended upon God Almighty when
• 43:47
  you stop praying. And that's what Jesus points
• 43:50
  out. You stopped praying at some
• 43:54
  point. And this is for those who are
• 43:59
  servants of God who desire to see fruit, even supernatural
• 44:02
  fruit, right? It's all really supernatural.
• 44:05
  But you want to see God do great things.
• 44:07
  You want to see God bless your minister, your efforts.
• 44:11
  It's very tempting to rely on a reputation or to to get a hold
• 44:18
  of a certain technique or routine and see on the surface
• 44:25
  level, something steady and satisfying where you begin to
• 44:29
  now remove yourself from the place of getting before God and
• 44:34
  speaking to Him and asking help from Him.
• 44:39
  It happens all the time. It happens more frequently than
• 44:42
  you think. It's a great temptation for us
• 44:44
  to get off of our knees, especially on the other side of
• 44:49
  success. And this is what happened to
• 44:54
  these disciples. And I think it's more than just
• 44:57
  Jesus saying in this moment you didn't pray.
• 45:01
  I think this is Jesus saying that altogether their sense of
• 45:03
  dependency was removed. And so this is a longterm thing,
• 45:10
  not just an immediate thing. And Jesus, as God Almighty,
• 45:14
  brought about results not just because he's got almighty, but
• 45:18
  because being man, he actually modeled how you and I should go
• 45:22
  about serving him. He tells him you didn't pray.
• 45:26
  But Jesus coming down the mountain, was he prepared?
• 45:30
  Was he prepared? Let me show you how he was
• 45:33
  prepared. If you go to Luke in Chapter 9
• 45:38
  in verse 28, this is the same account of the transfiguration
• 45:48
  where Jesus went up to the mountain to make his glory known
• 45:51
  to his disciples. But look what we see here in
• 45:53
  Luke 928 Now, about eight days after these sayings, he took
• 45:57
  with him Peter and John and James and went up on the
• 45:59
  mountain to what, pray Jesus was prepared.
• 46:06
  So Jesus is talking more than just about spontaneous prayer in
• 46:09
  light of a surprise attack. I believe the Lord is speaking
• 46:13
  about a lifestyle of prayer that makes you ready for the
• 46:16
  surprise. We all know how to run to prayer
• 46:22
  when there's chaos. We all know what to do when
• 46:26
  there's things that get out of hand.
• 46:29
  Prayers are 911 and it should be, but it should be more than
• 46:33
  that. Prayer should be our posture all
• 46:35
  the time. Pray without ceasing, Paul said.
• 46:39
  How do I pray without ceasing? Do I stay in my room the whole
• 46:41
  time, Ask my wife to make me dinner?
• 46:43
  To put out the closet door and quit my job?
• 46:45
  Is that what prayer means, To pray without ceasing?
• 46:48
  No. Develop an attitude of
• 46:49
  dependency on the Lord every day, all day.
• 46:52
  That's what prayer without ceasing means.
• 46:56
  And Jesus saying. You've forgotten that.
• 47:00
  And it shows. It shows.
• 47:03
  I wasn't planning to go to this text in the Old Testament, but I
• 47:06
  think it's helpful. It's helpful because I want to
• 47:08
  show you for more than one place how what I am saying to you is
• 47:13
  valid and for our consideration. Please understand me.
• 47:18
  You can know a level of success without prayer.
• 47:21
  I know that sounds blasphemous. You can know some kind of
• 47:25
  superficial results and not pray at all.
• 47:31
  I remember hearing this years ago where a minister was at a
• 47:34
  minister's conference and when he discovered with these pastors
• 47:37
  who had churches of thousands of people, that most of these
• 47:39
  pastors don't pray at all. They're so busy, have so much to
• 47:45
  do, administrative work and meetings and conferences, and
• 47:49
  they have thousands of people. They have books, but you know
• 47:53
  what? They don't have a prayer life.
• 47:58
  And there was a man in the Old Testament who saw some results
• 48:02
  without prayer. And there is an amazing lesson
• 48:05
  here through his life that I want to bring to your attention.
• 48:07
  It's in Second Chronicles. Let's turn there.
• 48:09
  We're we're gonna end it here. Second Chronicles.
• 48:17
  It's after First and Second Kings.
• 48:20
  First the Second Kings as of First and Second Samuel.
• 48:23
  Second Chronicles, it's after Genesis, before Revelation.
• 48:30
  Second Chronicles In Chapter 16, King ASA, the king of the
• 48:36
  Southern Kingdom, heard reports of Basha, king of Israel, coming
• 48:42
  up against Judah and built Rama. There is a war that was about to
• 48:47
  ensue between the Northern Kingdom and the Southern
• 48:49
  Kingdom. So what does King ASA do in
• 48:52
  order to deal with the enemy? Verse two, Second Chronicle 16.
• 48:55
  Then ASA took silver and gold from the treasures of the House
• 48:58
  of the Lord and the King's house, and sent them to Ben
• 49:01
  Haddad, king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying, There is a
• 49:05
  covet between me and you. As there was between my father
• 49:08
  and your father, behold, I am sending to you silver and gold.
• 49:11
  Gold. Break your covenant with Basha,
• 49:13
  king of Israel. That he may withdraw from me.
• 49:18
  Stop. Is aligned with the Syrians a
• 49:21
  good thing or a bad thing? It's a bad thing.
• 49:25
  The Syrians are enemies as well. And so he makes an alliance with
• 49:28
  Syria. He asked Syria to break their
• 49:30
  covenant with Israel and notice what happens.
• 49:35
  We see here in verse four and Ben Haddad listened to King ASA
• 49:37
  and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of
• 49:40
  Israel and they conquered. And at the last part of the
• 49:43
  verse he stopped building Rama and let his work cease looking
• 49:47
  verse six. Then King ASA took all Judah and
• 49:50
  they carried away the stones of Rama and it's timber with which
• 49:53
  Basha had been building and with them he built Giba and Mispa.
• 49:58
  Success results. Advancement, relief, yeah.
• 50:05
  But the story doesn't end there. God sends a prophet, and this is
• 50:09
  what the prophet says in verse seven at the time.
• 50:12
  Hannah and I, the seer, came to ASA, king of Judah and said to
• 50:16
  him, because you relied on the king of Syria and did not rely
• 50:22
  on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped
• 50:27
  you. ASA, because you trusted in
• 50:32
  human power, because you trusted in human resources.
• 50:37
  Read your Bible carefully. He said the king of Syria has
• 50:41
  escaped you. He didn't say the king of
• 50:43
  Israel, king of Syria, the same Syrians that you made an
• 50:48
  alliance with. You know what he's saying by
• 50:49
  this? If you had just relied on God,
• 50:53
  not only would have God-given you Israel, He would have given
• 50:56
  you Israel and Syria, but you forfeited that by trusting in
• 51:02
  your own strength instead of God's.
• 51:05
  People wonder, do I miss out on prayer?
• 51:06
  What? Do I really miss out?
• 51:08
  Is it really practical? I don't want to live a life
• 51:13
  where I can navigate through it comfortably but not know what
• 51:18
  else could have been done if I had just sought God.
• 51:21
  Some Christians are comfortable with it.
• 51:22
  That's why this part of the message isn't moving you a bit.
• 51:25
  I'm not interested in that kind of Christianity, because again,
• 51:31
  you can go about, you can do ministry and not pray.
• 51:36
  But Jesus said this kind cannot come, it cannot come out but
• 51:41
  anything but prayer. Meaning you always will reach a
• 51:43
  ceiling of potential being prayerless, but there is
• 51:48
  unlimited possibility for the prayer fall.
• 51:52
  So do it, but you'll always reach a limit.
• 51:55
  You only come so far this kind. There is a level that you will
• 52:00
  never reach if you don't pray. Why does this church pray?
• 52:06
  Why? Why do we put a meeting
• 52:08
  uncomfortably during the week? So because we have nothing else
• 52:11
  to do. Is it because we're bored?
• 52:14
  Is it because we want to eat something together on a
• 52:16
  Wednesday night? We don't eat anything on
• 52:18
  Wednesday night. The reason why we pray is
• 52:21
  because we know that we can't know God's full potential unless
• 52:25
  we do. That's why we pray.
• 52:30
  That's why we take time to see God's faith.
• 52:32
  Because we don't want to be like disciples and rely on our
• 52:36
  strength and our gifts and our money and our hopes and plans.
• 52:43
  God, if you don't come, we're finished.
• 52:46
  If you don't help, we will not go far.
• 52:50
  And I look at this in verse eight.
• 52:52
  He reminds him of the past. We're not The Ethiopians and the
• 52:55
  Libyans, a huge army with very many Chariots and horsemen.
• 52:58
  Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your
• 53:01
  hand. That's that bothers me because
• 53:04
  this man was a prayer man. He was at one point.
• 53:09
  Usually when people are early in their ministry, early in their
• 53:12
  walk with the Lord, we usually become prayerless as time goes
• 53:18
  on. And so here's the reminder.
• 53:20
  Just to get an idea of how this man prayed, go to Chapter 14.
• 53:23
  This is ASA as well. Look at verse nine of Chapter
• 53:26
  14. Zero.
• 53:29
  The Ethiopian came out against them with an army of 1,000,000
• 53:33
  men, a million men, and 300 Chariots, and came as far as
• 53:40
  Marisa and ASA went out to meet him and drew up their lines of
• 53:44
  battle in the valley of Zepha. Marisa did.
• 53:46
  Did ASA have an army here? Yes, he had an army here, but he
• 53:52
  has something else. Verse 11.
• 53:54
  And ASA cry to the Lord his God. Oh Lord, there is none like you
• 54:00
  to help between the mighty and the weak.
• 54:02
  Help us oh Lord our God, for we rely on you and in your name we
• 54:07
  have come against this Multi the Oh Lord you are God.
• 54:10
  Let not man prevail against you. The power of ASA and his Kingdom
• 54:14
  was not his army. It was in prayer.
• 54:19
  And Hannah and I says you were a praying man before you knew how
• 54:24
  to rely on God. But then you got smart.
• 54:28
  Then you being confident. You allowed your track record
• 54:32
  and a time of peace to convince you that you don't need to plead
• 54:35
  before God. What happened to you?
• 54:40
  ASA? And then he gives verse 9 as a
• 54:45
  motivation for us. Unfortunately, one that was too
• 54:50
  late for ASA, though he could have repented verse 9 for the
• 54:54
  eyes of back in chapter 16. For the eyes of the Lord run to
• 54:57
  and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support to
• 55:01
  those whose heart is blameless toward him.
• 55:06
  ASA, do you know why you can pray?
• 55:10
  Because God is actively looking for those whose hearts are
• 55:14
  completely his, and that will seek him so that he can bring
• 55:19
  about his power through them. Can you imagine that the eyes of
• 55:25
  the Lord in 2023? Not just then, 2023, are still
• 55:32
  scaling the earth to find a man, a woman, a mother, a father, a
• 55:39
  church whose heart is blameless toward him and that shows itself
• 55:44
  by relying on him in the place of prayer?
• 55:48
  What is God looking for in this hour?
• 55:50
  Intelligence, looks, Charisma, Prayer.
• 56:00
  It was true then. It is true today.
• 56:05
  It'd be very strange to end this meeting by singing 2 songs and
• 56:11
  not allowing it to bleed into some kind of response.
• 56:20
  Let's pray. What do you need God to do in
• 56:25
  your life? I do not stand here to present
• 56:29
  to you a nice religious lesson. I present to you the truth of
• 56:32
  the living God. What do you need to What do you
• 56:35
  need God to do in your daughter's life?
• 56:37
  What do you need to see God do in your son's life?
• 56:40
  What do you want to see God do through your ministry?
• 56:41
  What do you want God to do? And as delfo as it may seem, as
• 56:46
  drug addicted as they might be, as confused as they might be, as
• 56:50
  rebellious and hardened, as difficult as the fruit has been,
• 56:54
  as limited as the opportunities. Are I believe help my unbelief I
• 57:01
  I I did my part I I mean if if if after this your heart isn't
• 57:04
  start to pray. I mean I can't do anything I
• 57:05
  can't make you pray put your neck down and get on you.
• 57:07
  I can't do that. It's between you and God.
• 57:10
  But I pray that we would remain prayerful as a church, and pray
• 57:14
  that this church will remain prayerful, whether that prayer
• 57:18
  meeting is 5 or 500. May God find a praying people in
• 57:21
  this place. What do you need God to do?
• 57:24
  That's the answer. That's the response to this
• 57:26
  message. What do you need God to do?
• 57:28
  And the praise team will come. They'll set themselves up.
• 57:29
  We're ready to sing. But we would be remiss not to
• 57:32
  seek the Lord after hearing all of this.
• 57:34
  And so don't get distracted by who's on your left, by who's on
• 57:37
  your right. If you need to fast a little
• 57:40
  bit, by waiting a little bit longer to pray and not get your
• 57:43
  lunch. It's good.
• 57:45
  Fasting is good. Ask the Lord.
• 57:48
  I need your help. Lord, forgive me for my
• 57:50
  presumption. Forgive me for trusting in
• 57:53
  myself. Forgive me for not looking to
• 57:55
  you like the disciples that help me be like that, Father, who
• 57:58
  knew how to come to you still in weakness and unbrokenness.
• 58:01
  And the Lord will honor that kind of faith.
• 58:03
  What do you need to see God do? Don't let your mind wander.
• 58:10
  Engage with your God and praise team when you're ready.
• 58:17
  After you have finished praying, please come and prepare so that
• 58:21
  we can sing together. It's not.