Everything Is Possible for Him Who Believes

Sometimes I am amazed about the spiritual insights which just kind of fall into your lap. So I've got a Bible (several actually, but I'm talking about one in particular) that happens to be on my desk. I just kind of set it down open after I looked up a verse for something I was working on. As the day went on, I just started glancing over at the page that was open, and then an idea started to form in my head as I started reading the couple chapters that were there without regard for the little section headings, which I found highly disruptive to understanding the meaning of the text.

The most significant thing I picked up was in the story of Jesus healing the demon-possessed boy in Mark 9:14-37. I often wondered about this story because 1.) Jesus' disciples could not cast out the demon and 2.) Jesus said that "This kind can come out only by prayer" (v 29), referring to the demon.

My major problem understanding this passage was always that Jesus didn't actually pray when he cast out the demon. He just told it to get going and it went. He didn't bow down, and he didn't call on his Father's name. But still the demon was cast out, a demon Jesus himself described as the kind that "can come out only by prayer."

I think before I noticed what I will soon describe, I had some vague idea that Jesus may have been praying in his head. But the problem with this is that we can say that the disciples may have done the same; in fact anyone involved could have been communicating with God in his or her mind.

But today I noticed something different, a character we too often marginalize: the boy's father. The father comes to Jesus, telling of how his son was not able to be cured by the disciples. Jesus's response is to critique the entire "unbelieving generation" he is among, wondering how long he must endure them (v. 19).

After Jesus is led to the boy by the father, the father implores Jesus, "But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us" (v 22). Jesus's answer is super important for understanding this passage, perhaps pointing to the central message of this pericope: "'If you can?' said Jesus. 'Everything is possible for him who believes'" (v. 23). Wow! That is a strong statement for the power of belief, the power of faith, to work wonders.

Given this statement by Jesus, it seems as though casting out a demon is possible simply by believing, both believing that it can be done and that God will do it. This has strong implications for religion today, as it suggests that we can do anything through simple belief. It is "simple" belief in that it is not a complex process of believing, but it still seems a difficult thing even to grasp. I think it's so hard to really believe; if it weren't that hard then miracles would be so commonplace that we probably wouldn't call them miracles anymore. Although it is such a simple thing to believe, so often we fail at it--I know I do, sometimes for no tangible reason at all. Jesus recognized that the crowds around him had the same problem, as he did identify them as an "unbelieving generation." The father, too, struggled in his belief, as will be shortly seen.

The father, hearing this pronouncement from Jesus immediately (Mark's favorite word) exclaims, "I do belive; help me overcome my unbelief!" (v. 24). This statement seems somewhat contradictory, as the man affirms his belief but also admits that he doesn't believe as well as he should. I don't think this is really completely contradictory because I've experienced times in my life when I've believed but unbelief was still there. Perhaps you know of what I'm talking about, that gnawing, pesky feeling that tells you everything's a bunch of hogwash? I think this man is recognizing that feeling, qualifying his exclamation of belief with a short entreaty to help him to overcome his unbelief.

Regardless of what this man's personal faith situation was at the time, what I find signficant for interpreting the entire story is that the man asks for something. He asks for help overcoming his unbelief. He brings a petition before Jesus, a request. What do all these things seem to relate to? Prayer. The man is praying to Jesus to help him overcome his unbelief. And Jesus answers this prayer, making the man's faith sight, but perhaps in a mysterious way he also strengthens the man's faith before the healing. I suggest this because Jesus just got through saying that anything is possible for him who believes. The man must have believed; that's what all this seems to imply. But he asks for help overcoming his unbelief, acknowledging the presence of his unbelief. If the boy was healed, it must have been through faith, and if the father had faith, it must have been granted to him after he prayed.

So when Jesus tells his disciples that this kind only comes out with prayer, he isn't talking about himself praying. He's referring to the father praying for help overcoming his unbelief. All this suggests that the disciples have some unbelief, but they do not pray for it to be overcome like the father did. They are limited then by this unbelief. If we apply this to ourselves (since Jesus said that this kind can only come out with prayer in a broad sense, speaking to the entire category of demonic creatures, implying that it is a general principle), it seems that the only way to truly overcome unbelief is to pray for it to be beaten. This may seem crazy but only by praying to God for him to overcome our unbelief, we still do not believe in the truest sense of the word. How can you pray if you don't believe in God, though? Maybe it's more like what the father experienced. We believe enough to recognize that we don't believe enough, and then we can pray for more belief.

Therefore, I pray that God will take away the unbelief that is hiding out in my life, limiting my effectiveness for his good work that I am purposed to do. I pray also for any unbelief which may be in your life, that God will overcome it and fill you with such a faith that you can do anything for his kingdom. May we together have the kind of faith that Jesus said could move mountains; and may the mountains be moved.

In Christ's name,
Amen