Failure begins with We

After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer." Mark 9:28-29

Joe began the men’s club meeting with a sigh. Only three people had shown up again. What was the use of even trying to hold the meeting? There weren’t enough people to get anything done. He remembered just a few years ago when the group numbered twenty each month. Now look at it. Some had suggested that the whole group disband, but Joe enjoyed the fellowship with the few who still came. This was a good group of men. There just weren’t many of them. What should they do to make it better? Why can’t we succeed like we did before?

Not that long ago, the disciples had gone out and cast out demons and healed the sick. Jesus was up on the mountain with Peter, James and John and so they thought it would be a simple matter to cast this demon out like they had done before. Yet when they tried, it failed. By the time Jesus got to them, the disciples were overwhelmed. One can picture the disciples discussing what to do next, the father screaming at them to do something as his son is out of control thrashing back and forth, and the teachers of the law mocking the disciples and telling them what to do. There question to Jesus is simple, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"

I am sure that many of you have been overwhelmed too. America is a place that of the busy and the broken. The margins in life are gone. You may be busy with a job that makes you travel or has a big project. It might be kids activities or caring for a family member. There just doesn’t seem to be enough time. You may be broken and struggling with health issues or with relationships that just don’t work. You may have had it up to here with your job and wonder if you can go on another day. You feel like life is shattered and lying on the floor. It feels like the “demons” in your life are getting the best of you. Our first question is often “What are we going to do?”

Sadly, that is the wrong question. So what should we do when we find ourselves beset by demons? The turning point for the father was when he heard the power and promise of Jesus in His voice and the Father believed. It was a weak faith, surely, but he turned to Jesus and asked for help. We need to believe in the Lord and not in ourselves. It is not the size of your faith, but who we have faith in that makes the difference. Second, the way to connect with Jesus and his power is by prayer. The disciples had not looked up to the heavens. They had not asked God to heal this man in prayer. Prayer is the avenue to faith and to believing. Prayer brings the problem to the Lord and asks for his help.

Joe began to cry and then he began to pray. He prayed for the men’s group and the group made a concerted effort to pray for the Holy Spirit to touch the hearts of people who were missing and for friends who were going through difficult times. As they invited people to the men’s club, God began to do miracles and the group slowly grew. It was all a matter of what “He” could do and not what “We” can do.  

• Where are you struggling right now? Have you given that problem to the Lord or are you trying to fix it yourself? What could God do that you can not do with your problem?