A Witness To Deliverance

When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

“You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.

Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:14-20)

“Just stay a little longer in the presence of God. He’s taking it away right now. I know some of you can’t see it. But I can see it. And He’s releasing some things right now, and He’s delivering some people right now.” – Rev. Richard Griffiths

In Sunday’s sermon Pastor Richard noted that, sometimes, hard times come after having had a high experience. We who serve the Lord Jesus have experienced the “high” of Lent, Holy Week, and the first Sunday of Easter. But by the second Sunday in the Easter season, Christian individuals and organizations often experience a “low” on several fronts: decreased attendance, a reduction in giving, fatigue from having done the extra services common to Holy Week, increased spiritual attacks from those opposed to God’s agenda, and so forth.

Our pastor referenced the experience of the three disciples who had been with Jesus as witnesses of His transfiguration. After the “high” of seeing Jesus in dialogue with Moses and Elijah, these disciples descended the mountain and immediately encountered a “low”: a demon-possessed child, a distressed father, a crowd of spectators, and the confusion of fellow disciples who couldn’t understand why their attempts at deliverance were unsuccessful. (see Matthew 17:1-20; Mark9:2-29; Luke 9:28-43)

This past Sunday, we experienced what it means to minister and overcome in the face of the “low”. In our second service we heard specific testimonies of how some of God’s people had suffered. But, in the face of discouragement, they emerged victorious. God released them from their burdens! And just as Jesus was present to exact deliverance for the child who was under oppression, His Spirit is present to exact deliverance for us today. We, as His disciples, have been given the authority to speak words of healing in the name of Jesus. We have been empowered by the Holy Spirit who has given us grace-gifts. When we are united in faith and love and purpose, our gifts serve to glorify God; and, as happened on Sunday, we can partner with God in lifting the burdens of the oppressed.

I have been doing church life for a long time, and I confess that over the years I had fallen into the trap of expecting the second Sunday of Easter to be a “low”… but this past Sunday changed all of that. I am happy to report that this time around, for me, it was as dynamic and inspiring as the first Sunday of Easter. I have experienced a resurrection of faith and expectation. I’ll never be the same again.

Let's follow our pastor's lead: Stay in the presence of God. Wait on Him as He works in us. Look with eyes of faith and see deliverance, even if the spectators and naysayers only can see discouragement. Praise our King who does all things well.

By faith, I see the deliverance... and I am rejoicing. How about you?

All Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Prayer. Presence. Power.

In sharing from Mark 9:14-29 and Luke 11:5-13 this past Sunday, Pastor Richie reminded us of a few points we can reflect on today.

• Nothing is impossible for God.
• It is ineffective, and sometimes even dangerous, to attempt to "stand in" for God in situations which can only be resolved by God's presence and power.
• Our best prayer request? The request to be given the gift of the Holy Spirit.
• The indwelling of the Holy Spirit equips God's people to see and understand situations according to God's perspective.
• According to the word of Christ Himself, there are some situations that will not be resolved unless they are first addressed in extended, disciplined prayer.

After Pastor Richie's sermon, Pastor Althea stood and led the congregation in a time of prayer. Perhaps we, today, can also make time to pray to our God and King.

Let us pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Let us pray to know God's perspective.
Let us pray for renewed confidence and faith in God's ability to act.
Let us pray for deliverance of all who are held captive by the evil one.
Let us pray prayers of thanksgiving and praise to our great God.

Amen.

My Life In The Fishbowl.

The crowd had gathered around the nine disciples... the teachers of the Law were arguing with them.

In Scripture, particularly in the New Testament narratives concerning Jesus, we often see that large crowds would make their way into whatever region Jesus happened to be present. The Mark 9:14-29 passage, though, is interesting: although Jesus was not present, the crowd still gathered. It seems the presence of Jesus's followers, along with the presence of a young man attacked by an unclean spirit, was more than enough to draw a crowd. Perhaps some of us in this twenty-first century have also experienced the pressure of being in the gaze of modern-day crowds.

The father said... "Your disciples could not."

In the absence of Jesus's physical presence, the father in the Mark 9 account had gone to Jesus's disciples. It appears that the father's disappointment was deep, because he went on to say an astounding thing to Jesus: "If You can." It is a scary thing to know that our personal failures can have the powerful effect of causing other people to question the power of God.

Jesus replied... "'If'? All things are possible to those who believe."

I wonder if any of us are harboring areas in our lives where, whether due to the pressure of the crowd or the pain of seeing no "results" from spiritual interventions, we have said the astounding thing: "If God can." My prayer for us today is that, regardless of the level of crisis we face, we will never question God's ability to act.

The disciples asked Jesus privately... "Why couldn't we cast it out?"

Some years ago my husband shared a comment on this verse, and I have never forgotten it: The reason the disciples were able to ask this question was because they had cast out demons in other situations. They were not novices in ministry. Jesus had empowered them to engage in deliverance ministry, and they had done so successfully (see Mark 6:7-13), but the disciples' lack of a consistent prayer life rendered them ineffective in this encounter with a more powerful demonic spirit than they had previously known.

Jesus said, "Only prayer and fasting can force out that kind of demon."

God has asked for our participation in this specific spiritual discipline, which Jesus indicated is the key to resolving difficult spiritual problems. Bronx Bethany Church of the Nazarene is continuing to carry out its forty-day prayer assignment... and, yes, a crowd is watching. Some in the crowd might even be argumentative. My prayer for us all is that we will press forward in faith and obedience to His word.

May God give us the strength to continue in prayer and fasting.

May God grant us hearts that believe in His power to heal and deliver.

God, as people are watching us, please use us to turn their eyes towards You.

Panorama.

A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech." (Mark 9:17, New International Version)

When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, He rebuked the impure spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," He said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again." (Mark 9:25, New International Version)

In this past Sunday's sermon, Pastor Richard pointed out that the father in this narrative had a partial understanding of his son's problem: My son is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. However, when Jesus addressed the spirit, He addressed it with a complete understanding of the problem. Jesus's name for the spirit? Deaf and mute.

In prayer, we often seek to name our difficulties. We can't afford groceries. I have to go to court today. My boss is a tyrant. Our requests often center around what we can see with our physical eyes. Our requests often center around what we consider to be immediate, urgent issues. Our requests are often spoken out a partial understanding, because we have not taken time to seek God's perspective on the issues we face.

As Pastor Richard shared, this is why we are so in need of being submitted to the Holy Spirit of God. Spirit-led prayer is the only way in which we can pray with complete understanding. Why? Because in Spirit-led prayer it is God, not us, who sets the prayer agenda. Our pastor said that we might be earnestly praying for a new home or for healing in our body, while God is urging us by His Spirit to pray for forgiveness in relationships or for obedience to His will.

For a few minutes in Sunday's second service we were able to see a practical application of Spirit-led prayer through another pastor. As Pastor Althea stood and addressed specific problems and difficulties by name, she made it clear that no human being had spoken to her. She simply was in a process of saying aloud what the Holy Spirit had said to her heart. Prophetic prayer is not reserved for pastors: it is God's desire that all His people pray with accuracy and complete understanding. This is a prayer stance that is impossible to achieve apart from the indwelling presence of God's Spirit in us.

In Mark 9:14-29 we have a narrative that shows how ineffective ministry becomes when it is engaged without a full understanding of the issues at hand. Perhaps this is why Jesus, as noted in Acts 1:4-5, directed His disciples to do no ministry until they were empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Is our ministry empowered by the Holy Spirit in us, who knows all things, or are we simply operating out of our own, partial, limited understanding?

#DiscipleFail

When Jesus, Peter, James, and John came back down from the mountain, they saw a large crowd around the other nine disciples. The teachers of the Law were arguing with the nine. (Mark 9:14, paraphrase mine)

In Sunday's sermon, Pastor Richie noted that at times we seek God for the wrong purpose: rather than seeking to do His will, we seek for Him to "co-sign" on our own desires. Our pastor shared that, in such moments, it is not surprising that God ties our hands behind our backs. Or, to say it another way, God arranges our circumstances so that we are incapable of contributing to our perceived solution for the problem at hand. To paraphrase our pastor, In such moments, God makes sure that all we can do is pray.

We see this in the life of the nine disciples who attempted to bring healing and deliverance to a young man. Their attempts failed, and instead of being instruments of healing they became embroiled in an argument with local religious leaders. When Jesus came onto the scene, His rebuke was leveled not at the sick person, nor at the leaders, but at His disciples. Jesus's rebuke revealed the reasons for their failure to heal:

A lack of faith. Although the nine disciples were engaged in the ministry of deliverance, they did so in a spirit of unbelief. They did not carry in themselves the faith necessary to engage the task. (see Mark 9:19)

A lack of prayer. Jesus, in saying "This kind can only come out by prayer" (see Mark 9:29), indicated that the nine disciples had not prayed prior to engaging in ministry.

Well, that was then, and this is now. Where do we stand in our Christian walk? Are we people of faith? Are we people of prayer? The Mark 9 narrative serves as a warning to us: simply following Jesus without following His ministry strategies will set us up for failure.

It is God's will that we pray. Let us pray.
It is God's will that we have faith. Let us have faith.