There’s a story in the bible of a time when Jesus and His disciples, Peter, James, and John, came down from the mountain after witnessing Jesus’s transfiguration (Mark 9:14-29).
They joined the other disciples that were left behind and found that they had a great crowd around them.
Jesus heard arguing and asked, “What are you arguing about with them?”
A man from the crowd answered “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”
Jesus replied, “bring the boy to me.”
So, they brought the boy to Him, and when the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion.
The boy’s father goes on to tell Jesus that his son has been like this since childhood and that the spirit has often thrown his son into fire or water to kill him.
The boy’s father added, “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
And Jesus answered him like “’What do you mean If I can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”
Help My Unbelief
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
Jesus goes on to drive out the spirit from the boy, and later his disciples asked, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?”
Jesus answered and said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting.”
It wasn’t like His disciples didn’t have the power to cast out demons because Jesus had already given it to them the 3rd chapter of Mark.
“and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons” (Mark 3:15).
And they had already done it before
“And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.” (Mark 6:13).
But, these men that came looking for Jesus (probably a little disappointed that he got some disciples instead) wasn’t asking for prayer, he was asking for healing.
The father expected healing to happen, and when it didn’t, he and the crowd started arguing.
I love how Jesus responded when the boy’s father said, “I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”
Jesus answered with “O faithless generation,”
But He also said, “bring the boy to me.”
He didn’t withhold a miracle to try to teach his disciple or the crowd a lesson, because that would go against His purpose, which is to:
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. (Matthew 10:8)
Jesus had to admire the persistence of the boy’s father in his belief in healing. Even when the father exclaimed, “I believe; (but please) help my unbelief!” He was saying that he believed all that he could with his natural mind, but he needed Jesus to help him see further.
What if we came to Jesus with that same expectancy of healing? Click To Tweet
What if we came to Jesus with that same expectancy of healing?
Instead of answering the altar call when the pastor asks, “if anyone desires prayer, let them come.”
What if we expected healing!
In fact, prayer is a conversation we have with God before healing takes place.
Before Paul healed the father of Publius, he prayed first, then he “laid his hands on him and healed him” (Acts 28:8)
Don’t get me wrong; prayer is an important aspect of our Christian walk. We need to and should pray for each other as much as we can.
The definition of prayer is defined as earthly beings declaring permission for heavenly interference.
But, it is not recorded in the gospels that Jesus ever prayed for the sick as is done in churches today. At the very least, there is not a single recorded miraculous healing that was a direct result of His prayer to the Father on behalf of the person needing healing.
Jesus stayed pray up, and we should too. He knew the Father’s will concerning healing, and through prayer, God will reveal the same to us.
Come to Jesus with the full expectancy that you can, and you should, and you will be healed!
Don’t ever stop believing in your healing. Whether it manifests instantly, or if Jesus tells us to wash our face our face in the pool of Siloam as He told the blind man (John 9:7), expect it to happen.
If you are experiencing sickness in your body, find yourself a disciple or an elder and say, “Hey, I need healing, can you help?”
And if you are a disciple of Christ, you can ask God for heavenly interference (prayer) and lay hands on yourself 😊
Don’t just settle for prayer, start expecting to be heal. AMEN!
Question: What are expecting to be healed from?
Feel free to leave your answer below in the comment section of the blog. I will use the most common responses and develop them into future blog posts to help others.
Here’s the LINK to leave a comment
