Faith and Doubt
Sometimes it takes more than good trining to get the job done.
When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. He asked them, "What are you arguing about with them?" Someone from the crowd answered him, "Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so." He answered them, "You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me." And they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us." Jesus said to him, "If you are able! All things can be done for the one who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out, "I believe; help my unbelief!" When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!" After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, "He is dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand. When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" He said to them, "This kind can come out only through prayer." - Mark 9:14-29
What were the disciples doing wrong?
Jesus said this kind only comes out through prayer. Did he mean it takes more than faith?
Surely it was not the demon in the child who responded to the prayers, was it?
When someone is suffering, we pray for them, but they don't always respond, so what is it we are lacking?
Jesus starts out saying they are faithless, and ends up saying they needed prayer, so maybe both need to be in synch. We have to have enormous faith that the outcome we seek is already visible, and at the same time, we need to pray for that to happen, putting our faith in God, not in our own abilities.
When we trust in ourselves, we set ourselves up for failure, but when we trust in God, and believe, all things are possible.
What bothers me about this thinking is that the onus is on us. If the outcome is not what we seek, it may be because we failed to have faith or failed to pray hard enough.
I guess we have to live with that guilt. But then if I think that way, am I not doubting?
More to come...