Sometimes, You Have to Let It Soak

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is from Mark 9:14-29 which recounts the healing of a boy possessed by an impure spirit. It is packed with powerful life-giving lessons that will equip believers with ever increasing healing power through the Spirit-led disciplines of prayer and fasting. The story begins with the disciples frustrated and arguing about why they were unable to heal a certain demon-possessed boy. By this time in their ministry with Jesus, the disciples had cast out many demons and healed many sick people (Mark 6:13) so they became unsettled when they encountered a situation for which they were unprepared. Here, Jesus teaches his disciples that the effectiveness of our public ministry is always rooted in the practice of our private disciplines.

Lesson Summary

  • Jesus will never ask us to do anything that He has not already done, or go through any trial or temptation that he has not already won.
  • He wants us to be fully equipped and prepared for every battle we will face in order for us to win every time, in every place, in every race.
  • He wants to give us wisdom and discernment to understand the strategies of the enemy we face and to be able to identify every spiritual stronghold that He may lay them all to waste.

In today’s story, we read that Jesus, accompanied by Peter, James, and John, briefly left the rest of His disciples to meet with Elijah and Moses on a high mountain, where He was transfigured before their eyes. Scripture tells us that, “His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them” (Mark 9:3). There are many fascinating things that took place on that mountain, but for the sake of staying on topic for today’s message, I will unpack those on another day.

As Jesus and the three amigos made their way down the mountain, I imagine the scene below looked something like this: Each disciple, one after the other, strutted up to boy while cracking his knuckles and boldly proclaimed his most powerful declaration of faith. I imagine the multitude of spectators grew silent and still in anticipation for a miraculous sign as the traveling scribes, with their pop-up desks and parchment papers, captured every detail. I imagine the disciples’ prayers becoming so intense that the mountains nearby began to rumble and the sand beneath their feet began to vibrate.

Yet each time the disciples finished praying, there the boy remained, still flopping around on the ground and foaming at the mouth.

I imagine the scribes flipping through pages of previous recorded miracles and scratching their heads in confusion. Perhaps the pregnant pause of the spectators was broken when a voice in the crowd said, “Maybe you’re doing it wrong” invoking a ripple effect of snickers and murmurs which resulted in an all-out theological debate amongst themselves. How embarrassing.

Then, Jesus entered the scene and to everyone’s amazement, He was shining bright as the sun. The lesson begins as Jesus asks a very important question that the disciples had not considered:

Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Here, Jesus teaches us that there is a direct correlation between the duration of a spiritual stronghold and the intensity of which is required through faith, prayer, and sometimes fasting to overturn the spiritual opposition. In other words, the longer a stain goes untreated, the harder it is to get out. Stay tuned at the end of this message for a complete summary with “How to Remove Set-In Stains.”

For me, the center point of the entire lesson is wrapped up in a single sentence through which the boy’s father replied, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” This is a skeleton key which unlocks the kind of faith that moves every mountain. Believing is the very essence of our confession of faith. But daring to overcome our unbelief is the final blow that knocks out even the biggest giants we face in life. The boy’s father was a prime candidate for a miracle that day because he was willing to ask Jesus to first heal him of his unbelief.

In the event of an emergency, when an airplane starts losing pressure, oxygen masks will fall from the ceiling. If you pay attention to the pre-flight attendant, he or she will inform you of the importance of first placing the oxygen mask on yourself before administering new air to your children or loved ones. The reason for this is simple: We must prioritize being filled if we are to pour out that same life-giving sustenance to others. If we neglect the private disciplines of pursuing holiness through the surrender of personal consecration, we may become incapacitated to care for the needs of others. Jesus summarized the entire gospel just a few chapters later when he said, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31).

So, let’s dive back in where we left off in the story.

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.” The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. 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 and fasting.”

It is important to note that Jesus called the evil spirit out by name. Knowing what kind of enemy we face is paramount to a successful spiritual knockout. Otherwise, we might find ourselves Shadowboxing, which is a great book if you want to learn Biblical strategies for defeating the root of every kind of evil spirit. By discerning the spirit which ailed the boy, Jesus confronted the enemy head-on and the boy was immediately healed. It is also important to note that Jesus was intentional with His words. He addressed the spirit and made two commands: First, “Come out of him,” and second, “Never enter him again.” The next time you face spiritual opposition, remember this one-two punch combination and you’ll send the enemy flailing into the abyss, from whence there is no return.

Having regular private time with the Holy Spirit is where He reveals great and unsearchable truths to us (Jeremiah 33:3). Here, in their private time with Jesus, the disciples were ready to learn why their prayers were ineffective. I love how Jesus gets right to the point when He is alone with his disciples. “This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting.”

His answer to his disciples and to us is so simple, yet so profound. The disciples had the discipline of faith through prayer down pat, as was evidenced through their healing ministry thus far. However, they had yet to exercise their personal discipline of fasting. Jesus, on the other hand, taught us by example by prioritizing fasting before ever starting his ministry. The first chapter of Mark tells us that after John baptized Jesus, He was immediately driven by the Spirit (of God) into the wilderness where he fasted for 40 day while being tempted by Satan. Jesus’ ministry began immediately afterwards by calling his disciples. Jesus loved to eat with people so I’m sure he supped with his new disciples soon after meeting them. I find it fascinating that Jesus’ first miracle recorded in the book of Mark was casting out an unclean spirit, much like the one we read about in today’s lesson.

This leads me to believe that we do not need to be actively fasting in order to exercise this level of authority in Christ. However, Jesus commands us that we must make fasting a discipline when he used the imperative statement “when you fast,” not “if you fast” (Matthew 6:17). When we make fasting part of our personal discipline to Christ, we constantly carry the same power that Christ exercised through His Spirit which dwells within ours.

When we accept Jesus into our hearts and then ask him to fill us with His Spirit, hunger becomes like a hot burning coal from heaven. It is a memorial of His grace and an opportunity to participate in His active ministry towards us. We can choose to do one of two thing with it, neither of which are wrong, but one of which has eternal reward: We can 1) quench the fire of hunger by satisfying it with food, or 2) surrender it to the Lord by denying the burning desire to satisfy our flesh. When we choose to place that burning ember at the feet of Jesus and pray for someone else, His Word says that he will exponentially multiply that life-giving burning coal in the life of the one for whom we pray and in doing so, set them free from spiritual strongholds. As a reward, He promises us eternally blessings beyond our comprehension (Proverbs 25:21-22, Romans 12:19-20, 1 Corinthians 2:9). Don’t worry, you can and should still eat when you are hungry, and in moderation. But when we choose to go hungry for someone else, we lay down our life for them and become like Christ who said “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).

How to Remove Set-In Stains

Stains represent demonic strongholds. Stains can be really annoying, especially when they get stuck on something that is valuable or even irreplaceable. Growing up, my mom taught me that a little liquid detergent goes a long way if left to soak overnight. However, if a stain goes unnoticed or untreated for long enough, it’s considered “set in” and almost impossible to remove. These types of stubborn stains require 3 thing for removal:

  • A powerful detergent
  • Time to soak, and finally
  • Agitation

A powerful detergent represents the Word of God. Ephesians 5:25-27 says that Christ wants to sanctify and cleanse us with the washing of water by the word, that He might present us to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that we should be holy and without blemish.

Time to soak represents saturation in the Word through prayer and intercession. Jesus always leads by example and throughout scripture, we are reminded that He intercedes for us when we don’t know what to pray (Isaiah 53:12, Jeremiah 27:18, Romans 8:26-27, Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25). However, that does not excuse us from interceding for others. In fact, in this excerpt of his letter to Timothy, Paul encourages all of us to follow in Christ’s example through intercession. “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior” (1 Timothy 2:1-3).

Agitation represents Biblical fasting. This is a powerful spiritual discipline through which we deny our natural, instinctual desire for food in order to become active participants in next-level spiritual warfare, which in some cases, cannot be achieved by any other means. Today, we learned that fasting is a secret ingredient in removing the most stubborn spiritual strongholds. I’ve heard it said that whenever heaven shakes, earthquakes. This is because heaven and earth are connected (Matthew 18:18). I’m learning that when my stomach rumbles, hell fumbles. And when my stomach growls, hell is disemboweled. So, the next time you feel hunger pains, remember that you possess the spark with which to ignite a chain reaction that will set captives free from the power of darkness.