“After Jesus went into a house, his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why couldn’t we throw this spirit out?’ Jesus answered, ‘Throwing this kind of spirit out requires prayer.’” Mark 9:28, 29 (Common English Bible)
“Why couldn’t we throw this spirit out?” The disciples ask Jesus an honest and direct question: “Why?” They were asked by a father for help with a son tormented by an evil spirit. The spirit doesn’t allow the son to speak. When the spirit overpowers the son, the spirit throws the boy into a fit that produces foam at the mouth, the grinding of teeth, and a stiffening of the body. So, the boy’s father approaches the disciples and asks for help—asks if they could throw the spirit out. The disciples tried; the Gospel tells us. They may have given the effort everything they had. But they couldn’t do what the father asked. The spirit remained. The energy that was missing in the effort of the disciples was God—more specifically, a confident realization of the presence of God.
Here is a suggestion for a definition of prayer: Prayer is the confident realization of the presence of God. There are two clues in Mark’s Gospel narration of the story that support this definition: First, the disciples question Jesus, asking why “we” were unable to do anything about the spirit. At first glance, the “we” is inconclusive. Perhaps the disciples attempted to help the boy by including prayer in their effort. Perhaps, because they were disciples, one should grant the benefit of the doubt that any effort to help the boy included prayer. Here, it is reasonable to grant the benefit of the doubt. That is, until Jesus answers the inquiry: “Throwing this kind of spirit out requires prayer.” Jesus removes the benefit of the doubt. Jesus’ answer is clear. Prayer wasn’t used. That is our second clue.
Prayer is the expulsive force in this story. The disciples respond to the father’s concern for his son favorably. The disciples want to help. They make the effort to throw the destructive spirit out of the man’s son. But they are unable. The evil spirit remained. And the father’s concern for his son also remained. So, the father approaches Jesus with the same plea he had made to the disciples. And in verse nineteen, Jesus answers, “You faithless generation, how long will I be with you?” Jesus now provides a clue to the definition of “faith”: Faith is the confident realization of an unseen God after Jesus is no longer with us in the flesh. The trouble is that the definition sounds very similar to the definition of prayer. What, then, would be the difference between “faith” and “prayer?”
Jesus finally answers the question for a definition of prayer: if faith is the confident realization of an unseen God, then prayer is an experiment with that God. Prayer is the confident “practice” of the presence of God. Prayer is what knits our life together with God’s presence in such a manner that we become so identified with God that an energy is tapped to cast out devils. Darkness is powerful. Our lives offer much testimony to this truth. The act of prayer demonstrates an even greater power. It is the only power that can confront the powers of this world. Prayer rescues us from facing darkness alone. Our Lord provides—in this vivid story of a demon-possessed boy—the answer to a definition of prayer: Prayer is the confident engagement with an unseen, but very present God.
Joy,
Nurture Faith with Dr. Doug Hood 