We tried... but we couldn't do it.

Mark 9:14-29

Peter, James, and John were up on the mountain with Jesus having a fantastic experience.  The rest of the twelve disciples were left behind.  Not on a mountain.  No spiritual high for them.  They were down in the lowlands trying unsuccessfully to heal a boy brought to Jesus. Unsuccessfully is the key word here.  They tried, but accomplished nothing.  Rather than healing the boy, they ended up standing around arguing with the teachers of the law.

It's not as though they hadn't cast out demons before.  In chapter 6, Mark tells us Jesus sent out the Twelve in pairs with "authority over unclean spirits."  Mark 6:13 says: "They drove out many demons and anointed sick people with oil and healed them."  But that was then and this was now.  As any good investment firm will tell you concerning stocks, "Past performance does not necessarily indicate future results."

What made the difference? Why were they powerless in this case?  When they asked Jesus about it he said, "This kind can come out only by prayer."

Prayer?

How much prayer?  What kind of prayer?  Is he talking about prayer in the moment when one faces the unclean spirit or an ongoing prayer life that prepares one for facing many things, including unclean spirits?

And what does Jesus mean by, "This kind..."?  Is he referencing the type of "unclean spirits" that cause what we would now call epileptic fits?  Are they different from other unclean spirits?  Is epilepsy particularly difficult to heal by miraculous means?

Whatever is happening here, I can certainly identify with failure when trying to make a difference in my world. Not that I have often tried to cast out unclean spirits or cure epilepsy, but I have longed to see a miracle in the lives of those who are suffering.  Now, as then, I suspect prayer is the key.  As I pray for those around me to the point of moving into their suffering, I am changed in ways that gradually start to make a difference.

Much of the physical healing Jesus did in 1st-century Palestine would be handled by modern medicine today.  The blind see, the deaf hear, and the lame walk!  Still, we need miracles in our world.  We are desperate for inner healing.  Unclean spirits manifest themselves in the form of addictions, emotional turmoil, anger, and abusive attitudes.

Miraculous physical healing when we grow weary of doctors and physical ailments would be wonderful, wouldn't it? But how much more important is spiritual healing?  Is that where we should be focusing our prayers?