John 20:26-29 TPT (26) Then eight days later, Thomas and all the others were in the house together. And even though all the doors were locked, Jesus suddenly stood before them! “Peace to you,” he said. (27) Then, looking into Thomas’ eyes, he said, “Put your finger here in the wounds of my hands. Here—put your hand into my wounded side and see for yourself. Thomas, don’t give in to your doubts any longer, just believe!” (28) Then the words spilled out of his heart—“You are my Lord, and you are my God!” (29) Jesus responded, “Thomas, now that you’ve seen me, you believe. But there are those who have never seen me with their eyes but have believed in me with their hearts, and they will be blessed even more!”
Doubt interrupts the flow of God’s power in your life.
Doubt never starts in the heart; it always starts in your mind. (Mark 11:23)
If you dwell on thoughts of doubt, they will become rooted in your thinking and get down into your heart, and unbelief is the end result.
Doubt and unbelief rob people of being able to receive the blessings that Jesus wants to give them.
Mark 9:17-18 | NKJV (17) Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. (18) And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.”
Mark 6:7,12-13 | NKJV (7) And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. (12) So they went out and preached that people should repent. (13) And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.
Luke 10:17 | NKJV (17) Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
The disciples did not have an ABILITY issue in their failure to cast out the spirit; but they had a FAITH issue.
You can have power present but if faith is not mixed with it, the power cannot work.
Faith ignites the power of God.
Mark 9:19 | NKJV (19) He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.”
Jesus rebuked them by saying, “How long shall I bear with you?”.
They were trained in how to minister but in spite of their training, they let it slip. In the Greek language, Jesus asked them, “How long am I going to have to put up with your unbelief?”
Daily they had seen Jesus use His faith and His words to work on people’s behalf and even they had experienced some success, yet they seemed to lose the progress that they had made.
They regressed in faith. Faith is either increasing or diminishing based on what we do.
Mark 9:19-20 | NKJV (19) He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” (20) Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.
Jesus told the man to bring the boy to Jesus. He wanted to help people. That was His desire.
When the anointing gets close to someone who is harassed by the devil or a demon, the demon knows that help is close. The spirit began to show out and cause a scene hoping to distract the people and Jesus from what he was up to. But notice he could not distract Jesus.
JESUS WAS NOT MOVED BY WHAT HE SAW!!!
Mark 9:21-22 | NKJV (21) So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. (22) And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
Notice the spirit tried to destroy the boy. (John 10:10)
This has been going on for a long time. We do not know how old the boy was, but we can assume that this has been happening for some time. Notice, the father then placed the responsibility of the boy being set free on Jesus by saying, “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
Mark 9:23 | NKJV (9) Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
Mark 9:23 | AMPC (23) And Jesus said, [You say to Me], If You can do anything? [Why,] all things can be are possible to him who believes!
Jesus was telling the man that there is no question about My ability. The real question is, “Do you believe?”
There are Christians that want to put the responsibility of their healing on the ability of God or even on the will of God, but Jesus will put that responsibility right back on them.
The question is, “What can you believe Me to do?”
Mark 9:24 | NKJV (24) Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
Mark 9:24 | NLT (24) The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”
The father was actually saying, “I do believe but help me with my thoughts of doubt…” You can have faith working in your heart and have thoughts of doubt in your mind.
What do you do with the thoughts of doubt? You answer them. Say what the Word says that counter acts those thoughts.
Mark 9:25 | NKJV (25) When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!”
Mark 9:25 | ERV (25) Jesus saw that all the people were running there to see what was happening. So he spoke to the evil spirit. He said, “You evil spirit that makes this boy deaf and stops him from talking—I command you to come out of him and never enter him again!”
Jesus was aware that the people were not gathering to join their faith in this miracle. They were just coming to look and see. This could have been a great distraction to the father and actually could have caused Jesus to lose control of the environment.
Mark 9:26-27 | NKJV (26) Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” (27) But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
The spirit put on one more show before it came out. Again, it was trying to take the attention off Jesus and with some it worked. Again, Jesus was not moved by this at all.
Mark 9:28-29 | NKJV (28) And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” (29) So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”
Demonic spirits do not come out as a result of fasting and prayer.
Mark 6:7 | AMPC (7) And He called to Him the Twelve [apostles] and began to send them out [as His ambassadors] two by two and gave them authority and power over the unclean spirits.
They come out as a result of faith in the Name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Fasting and prayer addresses the doubt and unbelief. It causes one to become more spiritually aware and sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
Mark 9:29 | TLB (29) Jesus replied, “Cases like this require prayer.”
Preacher’s Commentary: “When the father brings his demon-possessed son to the disciples for healing, they fail in the face of a “critical incident” because they lack the resources of spiritual power that are sustained only through constant prayer. The practice of the presence of God, as recommended by Brother Lawrence, is the discipline that makes effective disciples in the time of crisis.”
Jesus is telling the disciples that this unbelief is not eliminated except by prayer and denying your flesh.