Levels of Faith

Mark 4:29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”

The depth of this passage, this story of faith and healing, is much more than a OneMinuteMinistry can contain. The means by which God can reveal, the pastor try to expound, and the heart’s desire to understand, many hours can be spent in Mark 4:14-29. Simply put, it is a passage of faith, the levels of faith if you will, and possibly pride woven in. A man’s son is demon possessed and he seeks out the disciples to heal him. They cannot, and Jesus charges many with unbelief, the seriousness of the situation, and the requirements needed for the boy to be healed of a demon spirit so strong it has been with him since birth.

We all have wavering levels of faith in our Christian walk. We are never perfected, and Satan as the author of doubt and confusion seeks to weaken our faith relentlessly. Even the greatest pastors, scholars, theologians, and yes, even those in the Bible struggled with doubt, fear, anxieties, and depression at times through their lives. It is a cycle of highs and lows that God uses the tactics of the enemy who seeks to weaken us, God uses these lows as opportunities to strengthen us. There are few Christians who will not reveal the depth of their intimacy with God during their greatest trials of life. Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. God does not operate as we do, or think he should. He lets us go down roads that lead to pain. He even lets Satan impute fear and doubt, all with a sovereignty’s complexity intertwined with Free Will at a level that spoke stars into existence. But we are assured he never breaks his promises, and that if we believe, he works it all for our eternal benefit. Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Do you see the doubt in not only the father of the possessed, but likely the disciples as they failed? The passage of the father holds special meaning to me as I struggle with my daily walk and fears that we all face; it is a reminder to pray for the strength for the day. Mark 4:23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” The father pled for Jesus to give him strength, a heavenly gift of deeper faith. Can you imagine the disciples struggle as they failed in healing the child; they had done this before. What if….pride had crept in? What if this had just become routine to them, and they rested on their abilities, and not their faith? It is a question that deserves contemplation, even for us supposed religious today. 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.” Jesus told them plainly of the seriousness of the situation. He told them of how the must consecrate themselves in preparation for a task beyond their capabilities. He told them of how they must humble themselves before God, to allow him to work differently than they would, and accomplish a task they could not, only through a deepened level of faith. If you struggle with unbelief at times as we all do, fast and pray. If God has laid something big in your path, fast and pray. That alone will increase your faith, and decrease your unbelief.