16th.: The Lunatic Boy and Unbelief, part 2
After Jesus exorcised the demon from the lunatic son (see yesterday),
“Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said,
DISCIPLES: ‘Why could not we cast him out?’
JESUS, ‘Because of your unbelief.’ … If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed …,
nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit, this kind goes not out, but by prayer and fasting.’” (Matt. 17:19-20b, 20e, 21).
Unbelief.
For any number of reasons, many Christians would not even ask Jesus to cast out a demon
Some of those reasons can include
a. They don't pray much.
b. They don't know that they can.
c. They don’t believe supernatural beings can inhabit people.
But that was not Jesus’ disciples’ problem.
Sometime before, Jesus gave his disciples authority to cast out unclean spirits (see Matt. 10:1).
The disciples tried to cast out this demon, but the demon just ignored them.
The recalcitrance of this demon probably surprised the disciples, so they just gave up.
Jesus reassured the disciples of the power He gave them.
Albeit, Jesus noted that in this case, a more devoted form of prayer that included fasting was needed.
Since fasting for one minute is meaningless, the prayers involved to remove this demon would take some time.
The disciples just needed to outlast the demon next time.
With that in mind, how long would you be willing to pray for someone?
“If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.” (Pr. 24:10)