7 August 2008
Word on the Web


Pray First
'Dear Lord, put up with me a little longer, as I grow and as I call out for more faith in you.'

Matthew 17:14-23

Jesus and his disciples returned to the crowd. A man knelt in front of him and said, "Lord, have pity on my son! He has a bad case of epilepsy and often falls into a fire or into water. I brought him to your disciples, but none of them could heal him."

Jesus said, "You people are too stubborn to have any faith! How much longer must I be with you? Why do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy here." Then Jesus spoke sternly to the demon. It went out of the boy, and right then he was healed.

Later the disciples went to Jesus in private and asked him, "Why couldn't we force out the demon?"

Jesus replied:

It is because you don't have enough faith! But I can promise you this. If you had faith no larger than a mustard seed, you could tell this mountain to move from here to there. And it would. Everything would be possible for you.

While Jesus and his disciples were going from place to place in Galilee, he told them, "The Son of Man will be handed over to people who will kill him. But three days later he will rise to life." All of this made the disciples very sad.

Main Point

Ever found yourself really struggling with something - a jam jar lid that just won't come off, or a piece of music that you just can't seem to play right - and then someone else comes along and performs the task effortlessly, making it look really easy?

You can easily end up feeling inadequate, as if it's not really worth your effort to try in the future. You can imagine that the disciples probably had similar feelings when, with a few words, Jesus healed the boy who had been having seizures for years, and for whom they could do nothing.

What they could not do, Jesus could. The problem was the disciples' lack of faith.

As Jesus demonstrated God's power to heal, he also took the opportunity to point to his own suffering and death - and to the fact that God would raise him to life.

Jesus challenges the disciples - and us - to have faith, not only in God's ability to heal, but also in God's own faithfulness through suffering and death.


Reflect

Are there situations in your life where you feel that your prayers and efforts have had no effect? Remember that whatever the situation is, even if you cannot seem to make any difference, God can.

But also remember that in some situations the real test of our faith is not whether or not we see the result that we want, or think is best - but whether we can continue to trust God even when we don't understand what is going on.

Come before him now, with faith.


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