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Weekday
James 3:13-18
Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 15
Mark 9:14-29
Summary
Christ comes down from the mountain (of the Transfiguration) to find the people
of the town gathered around a boy suffering from convulsions which he has had
since childhood. The father of the boy begs Jesus to heal his son, ˈif you canˉ.
Christ is upset at the man˅s and crowd˅s lack of faith, ˈ
if
I can? O faithless gen-
eration, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you?
Bring him to me."
The father says, ˈI do have faith, help my unbeliefˉ. With that line, Christ casts
out the spirit causing the convulsion and heals the boy. Responding to the apos-
tles˅ confusion at their inability to rid the boy of the evil spirit, Jesus says ˈthis
kind [of healing] can only come through prayerˉ.
Reflection
The father˅s response to Jesus˅ questioning his faith is to say- ˈI do believe, but
help my unbelief.ˉ Huh? Does this make sense? At first reading, it seemed
strange to me, but then, upon reflection I realize that it actually hits close to
home. There are many times I have found myself praying and yet not believing
that God will in fact hear or respond to my heart˅s desire. Perhaps this is be-
cause, in the past, when I have begged and prayed for a specific response it of-
ten seemed to go unheard. It made me turn away from Him. How does a person
trust a God who seems not to listen or respond to our cries?
I˅m beginning to understand now that the trust part of our relationship with God is
the absolute belief in His total love for us. If we have this kind of awareness writ-
ten on our hearts then we can have total faith that
whatever God brings into our lives (or allows into our
lives), good can come from it. And that no matter
the outcome to our prayer, He will give us the strength
and courage to endure it, if we merely ask Him for it.