“After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why couldn’t we drive it out?’ He replied, ‘This kind can come out only by prayer.'” — Mark 9:28-29
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There are many situations where we are tempted to try to pry control from the hands of God and place our own fingerprints and efforts on our circumstances. Over and over throughout my life, I foolishly try to do things in my own strength. The problem isn’t that I don’t believe in Jesus or lack belief in His ability to change circumstances; the problem is I don’t have the faith that He will intervene.
The disciples of Jesus witnessed many miraculous works. And although they saw Him do the impossible, they sometimes lacked faith that He would do it again, so they tried to engage Kingdom work with worldly efforts. One time, they tried to heal a demon-possessed boy but failed. Immediately, Jesus showed up and healed him. Bewildered, they asked why they couldn’t do it, and Jesus replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer” (Mark 9:29).
The problem wasn’t their lack of belief in Christ, but that they were not aligned with God’s Spirit.
When we pray, we are not changing God’s mind or manipulating Him to do something we want. It’s not a secret code we use to get what we want out of Him. It is how we align ourselves with our Creator and the only One who can truly intervene and heal the brokenness. Prayer is an opportunity to connect with God and allow Him to download His perspective and principles into our hearts.
— Reza Zadeh, Denver Broncos chaplain
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