This Kind Can Only Come Out With Prayer and Fasting...
Psalm 59:1-9
For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam.[b] When Saul had sent men to watch David’s house in order to kill him.
1 Deliver me from my enemies, O God;
be my fortress against those who are attacking me.
2 Deliver me from evildoers
and save me from those who are after my blood.
3 See how they lie in wait for me!
Fierce men conspire against me
for no offense or sin of mine, Lord.
4 I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me.
Arise to help me; look on my plight!
5 You, Lord God Almighty,
you who are the God of Israel,
rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
show no mercy to wicked traitors.[c]
6 They return at evening,
snarling like dogs,
and prowl about the city.
7 See what they spew from their mouths —
the words from their lips are sharp as swords,
and they think, “Who can hear us?”
8 But you laugh at them, Lord;
you scoff at all those nations.
9 You are my strength, I watch for you;
you, God, are my fortress,
Leviticus 27:16-Numbers 1:16
30 “‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. 31 Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it. 32 Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod —will be holy to the Lord. 33 No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed. ’” 34 These are the commands the Lord gave Moses at Mount Sinai for the Israelites.
Numbers 1 “The Census”
1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. He said: 2 “Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. 3 You and Aaron are to count according to their divisions all the men in Israel who are twenty years old or more and able to serve in the army. 4 One man from each tribe, each of them the head of his family, is to help you.
Mark 9:11-29
Jesus Heals a Boy Possessed by an Impure Spirit
14 When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15 As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. 16 “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked. 17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” 19 “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” 20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. 28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by “prayer”. (other manuscripts say “prayer and fasting”)
Reflections: I have started to add the subscripts to the psalms, because sometimes they give us the context of the psalm. In this case this was another psalm David written when Saul (the current king of Israel) had sent men to kill David. As we have seen in previous psalms was that it grieved David so much that his enemies came from his own people with the Jewish faith. Saul had usurped his power and now David the next King of Israel was threatening his power. Saul had lost his anointing for leadership and could only try by human means to regain it.
In our final chapter in Leviticus, we see the prescriptions for the offerings the Israelites were to make to God, closing with the tithe (1/10) that they were to offer back to God of all their grain, fruit, and animals. As you can see by these writings, numbers were important to God. As we move to the New Testament the concept of the tithe is not thrown away, but instead Paul teaches on the importance of generosity in Corinthians. He urges the believers to not tithe legalistically, but to give generously above and beyond the tithe with a cheerful spirit. The tithe is always a good place to measure generosity and giving our first-fruits to God. But there will be some who can’t tithe because of their current financial condition (they may have to reduce debt first), and some who a tithe would not be generous. So as Paul teaches each person should give what they have purposed in the hearts in keeping with their incomes. Importantly we give as a response to the indescribable gift of Jesus Christ.
Finally, in our Gospel, Jesus continues to show the world the power and authority in which he operates. Today a father brings a boy whose demonic spirit throws him to the ground and makes him foam at the mouth. Apparently his disciples couldn’t deliver him from the evil spirit. Interestingly Jesus asks him a question about how long the boy has suffered from this affliction. The man says, “Since childhood”. When the disciples ask him later why they could not cast out this demon Jesus says, “This kind can only come out by fasting and prayer.” This would lead us to believe that different types of demonic spirits have different types of power. Jesus taught the disciples that to fight a spiritual battle you need spiritual weapons and our most valuable is prayer. Fasting is a type of concentrated prayer, which creates more of dependency on God and intentional focus to battle in prayer with the Holy Spirit’s power.
This reminds us that when we perceive a spiritual battle in any area of our lives, we need to step up the intensity of our prayer life and relying on the power of God’s Word, the sword of the Spirit, as Paul tells us in Ephesians 6. Take some time to pray today for the battles you have or for others around you that are caught in spiritual warfare.
We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks; your name is near. People tell of your wondrous deeds. Psalm 75:1
The people in Jerusalem were shouting, "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" Mark 11:10
Lord, how do we tell the world of your wondrous deeds, of the blessedness of being part of your rule? By showing, in this day and tomorrow, that you are continuing to shape us, to make of us what you want. Lord, let it be so. Amen.
For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam.[b] When Saul had sent men to watch David’s house in order to kill him.
1 Deliver me from my enemies, O God;
be my fortress against those who are attacking me.
2 Deliver me from evildoers
and save me from those who are after my blood.
3 See how they lie in wait for me!
Fierce men conspire against me
for no offense or sin of mine, Lord.
4 I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me.
Arise to help me; look on my plight!
5 You, Lord God Almighty,
you who are the God of Israel,
rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
show no mercy to wicked traitors.[c]
6 They return at evening,
snarling like dogs,
and prowl about the city.
7 See what they spew from their mouths —
the words from their lips are sharp as swords,
and they think, “Who can hear us?”
8 But you laugh at them, Lord;
you scoff at all those nations.
9 You are my strength, I watch for you;
you, God, are my fortress,
Leviticus 27:16-Numbers 1:16
30 “‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. 31 Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it. 32 Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod —will be holy to the Lord. 33 No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed. ’” 34 These are the commands the Lord gave Moses at Mount Sinai for the Israelites.
Numbers 1 “The Census”
1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. He said: 2 “Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. 3 You and Aaron are to count according to their divisions all the men in Israel who are twenty years old or more and able to serve in the army. 4 One man from each tribe, each of them the head of his family, is to help you.
Mark 9:11-29
Jesus Heals a Boy Possessed by an Impure Spirit
14 When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15 As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. 16 “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked. 17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” 19 “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” 20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. 28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by “prayer”. (other manuscripts say “prayer and fasting”)
Reflections: I have started to add the subscripts to the psalms, because sometimes they give us the context of the psalm. In this case this was another psalm David written when Saul (the current king of Israel) had sent men to kill David. As we have seen in previous psalms was that it grieved David so much that his enemies came from his own people with the Jewish faith. Saul had usurped his power and now David the next King of Israel was threatening his power. Saul had lost his anointing for leadership and could only try by human means to regain it.
In our final chapter in Leviticus, we see the prescriptions for the offerings the Israelites were to make to God, closing with the tithe (1/10) that they were to offer back to God of all their grain, fruit, and animals. As you can see by these writings, numbers were important to God. As we move to the New Testament the concept of the tithe is not thrown away, but instead Paul teaches on the importance of generosity in Corinthians. He urges the believers to not tithe legalistically, but to give generously above and beyond the tithe with a cheerful spirit. The tithe is always a good place to measure generosity and giving our first-fruits to God. But there will be some who can’t tithe because of their current financial condition (they may have to reduce debt first), and some who a tithe would not be generous. So as Paul teaches each person should give what they have purposed in the hearts in keeping with their incomes. Importantly we give as a response to the indescribable gift of Jesus Christ.
Finally, in our Gospel, Jesus continues to show the world the power and authority in which he operates. Today a father brings a boy whose demonic spirit throws him to the ground and makes him foam at the mouth. Apparently his disciples couldn’t deliver him from the evil spirit. Interestingly Jesus asks him a question about how long the boy has suffered from this affliction. The man says, “Since childhood”. When the disciples ask him later why they could not cast out this demon Jesus says, “This kind can only come out by fasting and prayer.” This would lead us to believe that different types of demonic spirits have different types of power. Jesus taught the disciples that to fight a spiritual battle you need spiritual weapons and our most valuable is prayer. Fasting is a type of concentrated prayer, which creates more of dependency on God and intentional focus to battle in prayer with the Holy Spirit’s power.
This reminds us that when we perceive a spiritual battle in any area of our lives, we need to step up the intensity of our prayer life and relying on the power of God’s Word, the sword of the Spirit, as Paul tells us in Ephesians 6. Take some time to pray today for the battles you have or for others around you that are caught in spiritual warfare.
We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks; your name is near. People tell of your wondrous deeds. Psalm 75:1
The people in Jerusalem were shouting, "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" Mark 11:10
Lord, how do we tell the world of your wondrous deeds, of the blessedness of being part of your rule? By showing, in this day and tomorrow, that you are continuing to shape us, to make of us what you want. Lord, let it be so. Amen.
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