The faithful, prayer-filled life
And Jesus said to him, “All things are possible for one who believes”
—Mark 9:23
It is a scene of chaos and pandemonium. The disciples, surrounded by a large crowd, are arguing with the teachers of the law. Notwithstanding the disciples’ previous success combating the demonic realm (Mark 6:6-13), this time, they have abjectly failed to heal a boy with a mute and deaf spirit. The disciples are embarrassed by their failure; the scribes gleefully take this opportunity to heap scorn and contempt upon them. The boy’s father is devastated by yet another failure to obtain healing for his one and only son, who has been tortured by this unclean spirit from childhood.
Once Jesus arrives on the scene, the father pleads with him, “If you are able, help us, have compassion on us!” Jesus responds, “all things are possible for the one who believes” (Mark 9:23). The father, desperate for his son to be healed, gives a haunting cry, “I believe, help my unbelief!” Out of compassion for the boy, Jesus heals him and gives the restored son back to his father. The story closes by Jesus informing his perplexed and dejected disciples of the importance of the power of faith through prayer.
What are we to make of this dramatic story that highlights the mixture of belief and unbelief on the part of the father’s faith along with the utter failure of the disciples?
First, the father’s poignant cry, “I believe, help my unbelief!” resonates with all of us who at times struggle with the presence of belief and doubt. This story declares that we are not alone in such experiences. At the same time, the story stresses an important point: despite the father’s weakness of faith, he moved closer to Jesus, recognizing that he had the power to transform the life of his son: “the father having begged for faith, Jesus simply cures his son. So, we take our fragile, half-broken faith to God, and in God’s grace it suffices” (William Placher, Mark, 133).
Second, this story stresses the centrality of prayer in the life of the believer. Our own resources are inadequate; this was the hard lesson the disciples had to learn; their undisciplined prayer life and reliance on their own abilities led to their failure. It is only a faithful, prayer-filled life that enables us to experience the presence and power of Jesus that can empower us to tackle the challenges and difficulties of life and prepare us for ministry in the church; it is only a faithful, prayer-filled life which can occasion trust in God’s power to transform hopeless situations.
But wait a minute. The presence of half-broken faith on the part of the father was sufficient for Jesus to heal his boy. Does this story suggest that unanswered prayer is due to a lack of faith!? After all, Jesus does say, “all things are possible for the one who believes.”
I have stood by the bedside of an eight-year-old who had days to live due to her body being ravaged by cancer; she was dying, in spite of the fervent prayers of family and church members. Many of us have experienced the loss of family members in the face of fervent prayers of loved ones. So, let’s be clear: for inscrutable reasons, while all things are possible with God, all things are not done: “the difficult reality is that belief, no matter how strong, and prayer, no matter how fervent, do not guarantee a particular outcome” (Leanne Pearce Reed, Feasting on the Gospels: Mark, 271).
The unanswered prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane — “Abba Father, all things are possible for you; remove this cup from me” (Mark 14:35) — can help us understand the nature of a faithful, prayer-filled life. Just as Jesus chose to trust and depend upon the Father’s divine providence, relinquishing his life into His hands — “yet not what I will but what you will” — likewise, we must trust and depend upon the Father’s gracious providence of our lives, relinquishing the entirety of lives to Him, even in those times when his providence appears inscrutable and the desired outcome we seek does not materialize.
May God grant to us this mature, prayer-filled faith, which recognizes our utter dependence of God, whereby we can say, irrespective of the outcome we may desperately seek — “yet not what I will but what you will.”
—Leo Ranzolin, ThD, is dean of the School of Religion.
