An Attitude of Prayer

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Text:  Mark 9:14-29

Mark 9:28-29

And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁹ And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

(ESV)

The heading for Mark 9:14-29 in the English Standard Version is “Jesus Heals a Boy with an Unclean Spirit.”  This heading describes the miracle occurring in the passage, a miracle Jesus has previously performed in other places in the Book of Mark (Mark 1:32,34,39; Mark 5:1-20; Mark 7:24-30).  This is also not the first instance where the 12 Disciples cast out demons (Mark 6:12-13).  However, this time the Disciples, minus Peter, James, and John, found themselves unable to cast out the demon.  When the Disciples were in the house with Jesus, they asked why they were unable to cast out the demon this time with Jesus telling them that casting out this kind of demon requires prayer (Mark 9:28-29). 

The Greek word for kind in Mark 9:29 is genos from which we derive our word genealogy.  Its connotation implies that this demon comes from a genos or family of demons with extremely evil demonic power that requires prayer to empower one with strength when entering a confrontation to cast it out.  Jesus is teaching His Disciples and us that there are spiritual confrontations and struggles we may encounter that require special fervent prayer.  The challenge for us as believers is that we do not know when we may encounter such a challenge and therefore must maintain an attitude of prayer throughout the day to be prepared for any situation.  The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:5-14) provides a pattern on how we as believers can maintain this attitude without having to neglect our daily lives here on earth through maintaining an attitude of praise, thanksgiving, and worship throughout the day. 

1)      Begin with praise and thanksgiving to God (Matthew 6:9) – When we do not make prayer a continuous attitude in our lives and only pray in a crisis, we tend to begin by telling God about our need.  A continual attitude of prayer is an attitude of worship, praise, and thanksgiving to God throughout our day that maintains an open communication line with God. 

2)      Aligning our will with those God’s will (Matthew 6:10) – Alignment of our heart with the heart and will of God means that when we pray, we will be bold, but also surrendered to God’s will in our lives.  In Mark 9:14, Jesus, Peter, James, and John come into the middle of an argument.  Jesus earlier conversation with the remaining nine disciples was telling them of his pending death and resurrection (Mark 8:31-38).  Besides facing a demon of a difficult genos, perhaps these disciples believed Jesus was going away and that they now must carry on the ministry out of a sense of duty without first having empowerment from God through prayer.  This lack of Godly empowerment in their hearts means they are trying to cast out a demon in their own strength and will instead of Gods.  If they had practiced an attitude of prayer, when confronting a demon-possessed boy, their first response would have been praying for strength from God.  This not only applies to the casting out of a demon but also applies to challenges and times of crisis we may encounter throughout the day. 

3)      Presentation of petitions to God from an aligned heart of worship, thanksgiving, and praise (Matthew 6:11-13) – In the age of wi-fi, an aligned heart of worship, thanksgiving, and praise are like staying connected to wi-fi.  This continual attitude of prayer means that when a physical or spiritual need arises, we need forgiveness, or find ourselves tempted by evil throughout the day, we have a connection to God who has the power to meet these needs.  This should be the first response of a believer but does not occur smoothly unless one has an attitude of prayer through worship, thanksgiving, and praise that maintains an active connection with God. 

Prayer is a powerful and needed tool in the toolbox of not only those in ministry but all believers.  This is why the Disciples needed to delegate some of the duties of running the church as it grew to ensure the Disciples could continue in prayer and study of the Word of God (Acts 6:1-7).  Proverbs 15:8 reminds us that prayer has a higher value to God than our service.  James 5:13-20 reminds us not to underestimate the power and effectiveness of prayer, possibly due to James recalling the events of Mark 9:14-29.  It is therefore important for all believers in Christ to maintain an attitude of prayer throughout the day through worship, thanksgiving, and praise to God so that when a crisis or opportunity to minister presents itself, as it did with the disciples, we are effective.  May God bless all reading this post and may we maintain an attitude of prayer, so we are prepared to effectively minister or share the Gospel when the opportunity arises.