Only by prayer and fasting

Afterwards, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, "Why couldn't we cast out that evil spirit?" Jesus replied, "This kind can be cast out only by prayer and fasting." Mark 9:28-29 (NLT)

On this Christmas Day, 2007, it is well to remember why God sent his only begotten Son to us in the little town of Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, by way of Mary and Joseph, linear descendants of David, to be born in a lowly manger among the gentle domesticated animals. Many of us brazen children of the modern hedonistic generation have the audacity to demand direct communication with the Lord God himself, heedless of the absurdity of such presumption. Not that God does not want to talk to us one-on-one, face-to-face so to speak, or even spirit to spirit; but that we would not live to tell about it. Imagine speaking to an avalanche exploding in our face, or shouting at the hurricane gusting at our heels, or puffing at the volcano spewing fire and ashes and lava into our sky,... well, you get the picture. We have very little respect for the power and majesty of God, while we marvel and cower at the display of natural forces even at minutely terrestrial magnitudes within our astronomical measures, only to underscore our disbelief of the Almighty. We really don't believe that our God is present and living, all powerful, all knowing; do we now? And who told us that he is a loving God, a judging God, a fearsome God, a jealous God, an angry God, a consuming God, a demanding God, a capricious God?

Jesus came to earth because we needed a mediator between us and the Almighty. For those who understood the unfathomable might of a true living God, to approach God without a mediator is not just suicide -- it is utter futility. No communication would take place and sure destruction would result. Every religion that conceives of an almighty god must provide for a means of mediation between the mortal man/woman and the immortal potentate. So from the beginning of the Biblical faith, there were men and women chosen by God himself to be temporary mediators between him and his chosen children. As the Hebrews conceived it, this process was initiated by God himself, but the response depended largely on the chosen mediator, and the effect depended entirely on the recipient people. Biblically, there were at least five classes of human mediators: Patriarchs, Judges, Prophets, Priests, and Kings. A rich record of how these mediators served as communication links between God and his people down through the ages has been passed down to us in the Old Testament Bible of the Hebrew people.

Jesus came, as the epitome of mediators of the old covenant -- embodiment of the perfect Patriarch, Judge, Prophet, Priest, and King; and, above that, as the mediator of a new covenant -- the first-born Son, the first Apostle, and the King of Kings. Incredibly, but of necessity, Jesus brought the persona of God all the way down to the level of a new-born child easily approachable by even the lowliest, the saddest, and the sickest of all mankind, not to mention all the rich, powerful, and famous. Only because he came in this way on that first Christmas night are we now able to approach God Almighty anywhere, anytime, through our ever-present and permanent mediator -- Jesus the crucified lamb of God. To call on the name of Jesus in our prayers is not merely a sentimental afterthought or an expression of decorum, it is the absolutely only means for us to communicate with the God we know as the Almighty himself.

The early disciples were quick to discover, however, that this process of mediation comes with a high price. As Jesus taught them, self-sacrifice of the highest order is required of a mediator chosen and ordained by God himself. In the long tradition of Old Testament mediators, the New Testament mediators must also yield to the power of the Holy Spirit by a process of self-imposed spiritual discipline and purification. Jesus himself prepared for his ministry with 30 years of study in the teachings and scriptures of his forefathers, while learning a successful trade as a master carpenter and gaining favor in his community and family. He then began his ministry by submitting to baptism by the prophet John the Baptist in the River Jordan, followed by 40 days of prayer and fasting in the wilderness. Thereafter, for the three years of his earthly ministry, he continued his discipline of preparation, prayer and fasting. In this story recorded for us in Mark 9, healing the sick child appeared to require more discipline on the part of the mediator than the disciples had acquired. To be an instrument of healing, to be the messenger of forgiveness, required the faith and commitment of the sacrificial lamb. The servant of God himself needs to be in the right position with his God, so that the sick may exercise his faith in an effective condition.

Healing of the sick, just as redemption of the sinner, requires all three conditions: the living presence of the Almighty God himself, the effectual hand of the mediator, and the overcoming faith of the recipient. Many a brave Protestant soul claim the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers and dare to call directly nupon the Almighty in the name of Jesus as the only necessary intercessor, without the aid of another human mediator. More power to them. But I suspect that most of the time the effort is well-meant but naively ineffectual. No wonder so many prayers go unanswered, sins unforgiven, sick unhealed, and gifts unclaimed. Catholic and Orthodox believers have the benefit of the apostolic succession of priests as their official and ordained mediators, so they are more likely to invoke the help of such a human intercessor. Again, more power to them. Their problem is that many of the intercessors are themselves not given to deep faith, fervent prayer, and fasting spirit, and so betray the trust of their petitioners. Again, prayers go unanswered, sin unredeemed, and sickness unhealed.

Two lessons are delivered to us in these simple verses. First lesson is that we the disciples of Jesus must be honest as to our own abilities and limitations; must be willing to see the sicknesses that we cannot heal with our powerful medicines and surgeries and therapies; must be convinced that no other alternative or even hocus-pocus therapeutic strategies exist to deliver the cure; and must be willing to turn to Jesus our Master Healer and ask the humble question: Why could't we cast out that evil spirit? (Mark 9:28 NLT)

Second lesson for us is in the words of Jesus passed down to us for our cogitation. For the petitioner, he said: "What do you mean, 'Do something if I can'? Anything is possible if a person believes." (Mark 9:23 NLT) For the mediator, he said: "This kind can be cast out only by prayer and fasting." (Mark 9:29 NLT) It all depends how much the sick believes in the healing, and how much the mediating disciple is willing to sacrifice himself in his spiritual discipline.

Please join me in this prayer.
If you are sick, then pray this: "I do believe, but help me not to doubt." (Mark 9:4 NLT)
If you are a Christian physician as I am, then pray this: Give me your spirit of sacrifice, you who bore our sorrows and carried our weaknesses on the cross, you who rose from the dead with healing in your wings, you who commanded us to place our hands on the sick and heal them (Isaiah 53:4; Malachi 4:2; Mark 16:18 NLT), give me your spirit of prayer and sacrifice that I may cast out the evil spirits of sin and sickness. In Jesus' name, Amen.