Matthew 17:14-18
When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. "Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him." "You unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me." Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.
In this scripture passage, this father was a good representation of the generation. He went to the disciples because of his son's illness, but he didn't really have true faith. He asked the disciples for healing his son just to give it a try, otherwise he wouldn't have talked about how the disciples could not cast out demon, and instead he would have humbled himself and kept on praying with the disciples. His heart was hardened by unbelief. In the Gospel of Matthew, the same father was also filled with doubt when he met Jesus, and he said to the Lord: "But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." In other word, he was saying: "teacher, I don't think you can do much by coming here, but if you can do something, just go ahead!"
Many people have the same attitude when they come before Jesus. They come before the Lord and they plead for help, but they don't have true faith. In the Gospel of Mark, the Lord answered the father: "If you can... Everything is possible for him who believes." The father asked God "if you can do...," but the Lord answered "if you can believe..." So, the question is not whether the Lord can, but whether you believe. The question from the Lord immediately let the father saw his own fault, so he immediately yelled: "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" In other word, he said that "I am willing to believe, but I don't know how to believe, so Lord please help me!" Once he humbled himself, the Lord had mercy on him and the Lord's help came upon him right away.
Brothers and sisters, do you often have the same feeling? You really want to believe but you can't. Faith doesn't come from yourself, but it comes from humbling yourself before God, and asking Him to help your unbelief. We need to say to God: "Please open my eyes and see how precious you are, so that there'll be true faith coming from deep down inside my soul. Help us to know you better so that we will learn how to depend on you in our daily life." Are you willing to humble yourself and come before God to seek Him? As soon as you humble yourself, you'll find God's help coming upon you.
Pray with Pastor Tong
Lord, I thank you because you are God of mercy. May you forgive us because in the past we've come before you with an attitude of unbelief. Have mercy on us and help us by giving us truth faith. When we look upon you with a simple faith, you will become our help and strength in our lives. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
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