“Praying Always” “A Prayer for Faith” “Liquid Faith”
by my friend Paresh Halder in India
“At once the father of the boy gave an eager, piercing,
inarticulate cry with tears, and he said, ‘Lord, I
believe! Constantly help my weakness of faith!”
Mark 9:24
“God loves it when you and I step into the pitch-black
night of this world with the candle of His presence.”
Angela Thomas
Have I had an experience in my life where I needed to have
my heavenly Father strengthen me?
How has my faith grown as time passed and I learned to
trust my Father’s guidance and love in my life?
What does it mean, in practical terms, to have faith in God?
“Never try to have more faith — just get to know God better.
And because God is faithful, the better you know Him, the
more you’ll trust Him.” John Ortberg
As I have found in my own life, when looking
at any specific situation, being able to put the experience
into context often helps me to understand what is
transpiring. This is the case in the story we briefly read
about in our study text today.
Jesus went high on a mountain with three of His
closest disciples, Peter, James and John. The Bible
relates, “He (Jesus) was transfigured before them and
became resplendent with divine brightness…and Elijah
appeared there to them, accompanied by Moses, and they were
holding protracted conversation with Jesus”
Mark 9:2-4
However, while heavenly glory was surrounding Jesus
at the top of the mountain, down in the valley, the Bible
tells us there was a great disturbance and when Jesus
came down from the mountaintop, He astutely
observed the commotion and asked this question, “About
what are you questioning and discussing with them?”
Mark 9:16
The line, “with them,” refers to the scribes who were
doing the questioning and disputing. This information
motivates us to ask, “What was the dispute about?”
In Mark 9: 17-18 we find our answer for we are told that
a father had brought his son, who had a “dumb spirit,” to
be healed. Here’s how Mark so descriptively portrays the
severe condition of the young boy — and these are the
words the child’s father used to show how desperate the
situation was: “Wherever it (the evil spirit) lays hold of
him so as to make him its own, it dashes him down and
convulses him, and he foams at the mouth and grinds his
teeth, and he falls into a motionless stupor and is wasting
away”
Mark 9:18
It is no wonder this father was so intent on trying to find
healing for his child. Unfortunately, because of a dispute
among themselves, the disciples failed in their attempt to
heal the child. And when Jesus arrived on the scene, He,
thankfully, stepped in to assist the needy father and very
sick child. Jesus began a conversation with the father by
asking him, “How long has he (the child) had this?”
The father informed Jesus that since the child was a little
boy, he had been plagued by this problem which, as the
father continued to share with Jesus, had caused the boy
to be thrown into a fire and even into water. As the father
shared, he believed the desire of the spirit was to kill his child.
It is here when a very important conversation took place
between Jesus and the father. It’s a conversation you and
I would do well to study for we find that this father spoke
to Jesus with such honesty and openness, and this is
exactly the way Jesus asks us to come to Him when in
desperation we feel we are just not strong enough to
bear the challenges we face.
Jesus addressed the father, “You say to Me, if You can
do anything? Why, all things can be possible to him
(her) who believes”
Mark 9:23
With the failure of Jesus’ disciples, who because of the
dissension within their ranks, failed to be able to heal
the child, you can see why the dad might be a sceptic.
As I thought about this situation I realized that so often
when I have problems, I first look to those I think can
help me. It is what I call the human element. When in
fact, if the human element fails, it only discourages me
more. And when Jesus’ disciples couldn’t cast out
the evil spirit in this child, it made the father distrust
Jesus’ power as well. Jesus pointed out to this man,
“You have said ‘if’ when you should believe. You
should have faith.”
You know what I love about this dad, we are told, “at
once the father of the boy gave an eager, piercing,
inarticulate cry with tears, and he said,
‘Lord I believe! Constantly help my weakness of faith’”
Mark 9:24
This is one of my favorite prayers in the Bible. But perhaps
you are wondering why I call this a prayer. It is because
our communication with our heavenly Father is a
conversation with our friend. When you are talking with a
real, true friend, one who really cares about the needs of
your life and the pain in your heart, words at times become
unnecessary. The father’s inarticulate words were
expressed with clarity by the cry from his heart and the
tears that rolled down his own his cheeks.
Pastor Charles Haddon Spurgeon calls an expression
such as the one this father exhibited, “liquid prayers.”
I know that there have been times in my own life when
the hurt was so great that my words were an
inadequate expression of what I wanted to say but my
heavenly Father was more than able to translate my
“liquid prayers” into words that touched His heart
and moved His arm on my behalf.
Today if you find that it is difficult to believe that God
is at work in your corner of the world, and if all you
can express are the “liquid prayers” of a broken heart,
remember this father who reached out with the cry,
“I believe, please help me to constantly keep my faith
in You.”
As I’ve told you on more than one occasion, I love
studying the words penned by Pastor Charles Haddon
Spurgeon. He was such a practical speaker and writer
– making God’s Word so understandable. In explaining
“faith”, a belief and trust in God to keep His Word to us,
Pastor Spurgeon relates faith to something I can
understand for many people around our town are avid
bicyclists, riding their bikes through Red Rock Country.
Several of the sportsmen use, what are called
“recumbent” bicycles — it looks as if the rider
is almost lying down or reclining as they peddle down
the road. With the bicycle as your mental picture, I’d
like you to combine this image with Spurgeon’s words:
“The Puritans were accustomed to explain faith by the
word ‘recumbency.’ It meant leaning upon a thing.”
This was the cry of the “liquid prayer” of the father,
“I do believe! Help me to constantly keep on believing
in You, leaning upon You, and totally putting all my
weight recumbent upon You!” May this prayer be
ours today, too!
“The smallest grain of faith is a deathless and
incorruptible germ which will yet plant the heavens and
cover the earth with harvests of imperishable glory.”
I really am personally blessed, and you?
Love’’ Paresh
LIQUID PRAYERS – BEING HONEST IN PRAYER - by Parash Halder in India