Towards Spiritual Mastery - There's More

We see in Mark 9, that Jesus makes his intention known about what he expects from the church. He expresses frustration when his disciples couldn’t drive the opposing spirit out of the boy.

Jesus expressing frustration? That’s what happens when you don’t get the outcome you want sometimes, especially when you put in a lot of work.  A bit of a bizarre concept, but we know it’s true. God keeps it real. How? Look around. Look at the problem Jesus came to solve. The Bible says he solved it and left. Still, this is not what God wanted. Jesus was the last resort. If there was an easier option, less brutal, less humiliating, less terminal, God would have chosen it. But no suitable options appeared.

So is that where the story ends? Jesus exasperated? Actually no. Again we keep reading Mark 9.

28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

After the smoke cleared, the disciples wanted to know…

Was this above their pay grade?

Are there areas the church should stay clear?  To avoid disappointment and embarrassment?

No, no, and no.

Here’s the kicker. It’s another open secret that we often ignore.

29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.

I’m extrapolating here, but we individually and collectively cannot achieve God’s dream for us without building this spiritual connection to the Lord through the Holy Spirit. Consider we have this spiritual endowment of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and prayer is the way to bear the fruit of that connection. Prayer and the word – our primary tools of spiritual growth.

Without prayer, spiritual mastery remains elusive. Jesus remains frustrated. We remain ineffective.

35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 

What Jesus was building within himself. For us? Ditto.

Not prayer for things. Not prayer out of anguish and tragedy. We’ve been there and will go back.

This prayer embraces Jesus’ hope for us. Prayer to build understanding. Prayer to get comfortable in prayer. Prayer for preparation. Prayer for building rapport. For building our spirit. For developing this connection. Prayer to let Jesus know we’re beginning to get it, and this is how we want to develop. Yay!