It’s complicated!

Reflecting on Mark 9:14-29

"This kind can come out only by prayer." (Mark 9:29)

This is the other verse in this section that stood out to me.
First of all, there are a few source texts that include ‘and fasting’.
To fast is a way of intensifying your prayer, to increase its power.
Yet in this moment Jesus is not fasting, that we know of.
Nor does He seem to pray; He just rebukes the deaf and mute spirit.

Why does this kind require prayer, while others do not?
Is this specifically for deaf and mute spirits?
Or was this spirit, regardless of what it did, a unique kind?
There is no explanation given, other than this statement.

What this statement tells me is that healing can be complicated.
The ‘spirits’ and conditions we are dealing with are not the same.
We do not have a simple formula or technique we can use.
Nor will we succeed in driving out every kind of spirit.

If you’ve worked with people, you know it can be complicated.
Often their situations, struggles or symptoms are multi-layered.
We may try to heal the presenting issue, but there are deeper issues.
In my experience people are less likely to tell me about these.
They themselves may be ashamed or afraid of these deeper issues.
They may not even realize how their deeper issues manifest in their symptoms.
People want the pain to stop, but they may claim to the cause of that pain.
Helping a homeless person, or an addict, is the same.

There is a complicated mix of issues that surface in their current reality.
Past trauma, family of origin issues, physical or genetic conditions, bad choices.
Bullying, unjust treatment by others, marriage and family problems.
Loss of job, workplace injury, a one-time mistake with big consequences.
And then add the negative spirits that stir the pot spiritually.

I am not saying God cannot heal or help in these situations.
But as those who offer help and healing, we may not always succeed.
And it is not God’s inability, nor it is our inability.
It is because healing may need to come in stages (see Mark 8:22-26).

“This kind can come out only by prayer.” (Mark 9:29)
I still do not understand what Jesus means by this statement.
But it does show me that helping and healing people is complicated.
This is confirmed for me in my experience of church too.
Just because a person becomes a Jesus-follower, they are not made perfect.
They remain a complicated mix of thinking, feeling, behaving and believing.
They do not simply need judgment or discipline, they need relationship.
They need to be in communion with God, which is what prayer is.
They need to Jesus to take them by the hand, and lift them up.
They need patience, mercy, kindness and help on an ongoing basis.
They need a support community to pray with them, not just for them.
They need to be surrounded and supported by love, joy, peace, patience, etc.

The ‘spirits’ we all deal with in our own way will resist leaving.
My ‘spirits’ are unique to me, and the same goes for others.
No simple faith or church formula will solve everyone’s problems.
We need a relationship with God, Jesus and others to grow towards healing.
I do believe that in time, sometimes quick and sometimes long, we do heal.
But like an onion, our situations are layered, and our healing will be too.

A church to me is a place where complicated people can be welcomed.
The one requirement for that fellowship is a commitment to Jesus-like love.
Abuse, shaming, judging, being critical or causing harm to others are NOT welcome.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness…
Gentleness, self control… this is the Jesus glue that hold us together.
This is the Jesus balm that can help and heal this and that kind of spirit.

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Colossians 3:12-14)

“This kind can come out only by prayer.” (Mark 9:29)
And so in the end, this is the lesson I take from these words.
Its complicated, and we need each other and God and Jesus to become whole.

PRAYER
Lord Jesus, it is not just by saying a prayer, or a certain kind of prayer, that I am healed. My own kind of spirit needs the ongoing fellowship and support of God, You and others to help me through my own layers of hurt and healing. This is the kind of prayer we all need.

May we find a fellowship of Jesus followers that can help us heal. May we be the kind of praying Jesus followers that help others heal.