Today's Devotion
Monday of Lent 3, March 9, 2026 - Mark 9:14-32
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
Jesus exorcizes a demon. This is a common occurrence, but on this occasion, St. Mark gives us some crucial background information which allows Jesus to teach us the connection between spiritual warfare, faith, and prayer.
A father brings a son who has suffered “from childhood.” This is an important detail, as our Lord Himself asked the duration of the possession as part of His diagnosis. It seems that some demons are different than others, as Jesus refers to “this kind.” The boy suffers attacks where he becomes mute and suffers seizures. And the disciples, whom Jesus has authorized to cast our demons, “were not able.”
In frustration, our Lord refers to them as a “faithless generation.” And when the boy is brought to Jesus, “immediately,” the demon reacts to His presence. When asked if He “can do anything” to “help” the boy, our Lord’s reply exposes the doubt in the statement, “If you can!” For “all things are possible for the one who believes.” And at this point, the father offers a bluntly honest prayer: “I believe; help my unbelief!” In English, the connection between the word that Jesus used, “faithless,” and this word “unbelief” is not as obvious as it is in Greek. For this is the same word. Jesus complained about the “faithless” condition that impeded the disciples from giving spiritual care to this family, and the father of the possessed boy himself confesses his own “faithlessness.” But he also has the faith in Jesus to ask for an increase of faith.
This is a window into the Christian life. We believe in Jesus, but our faith is often weak. And yet, even with this confessed “unbelief,” this generational “faithlessness,” Jesus has “compassion,” and does “help us.” For the prophet Isaiah spoke of the Christ when he said, “a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice” (Isa 42:3). For even just a spark of faith is enough to be “fan[ned] into flame” (2 Tim 1:6) by means of prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit.
Paradoxically, the greatest prayer of faith is often accompanied by a confession of our lack of faith. Or, to put it another way, we believe enough in the Word of God to recognize that we do not believe enough in the Word of God. “I believe; help my unbelief!” The literal meaning of the word “prayer” is to “ask.” Prayer isn’t simply “talking to God.” To pray is to make a request of a higher authority. It is a petition, an asking for something that we need. And we only make such requests if we believe that the one to whom we make the request has jurisdiction, authority, and power. This is why Jesus teaches us to ask, seek, and knock (Matt 7:7), and to pray the Lord’s prayer, which has seven petitions (Matt 6:9-13). And St. James teaches us: “You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (Jas 4:2-4).
We are all too friendly with the demons and with the world. We are too faithless to cast them out. We are too comfortable with our oppressors. We don’t cast them out because we don’t have enough faith to pray. So let us pray! And let us have enough faith to confess our unbelief. For “this kind can only be driven out by prayer.”
Amen.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.