Mark 9:25-29

"When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of....."

"When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit. "Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,"..."

"Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, "Why couldn't we cast out that evil spirit?" Jesus replied, "This....."

"When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of....."

"Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, "Why couldn't we cast out that evil spirit?""

Unlike the father of the boy with the tormenting spirit, we don’t confess our unbelief and then ask for help in believing more is possible. Phil Ware continues his series of posts from the discipleship section of Mark chapters 8-10, this time focusing on the boy the disciples of Jesus could not heal.

Dear God in heaven, we’d sure like to have a little bit of power to alter our irrelevance, lighten the burdens of others, and heal the wounds of the broken and despairing. Phil Ware writes out of the context of recent disasters and the loss of a mother and child to remind us that being a servant, offering ourselves in sacrificial love, is never a waste!

Let's pray for our leaders! Bob Sjogren reminds us the importance of fasting and praying for the president.