This Kind

I find I have a problem with the following scripture. I question which is greater, prayer and fasting or the power of faith in God.

Mark 9:14-29 … "And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.
And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him.
And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?
And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;
And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tore him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.
But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?
And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting."

My problem is … I don't understand this last statement about … "this kind."

Why would … "this kind" … if referring to an evil spirit or demon not come under the authority of God according to the statement Jesus just made when He said that if you believe … all things are possible?

Is Jesus saying this kind of demon only obeys, only comes out by nothing except prayer and fasting? I have a problem with that. How does the evil spirit know if you have been praying and fasting? It just doesn't sound right.

Jesus had just told the father of this boy that if he could believe … "all things would be possible to him." This answer was in reference to the doubt in the father's mind about the power of Jesus. Notice what he says to Jesus … "If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us."

My interpretation of what Jesus replied back is simply this … "I can help you and if you can believe, it shall be done." Remember, Jesus was always teaching His disciples, so here He demanded faith or confidence in His power of healing. They had failed in their effort. The purpose here is to show the disciples that the difficulty was not in the want of power on the part of Jesus, but rather in the want of faith in the father asking Jesus … "If thou canst do anything."

The kind of demon or its power didn't matter; that was not the problem for Jesus. It was all about faith. It's always about faith.

Jesus said to the father of this boy … "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."

The father answers back … "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."

Is it possible to have unbelief while you believe? Isn't this what the father was saying to Jesus? "I believe; help my unbelief." Hmmm?

Is that the reason the disciples could not cast out the evil spirit? Did they all have unbelief instead of faith?

Let's look at this from another direction. Pick up the same story with the boy's father speaking to Jesus in …

Matthew 17:16-21 … "And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."

Notice the disciples question to Jesus … "Why could we not cast him out?" Matthew's recorded answer from Jesus is different than Mark's, with Matthew adding the words … "Because of your unbelief."

Is Jesus saying that if the disciples had been praying and fasting as they should have, any unbelief in them would have been overcome and their … faith in God … would have cast out the evil spirit?

Now let me ask this question; the words … this kind … are they speaking about the evil spirit or are the words … this kind … speaking about the unbelief the disciples must have operated in seeing they were unsuccessful in their effort to cast out the evil spirit from this boy?

Could Jesus be saying that this kind of unbelief … that many of us have in our lives … only leaves through prayer and fasting?

Or could it be that the words … this kind … only apply to the faith needed to be exercised (as a grain of mustard seed); which without prayer and fasting does not … go out from us … as it should; therefore this kind of faith does not exert itself and does not have any power to produce results.

Some however, even question … the text. The whole verse is not in the famous Vatican MS., one of the most ancient and perhaps most authentic versions in the world. It is also absent in the Coptic, Ethiopic, Syriac and in Colbert’s, which was written in the 11th or 12th century.

I am not saying what Matthew wrote is any better than what Mark wrote … only that he comes closer to answering the question I asked in the beginning of this dissertation, and that is … "I question which is greater, prayer and fasting or the power of faith in God."

The lesson to be learned is, evidently (1) … this kind of unbelief … the kind that hinders our faith in God from working; or (2) … the kind of faith needed … both only leaves us or goes out from us through prayer and fasting.

I was just about to call this finished, but I feel the need to add one more thought.

Going back to where Jesus was teaching in Matthew 17, He said … "ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove" … notice He said this right after telling the disciples it was … unbelief … that caused them to fail in removing the evil spirit from this boy.

I do not believe Jesus said … "say unto this mountain" … so they could change the landscape, to change the lay of the land. That wasn't His motive. The mountain to speak to, the obstacle that is always in our way blocking our faith is … unbelief.

When Jesus said … "this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting" … I believe He was speaking about the mountain of … unbelief … not an evil spirit.

There is no power of an evil spirit that can stand and resist the power given to us through the name of Jesus.

But, the … unbelief … in us, that's a different problem.

Because God has given us a free will called … choice … He does not and will not push in and make you do anything you do not want to do. We have to want to rid ourselves of unbelief. That's where prayer and fasting comes in.

Jesus said this kind of mountain … unbelief … "goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."