Matthew 17:14-21
Be Still: Lord thank you for the new day. Thank you for your new mercies. Let me open to all you have for me today. Amen
Read: Matthew 17:14-21
Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
He replied, “Because you have so little faith.” (v19-20a)
Encounter: Imagine the disappointment for the disciples. They’ve prayed for this father’s son, and he wasn’t healed. 'We’ve let the father down. We let the boy down. We stepped out in faith, and nothing happened.'
Why is it that when we pray, we don’t always see the miraculous healing we desire? I’ve been there, prayed for someone and not seen what I’d hoped for. It’s hard. Why God? It's a big, honest, and good question.
When the disciples, in their disappointment, ask Jesus this question, he replies, ‘Because you have so little faith.’ (i.e. faith that doubts God's power.) That is hard to hear. Had they misunderstood the person of Jesus? Had they misunderstood his teaching? Whilst there are questions here that we may never get resolved, what strikes me is Jesus' next sentence. 'If you have faith as small as the tiny mustard seed, then you can say to the mountain move...' Even a tiny bit of undoubting faith means nothing will be impossible.
Paul Nelson, a pastor at Gas Street Church, said something earlier this year which stuck with me: (I paraphrase) ‘Prayer isn’t about addressing the big mountain before you, but instead telling the mountain how big your God is.’ It shifted my perspective on prayer.
This new perspective has given me more faith to pray bigger prayers. Where once the situation might have seemed overwhelming, confronting, and too big for me to handle, now I say with confidence – God is bigger. He was there at the beginning of time, and he will be there at the end. When he speaks, there is life. When God moves, things shift. And therefore… I declare to the problem, challenge, situation before me, my God is bigger.
Apply: What’s taking up too much attention in your mind right now? What feels overwhelming? Present this to God, who is bigger, stronger, and more powerful than you can ever imagine – and trust him with it.
Devote: Thank you God, that you are Almighty. Help me today to be faith-filled, not doubting your power to do miracles. Grant me your perspective on whatever comes.