Day 2: Dependence on God Through Prayer and Fasting
Dependence on God Through Prayer and Fasting
“I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9:24
A father brought his son to Jesus to be healed. He said, “if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. “If you can?” Jesus replied. “Everything is possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:22-23). The father responded with the words of our verse today. I believe that, to some extent, there is a spiritual struggle within the soul of every believer. It’s the struggle between the flesh and the Spirit of God. The Apostle Paul, using his metaphor “flesh” for the sinful self, described the battle this way: “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They conflict with each other” (Galatians 5:17). Proverbs tells us that everything we do flows from the heart (Proverbs 4:23), it follows that the spiritual struggle manifests itself in every area of life.
Since this struggle permeates everywhere in our life, it’s no wonder it can also show up in our faith. Although every Christian has been saved by faith (Eph. 2:8), there is a human component to it as well. We must exercise this faith we have received. We must put it into practice (Mark 11:22). The flesh, however, struggles to put faith into practice.
We need help as followers of Jesus to activate our faith. Like the father of our verse for today, we need Jesus to help us. We need him to fill us anew with His Spirit fully so that we can overcome the unbelief of our sinful selves.
Lord, we do believe; help us overcome our unbelief! For God to help our unbelief, we must be determined by his grace to remain in Him so that we can bear the fruit of the Spirit. Jesus emphasized, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” Our prayer target today is that we would overcome our unbelief in certain areas by abiding in Jesus and trusting him to give us everything we need.
John 15:4-5 (ESV)- Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
A father brought his son to Jesus to be healed. He said, “if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. “If you can?” Jesus replied. “Everything is possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:22-23). The father responded with the words of our verse today. I believe that, to some extent, there is a spiritual struggle within the soul of every believer. It’s the struggle between the flesh and the Spirit of God. The Apostle Paul, using his metaphor “flesh” for the sinful self, described the battle this way: “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They conflict with each other” (Galatians 5:17). Proverbs tells us that everything we do flows from the heart (Proverbs 4:23), it follows that the spiritual struggle manifests itself in every area of life.
Since this struggle permeates everywhere in our life, it’s no wonder it can also show up in our faith. Although every Christian has been saved by faith (Eph. 2:8), there is a human component to it as well. We must exercise this faith we have received. We must put it into practice (Mark 11:22). The flesh, however, struggles to put faith into practice.
We need help as followers of Jesus to activate our faith. Like the father of our verse for today, we need Jesus to help us. We need him to fill us anew with His Spirit fully so that we can overcome the unbelief of our sinful selves.
Lord, we do believe; help us overcome our unbelief! For God to help our unbelief, we must be determined by his grace to remain in Him so that we can bear the fruit of the Spirit. Jesus emphasized, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” Our prayer target today is that we would overcome our unbelief in certain areas by abiding in Jesus and trusting him to give us everything we need.
John 15:4-5 (ESV)- Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Posted in September 2022 Fast
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Day 1: Meditate on the Power of GodDay 2: Dependence on God Through Prayer and FastingDay 3: Fighting our Battles BiblicallyDay 4: Real Worshippers Never Sit DownDay 5: Power in our Praise!Day 6: Spirit-Empowered for the ImpossibleDay 7: A Man Just Like UsDay 8: Short-term denial, long-term gainDay 9: The Power of ANDDay 10: New Seasons, New ReasonsDay 11: Sacrificial LivingDay 12: Failing ForwardDay 13: Keep it GoingDay 14: Be Still and KnowDay 15: PerspectiveDay 16: Don\'t Ever StopDay 17: Trust Jesus, pick up your mat, and walk!Day 18: Take off the MaskDay 19: A New ThingDay 20: You've Been Put on NoticeDay 21: Keep Jesus Front and Center