“And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting” - Mark 9:29 (KJV).
In Uganda, at a certain point in her troubled history, the scariest thing in life was to meet a roadblock. Normally, you can’t penetrate from one point to the next, easily, once you meet a roadblock. There are wrought with danger and anything can happen, including loss of life.
Road blocks can also be found in life, where one can’t proceed to the next level without being inconvenienced. Think of a person desirous for a job promotion. There can exist a roadblock in form of one person who persistently objects to the deserved promotion. Someone might desire to access a certain critical document or secure a certificate to move to another point, but a roadblock stands in the way.
Jesus encountered situations where people had faced roadblocks in life, There was once a man who had a child paralyzed with a crippling and demobilizing spirit (Mark 9:14-29). On seeing its havoc, as it threw the boy into a convulsion, Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” (vv 21). The boy’s father answered: “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us” (vv 22).
This father had a roadblock standing in his way. It is quite apparent that he had tried all manner of relief, perhaps spent some money elsewhere trying to find a cure. The roadblock stood tall and impenetrable. He certainly pleaded with the disciples who made some attempt, but to no avail. Finally the man got to Jesus. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again” (25). At that moment the boy was healed.
Amazed that where they could not Jesus had silenced this spirit, the disciples asked him how come. This is when he said that kind only goes away, “by prayer and fasting” (vv 29).
There are some roadblocks that come in our lives hindering us to progress to another level. We may try every effort known to us, yet to no avail. Such roadblocks may be of a spirit that can only be leveled down through “prayer and fasting!” And why not resort to that!
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, for that roadblock standing in my way, I overcome it now through “prayer and fasting,” just as you healed the crippled boy, this I pray in Jesus’s name!
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08/05/2024 - 09/05/2024 All day“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)
The culture of sharing gifts runs through scriptures and is at the heart of the Gospel. Upon realizing that Jesus Christ had been born the three wise main did not just go empty handed. “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh” (Mathew 2:11).
When Jacob decided to return to his country, he went with gifts to soften the heart of his twin brother Esau, whom he had left maddened at him for various wrongs. “Then he selected these gifts from his possessions to present to his brother, Esau: 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 30 female camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys” ( Genesis 32: 13-15). The reason was, Jacob thought, “I will try to appease him by sending gifts ahead of me. When I see him in person, perhaps he will be friendly to me.” So the gifts were sent on ahead, while Jacob himself spent that night in the camp” (vv 2—21).
Esau was already a wealthy man and had no need of the gifts presented. But Jacob pleaded with him. “Please take this gift I have brought you, for God has been very gracious to me. I have more than enough.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau finally accepted the gift” (Genesis 33: 11). This symbol of good touched Esau, brightened his heart, burying the old acrimonious relation.
Taking after these two instances believers should be in the habit of sharing gifts. We should visit each other not empty handed but like the wise men with gifts, not so much that those we are gifting are lacking, but as a way of blessing them. Proverbs 11:25-26, says, “Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.”
Most importantly we bless each other with gifts because we have received the most important gift there is in life, the gift of salvation. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I thank you for the most precious gift of all that you gave me of eternal life through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and so I pray that I may not hesitate to share this gift and bless those with as much whom you enable me to meet, this I pray in Jesus’ name.
