Unbelief was and is the issue!
Jesus revealed what we focus on will impact the fruitfulness of our walk in Christ. What we focus on will impact our fruitfulness on behalf of The Kingdom.
Smith Wigglesworth was a man of great faith and signs and wonders followed his teaching of The Word. Lester Sumrall shared his personal encounters with Smith. When Lester went to visit Wigglesworth, he was not allowed to bring his newspaper into the house with him. He had to leave it outside. Lester learned to leave the newspaper at home. Smith would first read the Bible for a half hour, then he would pray for another half hour. He would read the Bible again. There was no question about Smith Wigglesworth’s priorities were.
In March chapter 9, the disciples were unable to cast out a demon out of a man’s son.
Continuing from yesterday, Mark recorded by The Holy Spirit in Mark chapter 9:
20 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.
21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood.
22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
Was Jesus moved by the man’s unbelief? The boy’s father has a very small level of faith. Did his unbelief disqualify the boy from being healed? No.
25 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 him and enter him no more!”
26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.”
27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
The disciples couldn’t understand why they were unsuccessful.
28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”
29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”
This was a powerful spirit which tells us that there is a hierarchy among the demons.
Unbelief is not the absence of faith; it’s the presence of unbelief.
You can have more than one seed growing in your garden at the same time: seeds of faith and seeds of unbelief.
Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Romans chapter 12:
3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
You cannot say that you have no faith. Jesus Himself said that you only need faith the size of a mustard seed to cast the mountain into the ocean. The issue isn’t faith, it is unbelief. We must not fill our gardens with seeds that compete with what GOD is saying! Those seeds compete with our individual destiny. However, it is our choice.
True faith gives you access to your greatest point of intelligence. By faith, we understand.
It is written by The Holy Spirit in Hebrews chapter 11:
3 Faith empowers us to see (and understand) that the universe was created and beautifully coordinated by the power of God’s Words! He spoke and the invisible realm gave birth to all that is seen.
Faith gives us access to a level of understanding you can’t get through human reasoning. Faith doesn’t deny a problem’s existence; it denies the problem a place of influence. Jesus wasn’t moved by the demon’s actions in the son in verse 20. Most likely, the disciples were influenced and distracted by what they saw. We must understand that the cares of the world, what we see and hear, will distract us from being able to deal successfully with situations of this nature. Seeds of unbelief must be removed from our gardens.