In Mark 9 Jesus comes down from the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John. He finds the rest of his disciples in an argument with the legal experts.

¹⁴ When Jesus, Peter, James, and John approached the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them and legal experts arguing with them. ¹⁵ Suddenly the whole crowd caught sight of Jesus. They ran to greet him, overcome with excitement. ¹⁶ Jesus asked them, “What are you arguing about?” (Mark 9:14-15, CEB)

The issue was a demon-possessed boy. The father had brought him to the disciples and they couldn’t cast the demon out.

Somehow, what had resulted in that ineffectiveness was an argument with the legal experts.

When we get caught in a setback, it’s often our default position as well. I think of such an episode in today’s world. Maybe we had prayed for deliverance for someone and watched God deliver someone. Then, here comes another case and we take it on in the same way and… nothing.

In our day, the argument might look like this:

“How do you know it was demon possession? Maybe it was just an illness.”

“What is your problem? You did it before! We watched you!”

“How dare you cast out a demon when all he may need is a good therapist!”

And on and on.

When we hit bumps in our road, we try to figure out what went wrong. Often we end up in arguments. Sometimes those arguments may be with ourselves.

Jesus nails the disciples hard on this one. They are called “faithless” (along with others in that crowd), and then when they ask him why they couldn’t cast it out, he fires back, “This kind requires prayer.” (Newer manuscripts added “and fasting,” which helps make the point.)

What Jesus is saying is this: “No more formulas, fellas. You better learn to pray and hear from heaven consistently.”

The Kingdom isn’t for the faint of heart.