If is a Big Word

Mark 9

[9.14-16] When they came back down the mountain to the other disciples, they saw a huge crowd around them, and the religion scholars cross-examining them. As soon as the people in the crowd saw Jesus, admiring excitement stirred them. They ran and greeted him. He asked, “What’s going on? What’s all the commotion?” [9.17-18] A man out of the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought my mute son, made speechless by a demon, to you. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and goes stiff as a board. I told your disciples, hoping they could deliver him, but they couldn't ” [9.19-20] Jesus said, “What a generation! No sense of God! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring the boy here.” They brought him. When the demon saw Jesus, it threw the boy into a seizure, causing him to writhe on the ground and foam at the mouth. [9.21-22] He asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been going on?” “Ever since he was a little boy. Many times it pitches him into fire or the river to do away with him. If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!” [9.23] Jesus said, “If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.” [9.24] No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, “Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!”

Lord Jesus--I would love to be able to say that I have never felt like this father.  That I have never been on the edges of blessing and yet not yet in the camp.  But I think that all of us live the majority of our lives camped out just a step or two beyond where the blessing reaches.  “Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!” Heart breaking words...yet not unfamiliar to this child of Adam.

I don't often think of this as a prayer but it was spoken to the one who was the agent of the creative process. The one who saw star's born and galaxies gestating was standing before this father with a son twisting in the agony of possession. Dose God hear our prayers?  Absolutely.  Did he hear this prayer spoken by a Father wracked with guilt and obsessed with fears that he might have been the cause of his son's malady? Yes you heard and acted.  Not only did you act but you also left the check book open for all future needs.

Lord Jesus-I love your response to this man...“If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.”  It is almost like you are speaking these words into my heart.  There are no "ifs among believers."  It really doesn't matter about what the crisis of the day is...a furnace, a car, a son in need, a job needed.  You remind me that for believers "Anything can happen."  There are no limits, no constants of money, time, space or age. You can and will act in the middle of our need.  There are no ifs...

To our world that over looks the oppressed and the twisted, you showed us a different way.  You invested time, energy and prophetic insight in addressing their needs. You spoke to a Father who the rest of his community must have written off as a sinner because of the oppression of his son's life by Satan.

In the middle of this life that moves faster and faster, Lord Jesus let my prayers be done with "ifs."

Peterson, Eugene H. (2006-06-15). The Message Remix 2.0: The Bible In contemporary Language (Kindle Locations 30846-30857). NAVPress - A. Kindle Edition.