Ecclesiastes 8:16-17 says, “When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on the earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night, then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it.” Dr. Peter Marshall once said, “We approach spiritual things, like Thomas not doubting but dogmatically refusing to believe unless we see. As if we could pour God into a test tube as if intangibles had to become tangible in order to prove that they were intangible. There are certain things that must be approached in faith.” Not too long after the creation of man, man sought to comprehend God. When looking upon mankind or the beauty and awe of nature became too simplistic for them, they chose to build a tower to reach to the heavens. It is often said—but biblically inaccurate—that man built the Tower of Babel out of pride. But the truth is that man since before then and ever since to even this very day we (as mankind) have tried our best to comprehend and know God. It isn’t enough to know Him in faith, to accept His promises, live by, in, and through His Word. Our analytical minds, if allowed, would like to pull God down from His throne room of Heaven and out of the heart of His believers and put God through a series of man-made tests…To put God in our “get me out of trouble” box or a test tube.
And so we also approach matters of the Bible in the same way. Conditioned by our elementary teachers and then by our math and science teachers from childhood through college, we all come to a clear understanding: mathematically speaking, A+B=C. Step 1 and then Step 2 leads us to finally a result. Now, I am not ignorant to the Word of God that when God gave instructions that we are allowed to spin off to do our own things and ignore valuable and hallowed instructions, commandments, directions, etc. or at least that it will work out well (it never does). And I do know that God is not a God of disorder (see 1 Corinthians 14:33). But throughout the Bible and since those Bible days, man has moved like the oceans swinging from an extreme of “everything with God is a mystery too amazing or difficult to understand/comprehend” to the other extreme that if we have the right flyer plus the right preacher plus the right amount of duty/work put into something, then God is obligated to bless, multiply, revive, or whatever we ask (demand) of Him. That by always giving (or paying, like our tithes) that God is beholden to mankind financially as well.
Although there are a number of examples in the Bible that I would like to closely examine, there is one that the Lord placed upon my heart. Although the event is recorded in a couple of the Gospels concerning a healing right after Jesus’ Mount of Transfiguration, Mark’s Gospel goes into detail of a conversation that Jesus and the father of the boy who was having seizures. Often preachers—myself included until recently—concentrated efforts on what Jesus said at the end of this event (recorded in both Gospels), “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.” Regardless of the argument whether the words and fasting existed in the original texts, this is the area that we often believe that prayer (a) plus fasting (b) equals a miracle/result. Yet we often focus on the matter of fasting in confines to the starvation of food. If we deny ourselves from food and fun (married people know what I am referring to) for a short period then Jesus, again, is obligated to move on our behalf. I do not deny the obedience for fasting and when to fast. I do not deny that the denial of flesh in a time of fasting isn’t important, in fact it is very important for a Christian to do. (But to fast to get people’s attention, sympathy, or guilt others who are not fasting is not biblical fasting. Fasting ought to draw you closer to Christ and as being closer to Christ, to be more loving, serving, giving, etc. Not being more rude, religious, legalistic, etc.) And I do believe that attrition and contrition are critical for our walk with God (the Bible is full of scriptures to support this). Fasting and prayer does make one—hopefully does at least—more open to the voice of God and able to discern spiritual matters clearer.
But the whole point is that we focus on the DO and not on what Jesus said to the father and more importantly what the father said to Jesus, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). I won’t dwell on the believing and unbelief as I have written about that before. But I do want to focus on a MAJOR contrast between the father and the disciples (and as we saw until time past and they were filled with the Holy Spirit continued to fail at). For the disciples in this time for praying for this sick child (as well as others who they prayed before prior to this child), it was mechanics. Pray, hands laid, speaking, etc. And for those of us who incorrectly do this, we are stunned when God doesn’t move even after we fasted (or more accurately starved ourselves from food). We say to or of ourselves, I fasted so why didn’t we get visitors. I fasted so why didn’t I get more response at the altar. I fasted so why wasn’t there a miracle. We follow so much the understanding of the do (action) that we fail to know that actions may get a response, but often when it is based on man’s ability and availability, we will most likely fall short. In contrast, the father through complete surrender and humility had no where else to go or to turn.
And that right there is the major key that unlocks lots of doors: surrender and humility. And although said it, preached it, and attempts to display it, those are the two things we all struggle with. Why? Because to us surrender and humility makes us appear to be weak. But rather surrender and humility establishes or hallows God in His place and us being in the box/test tube, rather than the other way around that we desire. Further and truthfully, it makes us vulnerable and dependent…and we despise being dependent upon anyone (including God). We like it that WE did an outreach and WE got visitors and WE had conversions at the altar because WE declared a message. It is about our efforts and efforts lead to results, work equals pay check, A+B=C. And so was the life the Pharisees. They were experts at the outside work, “but inside were full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness” (see Matthew 23:27). This is why they grew frustrated initially with John the Baptist because John prepared the way of the Lord and didn’t backslide when his disciples left to follow Jesus (see John 1:37). John declared in John 3:30, “[Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease.” When not only what we say/preach, but how we live and we treat others keep pointing people—saint and sinner alike—to Jesus and live a life of decrease so that Jesus can increase, this is when the Holy Spirit is open to use our lives in a more impactful way, but most of all that God is glorified through what He desires to do on the earth. When it is less of us doing—worry, stress, anxiety, fidgeting, sticking our hands on and all over it, micro-manage others or God, having counseling sessions to, by rules/legalism, tell people how they are not doing more and giving up things fast enough—and more of letting God fight, fix, do, heal, deliver, speak, touch people’s lives in His time and His way and His pace.
Perhaps the next time we pray and fast, we ought to cry out to Jesus, I believe but help my unbelief so that He/You can increase and we can decrease. God plus nothing/no one else equals everything.