Stubborn Spirits

When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes disputing with them. All of a sudden, when the whole crowd saw Him, they were amazed and ran to greet Him. Then He asked them, "What are you arguing about?" 

Out of the crowd, one man answered Him, "Teacher, I brought my son to You. He has a spirit that makes him unable to speak. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn't."

He replied to them, " You unbelieving generation! How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to Me. So they brought him to Him. When the spirit saw Him, it immediately convulsed the boy. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. "How long has this been happening to him?" Jesus asked the father.

"From childhood," he said. "And at times it has thrown him into the fire or water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."

Then Jesus said to him, "if you can? Everything is possible to one who believes." Immediately the father of the boy cried out, "I do believe! Help my unbelief."

When Jeaus saw that a crowd was rapidly coming together, He rebuked the unclean spirit saying to it, "You mute and deaf spirit, I command you: come out of him and never enter him again."

Then it came out, shrieking and convulsing him violently. The boy became like a corpse, so many said, "He's dead." But Jesus, taking him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up.

After He wen into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, " Why couldn't we drive it out!"

And He told them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer (and fasting)." Mark 9:14-29

Only someone who has successfully dispensed with this spirit could speak with authority on why this spirit is more stubborn than others.

I have been like the disciples, unable to cast out such a spirit and yet able to deal with other spirits.

I have seen what epilepsy, the name of the boy's condition, does to people. Yesterday I rea about a family who had been treating their son with cannabis oil and successfully reduced his fitting from hundred times a day to 30-40. Imagine living with a child afflicted with this condition. What grief, what anguish.

Jesus had compassion and had the authority to set the boy free. There was no discussion as to how the spirit got there in the first place. It was accepted that such spirits do afflict children.

Jesus later told His disciples that the authority to set such a one free comes through preparation: with prayer and fasting. 

I would love to hear from someone who has succeeded: perhaps Reinhard Bonke or Daniel Coleneda who minister in Africa. I know it is possible, as Jesus said, all things are possible to those who believe.