Speaking of accomplishing God-sized goals in God’s power, that’s something the disciples appeared to have forgotten:

One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.” …Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?” Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer.” (Mark 9.17, 18, 28, 29, NLT)

“This kind can be cast out only by prayer.” I think the disciples had started to believe their own press reports. They had returned not that long ago from a successful ministry assignment:

So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God. And they cast out many demons and healed many sick people, anointing them with olive oil…The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. (Mark 6.12, 13…30, NLT)

I believe they forgot by whose power they were working! “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?” The answer could have been, “What gave you the idea that you ought to be able to cast out an evil spirit?”

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. (Ephesians 6.10, ESV)

P.S. My son David, also following our 5x5x5 reading plan had a different take on this passage. Why is there no record of Jesus praying in this story? We’ll look at David’s observation tomorrow.