A man brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus and said, "If You can do anything, have compassion [or have mercy] on us and help us."
Jesus said, "It's not a question of what I can do; the question is what can you believe. If you can believe, all things become possible for you. It's not up to Me; it's up to you. It's not My decision whether or not your son is healed; it's your decision. I have the ability, but it's up to you whether or not My ability is released."
Over and over again in the Scriptures, God "puts the ball back in our court." We've been crying out to God, saying, "Oh, God, move. Oh, God, do something!" Meanwhile, He's been saying, "You believe; then I'll move."
God gave us His Word and His faith. After we use the faith He gave us to believe the Word He gave us, it's His turn to move again.
God really gave us the easy part of the covenant. But a lot of times, we've avoided our responsibility. It's easier to just lean back and wait for God to do everything.
But that never would have worked for the people under Jesus' ministry. Jesus always taught the Word to give the people something to believe; then they had to act on their faith in that Word.
Jesus never attributed the resulting miracles to His faith or His disciples' faith. He always attributed them either to the individual's faith or to spiritual gifts. According to Jesus' own words, approximately 70 percent of the people who received healing under His ministry did so as a result of their own faith.
The man said, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief" (v. 24). The man had done his part, confessing his faith in Jesus' power to heal his son. Instantly, Jesus cast the spirit out of the man's son, setting the boy totally free!
Nothing is impossible to me when I know
what God has said and I stand in faith
on His Word. I believe and act on the Word
and receive my miracle today!
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
