During two recent #SGCRevitalize Sunday’s, we explored prayer from Mark 9:14-29. As we’ve seen, Jesus revitalizes us as our prayer life is renewed. Turning to Jesus prayerfully is essential to your and our revitalization as a church.

Conversely, the disciples in that Markan account were unable to promote revitalization among the lives of a father and spiritually oppressed son in. This was so, because they -themselves- were cut off from revitalization resulting from being personally cut off from prayer. Cut off from the oxygen of revitalization, much like a diver will be left struggling to breathe or will be gasping for air when their oxygen line is tangled or cut off. 

Prayer is essential for revitalization personally. And essential for revitalization among SGC corporately. After all, Jesus imbrues our souls with His life as we are turning to Him, in faith, for life. Plus, our turning to Him and pursuing Him prayerfully will invariably promote life in others. As we have seen with the father pursuing Jesus personally and prayerfully for the life of his son in those verses in Mark. 

“Prayer is essential for revitalization personally. And essential for revitalization among SGC corporately. After all, Jesus imbrues our souls with His life as we are turning to Him, in faith, for life. Plus, our turning to Him and pursuing Him prayerfully will invariably promote life in others”

If you recall, a main accent point from those Sundays was to clarify how prayer isn’t as mystical or ethereal as is often thought. It isn’t reserved for super-spiritual elites or monastic spiritualists. Prayer is personal and conversational. It’s best to simplify. The above account in Mark records personal conversations between a father (regarding his son) with Jesus. Along with personal conversations with the disciples and Jesus. 

We often don’t construe such accounts with Jesus in the gospels as praying to Him. But. . .this is precisely what is happening. So, let’s bear this in mind moving forward.

As a quick reminder from the other Sunday, here are a few of the practical prayer pointers that cultivate revitalization spiritually. God’s Word evinces that we prevail when praying : 

1. By pursuing Jesus in prayer privately
2. By pursuing Jesus in prayer corporately (with the church)
3. By persisting in these areas of prayer
4. By listening in prayer
5. By unloading in prayer
6. By asking in prayer

Beyond these, there is another essential area of prevailing prayerfully found in a unique exchange between Jesus and His disciples in Mark 8:14-21. . .An area of our lives appertaining to TRUST. 

What’s striking about this area of trust Jesus is calling us to and drawing us to in this account, is that it is uniquely counterintuitive to our ordinary experience and sense of things. In that, this trust in Jesus isn’t achieved through cataloguing various details in order to arrive at confidence. This trust isn’t attained by way of mentally processing accessible facts as a means to comprehend or even understand the variegated situations and circumstances we find ourselves entrenched in. This trust, is provided by Jesus as we turn to Him by faith. This is primarily what Mark 8:14-21 particularly illustrates for us.

“…trust isn’t attained by way of mentally processing accessible facts as a means to comprehend or even understand the variegated situations and circumstances we find ourselves entrenched in. This trust, is provided by Jesus as we turn to Him by faith.”

Now, what unfolds just prior to this account, lays important stepping stones for grasping what Jesus is accentuating. Mark 8:14-21 doesn’t happen in isolation. In Mark 8:1-10, Jesus multiplies 7 loaves of bread and “a few small fish” the disciples had among them to feed a crowd of 4,000 people. Wow! Quite astounding. This ought to inspire confidence, right?! Well, not so much with a certain group of folk.

Shortly after this (Mark 8:11-13), Pharisees “argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test (or prove) him”. Bear in mind, the Pharisee’s are gainsayers of Jesus. Pathological doubters to be sure. They demand tangible and empirical data to garner their trust that Jesus is the Son of God. They want Jesus to prove Himself to them. Christ’s response was that they would be given no such “sign from heaven”. After all, they’ve already seen and heard all the proof for such confidence that a reasonable person would need.

It’s immediately on the heels of these two accounts that Mark records the aforementioned situation of trust involving bread and the disciples (Mark 8:14-21). They find themselves low on supplies and in a bit of a bind. Aware of their depleted situation and hungry condition (and Jesus is always aware SGC!) Christ warns them, “saying, watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod”. This warning follows upon the heels of Christ’s rebuke of the Pharisees’ disbelieving and cynical demand for a sign to be convinced by Jesus. Bottom line, they were demanding verifiable data or corporeal ‘believe it if I see it’ facts in order to secure their trust. And this leaven was trickling down into the disciples own faith.

This is what Jesus is drawing the disciples attention to as the disciples are expressing their concern about not having bread. A worry and concern that precipitated as they were, “discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread” (v.16). In response, Mark recounts, “And Jesus, aware of this (Jesus is always aware SGC), said to them, ‘Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?” This line of questioning is directly referring to remembering the occasion where Jesus previously fed 5,000 with 5 loaves of bread. And the more immediate occasion where He multiplied 7 loaves to feed 4,000 (Mark 8:1-10). 

In other-words, how can the disciples still be struggling or losing sleep over the “fact that they had no bread” (v.16)? When the very One Who fed thousands upon thousands with next to nothing is in their immediate presence?! This is why Jesus ended this conversation saying to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

While the disciples had hard, accessible and undeniably real facts before them (lack of bread), they had Jesus, the sustainer and provider with them.      

Jesus wants us and invites us to trust Him. We’re always surrounded by facts and ensconced in the details of life. We’re often busily painting by numbers. And intently focused on and worried about the details of following the numbers to fully ‘perceive’ the picture we know is already there. It’s confidence boosting to remind ourselves SGC, that Jesus is present and with us in the details and among the details. He is with us, by His Spirit, as He was physically with the disciples in Mark 8:14-21. 

“It’s confidence boosting to remind ourselves SGC, that Jesus is present and with us in the details and among the details. He is with us, by His Spirit, as He was physically with the disciples. . .”

We can turn to him prayerfully, with confidence, trusting that He’s present and providing and sustaining; even as the very real data points or fact patterns we are processing are crowding our minds. We can trust him as the real data points of divorce or marriage conflict are swarming. We can trust him as real  financial and economic fact patterns are depleting our checking accounts. We can trust him as real data points are being relayed with us from our surgeons or doctors. We cant trust him as real fact patterns bring concerns into our worlds relative to our children or parents or friends. 

This is a helpful reminder that prayer isn’t to be conceived of as transactional. You know, like an ATM machine or bank. Whereby, as we request money from our account, that exact amount is given upon request. It is true, Jesus elsewhere assured his disciples , “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it” (John 14:13-14). A promise you and I are also assured of. However, this also assumes, as Jesus reminds us in 1 John 5:14, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God (prayerfully): that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”. It was assumed in the “whatever you ask in my name” assurance, that the disciples would be praying in accordance with God’s will in Jesus Christ. Jesus wasn’t espousing transactional prayer with them. This reminds us, our trust in Christ isn’t transactional. Rather, life giving and revitalizing trust precipitates as we entrust ourselves to his, “good and acceptable and perfect” will of God (Romans 12:2). 

“…our trust in Christ isn’t transactional. Rather, life giving and revitalizing trust precipitates as we entrust ourselves to his, “good and acceptable and perfect” will of God (Romans 12:2).”

And, what you’ll find and experience is – as you turn to Jesus prayerfully – trust and peace will burgeon within you. Jesus was with the disciples as they were overwhelmed and worried about the data points and fact patterns in their immediate and real experience here in Mark 8:14-21. However, they weren’t turning to Jesus in conversational and personal prayer. Their personal and spiritual (mental and emotional) unrest would have been assuaged in turning to Jesus. In fact, as they listened to Jesus speaking to them (prayerfully) in person, I imagine all unrest melted away much like the shivering cold of winter dissipates with the rising of the warming sun. 

Jesus also prayerfully and personally speaks to us. He does so through His word and by the Holy Spirit who indwells us. I believe this is why the letter to Jude concludes with an urgent call to, “  

So SGC, we’ve been sorting through how God’s Word speaks to revitalization during our present sermon series –#SGCRevitalize. And, where better to turn, than God’s Word to incite and excite spiritual renewal among us?! To have His very Word speak to us about inward vitality. After all, it’s by means of His written Word that Jesus, Himself, personally administers soul nourishing and enlivening strength and awakening. An awakening the Holy Spirit effects and affects internally. 

As Jesus, the Word in the flesh reminds us, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and life” (John 6:63).   

And, we’re accenting spiritual renewal, in contradistinction to, say, physical healing or renewal, because Scripture’s primary loci of focus is upon the condition of our soul. Our inner self. The “You, you”, as Francis Schaefer put it. Such spiritual revival, if you will, is the locus of interest reverberating throughout God’s Word.  

Of course, the Lord cares about our physical condition and well being. After all, upon his return Jesus, “will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body. . .” (Philippians 3:21). However, our spiritual fortitude and our inner condition of faith’s health and vitality is the pulse that enables us, by God’s grace and empowering, to endure all things physical. All circumstances. All disappointments. All heartaches and headaches. Every such all. 

“. . .our spiritual fortitude and our inner condition of faith’s health and vitality is the pulse that enables us, by God’s grace and empowering, to endure all things physical.”

This is why Paul writes the Corinthians saying, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. . .” (2 Corinthians 4:16) And, again, “So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are a home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:6)

This is also why Jesus spent concerted time and energy imbuing his disciples with spiritual “peace” and “joy” inwardly just prior to His departure. He knew they needed inward peace as they were about to undergo a great deal of oppression. Including their own deaths, physically. (John 16:16-24; 16:33 et al). Jesus was revitalizing them. 

Well, beyond them, He also well knows we/you need the same inward, spiritual endowments. He knows life bogs you down. He’s aware juggling work, kids, home, finances, et al, is so often overwhelming for you. He knows your inhibitions, your discomforts and frustrations. Along with your worries and anxieties. He’s familiar with the social pressures at school and among friends you are often confronted with. Not to mention the sexual enticements in a ‘your body, your right’ environment. Jesus is aware how all of this weighs on you and wears you down. It often depresses your faith and suppresses your spiritual vitality. As with the disciples (above) Jesus also wants your personal revitalization. As well as our revitalization as a church. 

“As with the disciples (above) Jesus also wants your personal revitalization. As well as our revitalization as a church.”

This revitalization is firstly realized, as we pursue Jesus among those areas of ordinary and complicated life. We need Jesus speaking revitalized life and vitality into our every day experiences and ordeals. And, He does so as we read His Word and gather with our local church to hear what His Word says to us. Such life awakening peace and joy is needed so that we are excitedly gathering with the church to worship Him and receive great grace from Him as we do. We need to “count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. . .that I may know him and the power of his resurrection” as Paul gladly boasted in Philippians 3:8-10.     

“. . .revitalization is firstly realized, as we pursue Jesus among those areas of ordinary and complicated life. We need Jesus speaking revitalized life and vitality into our every day experiences and ordeals.”

Jesus also well knows the areas in life you are prone to temptation. He knows your sinful predilections and shortcomings. It’s with this in mind that Jesus exhorted his disciples so incessantly in the Garden of Gethsemane to spend their time praying rather than sleeping. And He did so, by the way, during one of His most overwhelming moments – apart from his path to crucifixion and judgment that was about to be more immediately set in motion. Jesus knew what was about to unfurl, and He urged his disciples to prayer. His reason, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). We need to hearJesus speaking to us through His Word about sin, in all of the aforementioned settings just mentioned, in order to know life apart from sin’s destructive and damaging presence. Paul reminds the church, “we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. . .For this is the will of God, your sanctification. . . .” (1 Thessalonians 4:1-3) 

This is Christ’s will – His Word – to us and for us, for personal and church revitalization. Moreover, this Word also involves prayer as Jesus exhorted His disciples -and us- to do in Gethsemane above. 

Revitalization is secondly realized through prayer. Such spiritual renewal happens where there is a prayerful renewal. This is the renewal we find the Sons of Korah praying for in Psalm 85, “Restore us again, O God of our salvation. . .Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice (action of inner joy) in you? Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints” (85:4,6-8). The revival or revitalization these guys were praying for was part and parcel spiritual. They were praying for a revitalization of soul, inwardly. An inner renewal appertaining to their salvation. A revival of the condition of the soul tantamount to what David prayed for in Psalm 51:11-12, “Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.”

“Revitalization is secondly realized through prayer. Such spiritual renewal happens where there is a prayerful renewal.”

What’s glaringly obvious from the aforementioned, is that praying is essential to revitalization. And, it was expressed in nothing short of petitioning desperation. We need to be praying individually and privately as David was. We need to be praying personally and corporately as the Sons of Korah were. We need to be awake, consciously and purposely conversing with our God, as Jesus was urging His disciples to give themselves to. If we are physically disengaged from prayer or asleep to prayer personally, our souls will be asleep to being revitalized. Additionally, if we are physically disengaged from prayer or asleep to prayer corporately, the soul of our church will be asleep to being revitalized.

Jesus wants us revitalized. And, He is present through His Word and Spirit to revitalize our own -your own- souls among all the variegated stuff of life. And, what’s more, as we -you- are revitalized, the church will find herself being revitalized by her Grooms -Jesus Christ’s- life. He has the life and power and authority to give us such renewed life and vitality. As He overcame the life suppressing and depressing power of sin and death and judgment through His vital resurrection. “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. . .For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself” (John 5:21,26)