Stubborn Will

Mark says the demon that was ravaging the little boy could only be cast out by means of prayer. Matthew, if we accept the extra verse in chapter 17, adds fasting to prayer. Now my premise is that the demon or evil/unclean spirit is the spirit of an unregenerate man who died and for some reason roams the earth indwelling the body of another. Why is this person not contained in a secure place until the resurrection? I have no idea unless it has something to do with the power of his will. Can a person escape from God's secure holding cell? Does Satan negotiate with God to have them released into this custody? The rich man of Luke 15 wants a temporary release to be able to visit his brothers to warn them not to live as he did. His request was not granted. All of this is not clear. But, we do have a particularly tenacious and violent spirit indwelling a little, defenseless child, unwilling to leave. You know the story. The nine disciples could not budge him. Their combined will and faith was no match for this one spirit.

They could not wait to ask Jesus why they could not cast out this spirit when others easily left at their command. Surely they invoked the name of Jesus. Surely they expected something to happen. Was their faith small because Jesus was on the mountain and they did not know what had happened to him (in the same way the children of Israel did not know what happened to Moses)? So when asked, Jesus replied that such a spirit comes out only by prayer (perhaps fasting as well). Since casting out an evil spirit is a battle of the wills, the will of the demon and the will of the one who is seeking to cast him out, it is fitting that our "wills" are expressed in some way. Did the demon appeal to his father Satan to help him be able to stay at home in this body? This "person" who is indwelling the boy seeks to keep body, soul and spirit together, even if the body he seeks to keep is not his. The strongest impulse of the will is survival and well-being. This demon is comfortable inside this little boy and has found a way to maintain his well-being while tormenting another.

Now it must be noted that the disciples and subsequently Jesus were not trying to convert this demon. Evil spirits who have detached from their own bodies at death do not have another chance at salvation. The prayer was for the boy and his family. It was for the evil spirit to move out. The rich man of Luke 15 wanted a weekend pass to warn his brothers to repent. None was given. But, somehow these demons that roamed the earth did get out of Hades, not to warn others, but to torment the righteous. They seem to want to challenge the very will of God. In this we see the nature of the battle. The will of God versus the will of man and of Satan. There is a tug of war going on. Jesus tells us that for us to be successful in waging his war we better be people of prayer. Prayer grows our faith. Prayer is the environment in which small faith becomes big faith. Direct communication with God reassures us that God is involved in not only standing up against the stubborn will of the world, but our own stubborn will. Our will is broken on our knees. The will of the world is broken on our knees.