When Prayer Becomes Messy

Carter Conlon from the historic Times Square Church in New York City. In Mark 9.17, the Bible tells us the story of a father who brought his possessed son to Jesus.

No one could help the man. Even the apostles tried in vain to remove the evil spirit from this man's tormented son. So the father went directly to Jesus for help.

And the instant the possessed spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion, and the boy rolled on the ground and foamed at the mouth. As Carter will explain in today's message, when Jesus shows up, things can become messy, and that applies to prayer, too. Let's join Carter now with his message, When Prayers Become Messy.

When prayer becomes messy, from Mark chapter 9, the Gospel of Mark chapter 9, I'll begin in a moment of verse 14. Father, I thank you, Lord, for your presence, your evident presence here, Lord. Thank you for how you've manifested your power, your glory, you've placed hope in so many of our hearts. So, God, I'm asking you, Lord, to give weight to your words, give the anointing of your spirit to speak them. Give us the grace to hear them.

Father, I thank you in Jesus' name. Verse 14 says, When he came to the disciples, he saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. Immediately when they saw him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to him, that is Jesus, greeted him. And he asked the scribes, What are you discussing with them? That's with his disciples. Then one of the crowd answered and said, Teacher, I brought you my son, who has a mute spirit.

And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down, he foams at the mouth, gnashes with his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to your disciples that they should cast it out, but they could not. And he answered and said, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?

How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to me. Then they brought him to him, and when he saw him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. So he asked his father, How long has this been happening to him? And he said, From childhood.

And often he has thrown them both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. And Jesus said to him, If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.

I think many people feel that way. God, I believe as much as I can, as much as I'm able. And if my faith has limitations, would you take me over the line of those limitations? Would you supply in my heart my lack of faith?

Wherever it is, God, that you want to take me that causes this prayer of mine to be answered, would you take me there? When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to a deaf and dumb spirit, I command you to come out of him and enter him no more. Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him, and he became as one dead, so that many said he is dead.

But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could we not cast it out? He said to them, This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting. As I read this passage of scripture, I realize that there's a lot of things that religious attendance can do in our lives. We can begin to read the scriptures, and there are certain practices in our lives that we can put away, some more easily than others. Some are not so deeply embedded in our character that we can't do anything about it. We can make an actual conscious choice to say, I'm not going to do this anymore. And because it's not an essential part, may I put it that way, it hasn't gotten yet deep roots into our nature, we can actually put it away.

And much of Christianity is like that. We can put away some of the peripheral things around about our lives. We can stop going to certain places, and we can stop reading certain things, and we can stop watching certain things. We can stop associating with certain people. There's certain things that we can all do when we come to Christ. We become part of the general believing crowd, as these people were.

But there are some limitations to this. You see, where it really gets tough, most of us can deal with the seven deadly things in our lives. But then we get to a point where some really tough things start to come to the surface.

And it's really not, many times, for those that are new to Christ, but for those who have walked with God for any season of time. It's something that has found life, or a life source in our body, in our flesh, that has been with us, in some cases from childhood. It's a trait that was passed on to you, something you learned when you were young, an experience that you had that formed something in you. A friend of mine who's a pastor called it, one of those inconvenient things that seems to hang on to all of our lives.

We would love to be without it, but it just seems to be there. We have a propensity in us from the time we were young to be paranoid, to be afraid of certain things. Some have a tendency to lie, and even though they know that they should be living in the truth, they have such a hard time not adding a few things to the facts. Others have a tendency to steal, because they don't really believe in the heart that God is ever going to provide for them. Others, there's lust issues that get a hold of the heart, and get a hold of the life, and try as they might, they just simply can't seem to get free from these things. There's quirky manners of behavior, obsessive compulsive disorders, and some people can say that they've been with me since I was young.

I have to turn the light switch on and off seven times before I go to bed, for example. I shouldn't laugh at me. We all have things in our lives.

You understand what I'm saying? There's no rhyme or reason to why we do it. It's just been there since childhood, and no matter how much we attend to the Word of God, or to some of our tenants at church, we can't seem to get rid of these things.

There's nobody around. The prayer meetings don't seem to do it for us. That's exactly what we encountered here.

Father brought his son, who had one of these issues in his life from the time that he was a young child, and he couldn't seem to get free. The religious tenor, may I call it that, of the day couldn't set him free either. No doubt they were praying prayers. No doubt the disciples were saying, come out, and nothing was happening. I hate powerless prayer meetings, don't you?

I really do. I'd rather be home. I'd rather be making a peanut butter and jam sandwich and just enjoying something else than be in a prayer meeting where God isn't. It's such a waste of time to be where God is not. I don't like powerless religion, and you shouldn't like it either, because that's not what our inheritance is.

When they brought this child to Jesus, he was somewhat annoyed at this powerless religion, and he called it a faithless generation. He said, how long will I have to bear with you? Bring him to me. Don't try to do this in your own strength. Don't try to reason it in your own power. Don't try to change it by any amount of words that you're able to speak.

Bring him to me. Now, up to this point, there's a measure of order in this prayer meeting. We like our prayer meetings to be orderly, don't we? We like to arrive at a certain time.

We like to leave at a certain time. We develop a rigidity of religious practice, and we really don't want it disturbed now, do we? But when Jesus comes into a prayer meeting, it can get messy.

I'm going to tell you right now, it can get really messy. You read the portion in the passage of Scripture where he walks in the temple. As soon as he walks in, some guy's on the floor foaming and gnashing and growling.

He was probably a greeter at the door. He was doing just fine until Jesus showed up. Nobody seemed to have a problem with him, but when Jesus shows up at a prayer meeting, things can really get messy. So they brought him to him. In verse 20 it says, And when he saw him, immediately the Spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground, wallowed and foaming at the mouth.

Immediately. Immediately this prayer meeting goes to a whole new place. You see, because hell is starting to be shaken. A demonic stronghold is starting to be broken.

A pattern that the Father said has been in his son's life from the time he was a child is about to be broken. And I believe that our deliverance is complete. I believe that when Jesus said it is finished, he meant it is finished. I believe that he destroyed the powers of darkness. He destroyed the penalty of sin. I believe he triumphed over all the weapons of darkness and made an open display of them.

I believe he gives gifts to men. I believe he gives us a new heart, a new mind and a new spirit. I believe that we become new creations in Christ Jesus. I believe that we have power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt us. I believe with all my heart that freedom is the national song of every child of God. I believe that with everything in me. I believe we're to be the freest people on earth. I believe we're to have an unhindered, unshaded testimony of who God is through his son Jesus Christ.

I believe that we're to be an in-light, in-the-light declaration of this incredible victory that was won on the cross 2,000 years ago and is still available to everyone who calls on the name of Jesus today. The Father said this has often thrown him into the fire and into the water to destroy him. I'm talking about things that have been in people's lives online or in the sanctuary that have been part of your life and often it throws you into the fire of uncontrolled passion.

You don't know how to control this and as far back as you can remember it's been part of your life. Or into the waters of confusion. The theological confusion of the scribes.

May I put it that way at this time? All the reasons why and all the methods that maybe you can pursue to get free. When the method you need to pursue to get free is come to Jesus with an open heart, an open face, an open testimony. Bring him to me, Jesus said, bring him to me.

And he said if you can believe all things are possible to him who believes. Now I had this message on my heart when I woke up and when I got into my office a little later in the day this letter was handed to me, hand delivered today. Pastor Carter, even though I'm writing to you from the Department of Corrections I'm glad to be writing this letter because it's a testimony which I believe you will ask me to share one day with Times Square Church. A testimony of victory and deliverance from a life of bondage that I have lived. As you know Pastor Carter I've been in trouble with the law from a very, very early age. God has now revealed the root of the problem and I am healed.

Praise Jesus. A few weeks ago I walked out of my room and went into a deli and bought some beer. I drank the beer and walked down to 42nd Street and bought some crack. I smoked the crack and stayed out for a couple of days. What made me do it?

My honest reply is that I have no idea. I was completely happy working and living. I was in a ministry that I loved. I had lots of great friends and I certainly was not bored because I had no time to be so.

I simply didn't have an answer. A few days later I walked away again with a sense that I had to finish what I started. I went back to the same deli for beer, the same street for crack and I stayed out until I had spent $2,000. And then I went back to the same store that sent me to prison twice already and I started to steal. After a few days of running in and out of the store several times a day and stealing I got caught.

I found myself in a cell in the tombs in lower Manhattan. After a couple of days I finally walked into my cell, looked up and asked God what the heck was going on. I began screaming and begging God to tell me why I kept doing this to myself.

God, I'm tired. I can't do this anymore. I don't know why I do what I do. Therefore I cannot fix myself. Only you can fix me.

Please help me. I had just preached a message about the man who lay by the pool of Bethsaida for 38 years waiting to be healed. God, I've been sick for more than 38 years so why won't you heal me? What kind of father are you to allow your son to suffer so long when you're the only one who can heal him?

Am I even your son or have I deceived myself? I was angry at God and stayed so most of the day. Then I laid down and God started giving me visions and memories from my childhood.

I have seven brothers and sisters and we were very poor. We didn't get to do fun things very often but when I started getting arrested and my mother would pick me up from jail, sometimes she would take me to a dinner to eat or a sister would take me to a movie, even to an amusement park. So I began equating jail or at least getting out of jail as a way to have fun or to be loved and accepted and people wanted to be with me.

As a child I would only stay out of jail for two weeks before I was back in. God showed me that I programmed myself to go to jail on a regular basis. Okay God, so now I know why I did it.

Will you heal me now? God is good, righteous, holy and just and he loves me. I know who I am and I can now sing the song Freedom with the same zeal that I've witnessed in others. My future with God is secure. My life will not be perfect but I know my sins are forgiven and I also know that I will never go back to jail again. Amen.

Thank you. Thank you for taking the time to read this, Pastor Carter. I will be released and I believe that it is a Tuesday and if it is then I will be at prayer meetings singing with the rest of you, Freedom! And I said it the way he wrote it. If you're listening, my brother, we so look forward to having you here with us singing Freedom!

with us. How faithful God has been to you to reveal to you the source of why you keep doing what you've been doing. Jesus said bring to me and immediately the father of the child cried out, Lord I believe help my unbelief. When Jesus saw the people came running together who rebuked the unclean spirit saying to it, deaf and dumb spirit, in other words that spirit that can't speak or can't hear, I command you to come out of him and enter him no more.

Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly and came out of him and he became as one dead so that many said he is dead. There will be a fight. I'm telling you there will be a fight. There are some things that are entrenched in people's lives so deeply that it will not give up without a fight.

Not give up without a semblance of trying to appear like it has the upper hand. But when you come to Jesus and he comes to you, I guarantee you, you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. That's what Jesus said and it can't be stood against.

And even some will try to convince you there's no hope but Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up and he rose. And this is what God's going to do for many. You're online and you come in week after week after week and I'm reading your prayer quest and very often it's repetitive, repetitive behaviors that you can't seem to get free from.

Ways of thinking, doing things that seem to go along with your life as far back as you can remember, it's been part of your life. But tonight, if you will believe, if you will bring it to Jesus, I believe that God is going to set you free. I believe the chains of that behavior are going to be broken, the chains of that depressive spirit that you've known since you were a child.

The fear of the dark, those disorders that are part of your life that hinder you. As this man wrote in his letter, it even causes you to believe that perhaps you don't have salvation after all. But I want you to know that is a lie. It's because you're saved that you're being drawn now to this place of freedom. Because the Lord is going to have a testimony in these last days. A testimony of victory, a testimony of deliverance, a testimony of prison doors opened, a testimony of blinded eyes seeing, a testimony of wounded hearts being healed. A testimony that will cause us to be able to praise no matter how dark or difficult the days might be ahead of us. A testimony that will fill our lamps with oil, that we can point others to the Christ who brought a set of darkness into his marvelous light. God is raising a testimony and you, my brother, my sister, are part of that testimony.

And I don't care how deep, I don't care how down, I don't care how dark, it doesn't matter how long things have been in your life. Jesus died to break the chains and the yoke of sin and to bring you into freedom. If you want him with all your heart, there's been a theme in this service. How desperately do you want the presence of God in your life? That father cried out on behalf of his son who couldn't, Lord I believe, help me God, get over the line of my unbelief, help me God. He didn't try to pretend that he was spiritual, he didn't try to pretend he had all the answers.

But he knew that Jesus could set his family free, could set his son free, he knew that Jesus instinctively could set anybody free. We have been, as the scripture says, in prayer and fasting. And I choose with all my heart to stand on the side of faith and I make a declaration to every power of hell and darkness, your day is over.

You are finished. God will have a people. God will have a testimony in the earth. God will have a song of worship coming from human vessels that have been redeemed by the power of Almighty God through Jesus Christ. God will have a testimony. Praise be to God. We are going to sing that song with our brother. Freedom is our portion. Deliverance is the children's bread.

We are going to be a free people. Whatever that thing is in your life that's been with you as long as you can remember, I want you to stand up and take authority over that thing in the name of Jesus. I want you to name it.

If you can't name it here, you name it when you get home. But you tell that thing, whatever it is, you will not have dominion over me any longer. I am a new creation in Christ Jesus. I have been washed clean by the blood of the Son of God. I have the power of God's Holy Spirit in my life. I have the promises of God.

And God's word says that by these promises, I will become a partaker of this new and divine life that is now mine through Jesus Christ. You cannot hold me. You cannot hold my family. You cannot hold my mind.

You cannot hold me hostage any longer. I don't know what your experience has been. I named a few.

There's probably dozens or more. I don't know what it has been. I don't know how far back it goes. But I know that Jesus can go as far back as he needs to. He's not bound by time.

His hand can reach into the beginnings of time and even before, and his other hand can reach as far as the future can direct us to. Nothing can bind the hand or the power of Jesus. And he will set you free the way he needs to set you free. All hell might scream all at once. It makes no difference to me.

It makes no difference. There is freedom in Jesus Christ. There is freedom from every power of hell and darkness and death.

There is freedom. Father, I thank you, Lord, that you have enabled us to hear this message. And for some here, it's deeper than anything they've ever considered that you could do in their lives.

Attitudes of heart, bends in character, things that there's no answer for because they've always been there. Things that people have just learned to tolerate, even though it casts them into the fire and into the water to destroy them. But Lord, we believe that you destroyed the works of the destroyer. We believe that you gave us victory on the cross. We believe that we are new creations in Christ Jesus.

We believe that no weapon formed against us can prosper. And that every tongue that rises against us in judgment, we have the right to condemn. We believe that freedom is our portion. We believe that we are called to be a testimony to a dark and bound generation of the freedom that can also be theirs through Jesus Christ. God, your word tells us to give no place to darkness.

And so we make the choice to obey that and to stand and take authority over all darkness and command it to be gone and broken in Jesus' name. Thank you for joining us this week for A Call to the Nation with Carter Conlon from Times Square Church in New York City. For more information, log on to tsc.nyc. That's tsc.nyc. You can count on a powerful message each week on A Call to the Nation with Carter Conlon.