08/16/2026
“We prayed and nothing happened, so it must not be God’s will.”
That sounds reasonable. But is that how Jesus interpreted failure?
In Luke 9:1: Jesus gives power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases.
In Matthew 10:1: Jesus gives authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
Together, they emphasize the breadth of the authority Jesus delegated to His disciples over both demonic oppression and sickness.
They went out, ministered, and saw results.(see Lk chapter 10)
But later, they encountered a boy they could not heal or deliver. (Matt 17:14-21 & Mk 9:14-29)
Their experience said, “We tried, and it didn’t work.”
So they asked Jesus this question:
“Why couldn’t we drive it out?” (Matthew 17:19)
Notice what Jesus DIDN’T say...
He didn’t say, “Sometimes it just isn’t God’s will.”
He didn’t say, “Maybe God wanted the boy to remain that way.”
He didn’t say, “You need to accept that some demons are outside the authority I gave you.”
Instead, Jesus said:
“Because you have so little faith.” (Matthew 17:20)
Mark’s account adds:
“This kind can come out only by prayer.” (Mark 9:29 *"and fasting" wasn't in earlier manuscripts. Bible footnote.)
Their authority had not disappeared. Jesus had already given them authority over all demons and to heal every sickness and disease. But possessing authority and successfully exercising that authority are not always the same thing. We are continually growing and learning how exercise our authority through prayer and intimacy with God.
HERE'S THE LESSON:
The disciples experienced failure, but Jesus didn’t let them build theology around their failure. He corrected their theology by demonstrating the will of the God by healing the boy!
Jesus demonstrated what the Kingdom outcome looked like by commanding the spirit to leave, and it left.
That should challenge us.
When we pray for healing, deliverance, or breakthrough and nothing seems to happen, we should be careful about immediately declaring:
“Well, I guess it wasn’t God’s will.”
Our experience is real. Our disappointment is real. But our experience DOES NOT get to redefine Jesus.
MAIN POINT:
It was the will of God for the boy to be healed and delivered even though nothing happened when the disciples prayed!
HOW DO WE KNOW THAT?
Because Jesus only did the will of God (the Father). Jn 5:30, 6;38) so Jesus healed the boy!
Our failure in prayer should drive us back to Jesus, not cause us to lower our theology to the level of our experience.
That's What The Disciples Did!
The disciples didn’t ask, “Why didn’t God do it?”
They asked: "Why couldn’t WE do it?"
That is the correct question.
The problem is not on God's end, it's on ours in our broken and fallen world.
Don’t change the mission because you didn’t get the result. The disciples didn't! The kept following Jesus and doing His works!
Keep believing. Keep praying. Keep growing. Keep DOING WHAT JESUS DID!
