Bill Johnson - Building Trust
All right, grab your Bibles and open to Mark 9. Mark 9. Most popular teachings in the church are teachings that are in reaction to an error or to a truth taken to an extreme. And whenever we react to an error, we’re prone to create another error. The last thing in the world that any of us want or need or desire to see in the church right now is a movement of self-centered Christians that egotistical people build their own material kingdom, or whatever it might be. It’s the last thing in the world that we need, right now. We need true Christlike people. But the problem that we run into is, in this journey, Jesus himself, with his disciples, four times in three chapters, said: whatever you ask for will be done. He invites us into a relationship where he can trust us so much that he will do whatever we ask him to do.
I’ve taught it. Perhaps you have, as well, in the past that what he really meant was that he will shape our desires until we pray for the right things and then he is free to answer those questions or answer those requests. And while there’s certainly a measure of truth to that, it’s not what we was looking for. The Lord is actually looking for a relationship where trust is built and he ends up with what he desired from the beginning, and that is co-laborers. People that he can trust to represent his heart, not because they were programmed to do so, but because it’s the outcome of a relationship. All of us are influenced by our dearest friends. All of us have taken on interests that we wouldn’t normally have taken on, except that we had a friend who inspired us in a particular area.
What would it look like to have a relationship with the Lord that is so unique, so honest, so open, so profound that he actually trusts our request? That is the ambition. That is the goal. I don’t think he intends to return for a robot. I think he intends to return for people who know how to think and know how to pray, and know how to ask. If you don’t have questions of the Lord, you’re not thinking. Religion wants to cut down your questions, the form, the form of things: wants to restrict the freedom to ask questions. But questions that are asked in trust lead to Revelation. Questions that are asked in mistrust lead to unbelief. It’s important to develop the context in which to ask the question. I never asked the Lord why.
If something difficult happens that’s difficult, «Lord, why did this happen»? I stopped asking that question a long time ago 'cause it was just too frustrating. He doesn’t ever seem to answer. And, the real bottom line is my head isn’t what needs help: my heart hurts. I’m in pain. What I need is presence. What I need is peace. What I need is a person whose very presence actually is the answer to it or is the cure to what I’m carrying that I’m really struggling with. And, oftentimes, we ask questions, but we’re not interested in answers. I believe that asking questions of the Lord is vital. I think it leads us, when it comes in the context of trust, a real relationship of abandonment to him and his purposes, the questions, then, become almost that which prescribes where I’m headed in my life.
I’ve opened myself up to insight because I want to obey. I want to lay my life down for yet another direction that the Lord has given. The missing element for many is the issue called answers to prayer. Sometimes, we become so accustomed to not having an answer that we’re surprised when we get one. The disciples were surprised when they didn’t get one. The only example worth following is that of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you don’t get that one well, at least try the disciples. Because they created a lifestyle in which answers were expected. And we’re gonna read a story here in just a moment where a child, you’ll remember the story, they tried to bring deliverance and they couldn’t. They were shocked.
I know of two times, there’s probably more, but I know of two times where they didn’t get what they requested. I think my favorite, one of my favorite stories, and it is for many of us is in Luke 9, where James and John ask for permission to call down fire on a city of the Samaritans and kill them all in Jesus' name. Was it wrong? Absolutely, it was wrong. Jesus rebuked 'em. But he never rebuked them for their passion. He never rebuked them for their desire for significance or for effectiveness. He didn’t create a smaller world for them to live in. What he did is he pruned their misconceptions of what their kingdom looked like. It was growing in a direction that was very destructive. They thought they could fulfill the purposes of God by destroying people’s lives. That’s a major error.
Jesus says no to a group of people. He said: whatever you ask for will be done. Jesus said no to a group of people that he taught: whatever you ask for will be done for you. Why? Because he always has the right to veto a request that undermines our purpose. He will not answer something that destroys who we are. And he alone sees who that is. But here’s the bottom line: is we actually owe the world around us a lifestyle with answers to prayer. I wanna give you the reason why, a little bit, and then we’ll get into the scripture. A favorite passage of mine, actually, a favorite theme of mine, is this subject that is addressed in part, out of Proverbs, 12, 13, I think it is. Or it’s 13, 12, it’s one of the two. It’s on the right side of the page, about halfway down. It’s the passage that says, «Hope deferred makes the heart sick», we’re familiar with that part, but the second half is equally important, «But desire realized is a tree of life».
Now, think about this: a desire realized. Hope deferred, we know the effects of disappointment. So, here’s the deal: desire realized. Fulfilled dreams. Answer to prayer. Things that we partner with God, we see them fulfilled, it’s called a tree of life. What is a tree of life? In the book of Genesis, when Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, and angels stood in front of the tree of life to protect them from partaking of it, why? Because if they eat of the tree of life in their sinful condition, it makes their sinful condition permanent. In other words, it Marks with eternity a purpose. In other words, your purpose, now, is sin. It Marks you for eternity in that condition.
So, then, how is a desire realized a tree of life? Because you were created to co-labor with the Lord to have fulfilled dreams and desires as a part of the expression of God’s government on the earth in his creation. It’s why he gave authority to humanity, in Genesis 1: be fruitful, multiply, subdue the earth. This commission of the Lord was: he’s not wanting us to be robots, nor is he wanting to do everything for us. You know, I constantly hear believers pray: ask God to bind the devil. Last time I read, he said: you do it. You know, how long do we keep our jobs if we keep askin' our boss to do what he told us to do? You know, we have specific assignments of the Lord he gave us the authority to do. And, quite honestly, some things are not done in the earth that we’ve written off as the will of God. And they’re simply not done because we’ve not done our part. That’s not intended to bring shame. It’s to light a fire, saying: we need to survey what it is that the commission of the Lord has given us to do. Amen.
So, here’s this idea. The earth is longing to see a father and a son. A father and a daughter. You see, he’s not the caretaker of an orphanage, ensuring three meals a day and a cot to sleep on at night. He’s a father who interacts with dreams. He’s recognized for what he’s like by his benevolence to his own family. So, here’s this thought: the world around us is aching. They’ll never request it because they don’t know the ache is there. Sometimes, you don’t know what you’re looking for until you see it. But the ache is there to see an authentic Heavenly Father and a child, a son, a daughter, who live in delight and joy from the benevolence, the kindness of that father. Let me make one more point, then, we’ll read this. Answers to prayer are so vital because the true effective witness of a believer is not complete without joy. You live in purity. It’s wonderful. But you’re not gonna 'cause the masses to cry out for God.
We better live in purity. You better live in absolute moral uprightness, integrity, ethics, all of that. Absolute purity. But that’s not always what inspires people to wanna follow Jesus. But what happens, if you live in continuous joy, genuine joy, in the middle of heartache and suddenly, you become a billboard representing a father who makes it possible to experience the opposite in the middle of impossible situations. Why is that necessary? In John 16, the Lord says: «Up until now, you’ve asked the father nothing in my name. But in that day, you’ll ask the father, and whatever you ask for will be done for you», and here’s the catchphrase «That your joy may be full». The prescription that Jesus writes out there is saying: listen, it’s not possible for you to experience the fullness of joy without answers can I mix metaphors here? It’s not possible for you to experience the benefit of the tree of life, that which Marks your eternal purpose, without answers to prayer.
Let’s look at this story. It starts with verse 14. We have several verses to read, Mark 9:14: «And when he came to the disciples, he saw a great multitude around them, and immediately, when they saw him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to him, greeted him. And he asked the scribes, 'what are you discussing with them'? 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 his teeth, and becomes rigid. So, I spoke to your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not'. He answered him 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».
I personally think demons manifest in that nature to cause fear in the person trying to bring deliverance, to bring a distraction from the assignment we’ve been given, the authority we’ve been given to the bigness of the problem. Any anytime we become more aware of the size of our problem than the size of our God, we will even reaction to the problem. And we fail to minister in true authority when we live in reaction to a problem. And that’s the mandate of the Lord is for us to operate in his authority, unimpressed by powers of darkness.
Verse 21. «So, he asked his father, 'how long has this been happening to him'? And he said, 'from childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us'». This is the lowest measure of faith in the Bible. There is: «Just say the word and he will be healed». That’s impressive. There’s: «Let me touch you and I’ll be healed». That’s impressive. «Just touch me». That’s pretty cool. «If you’re willing», and here’s the lowest measure I can find in the Bible, «If you’re able». We talk about faith and strong faith is vital. It’s very, very important. But I want to remind you: to no one did God withhold a miracle because of the size of their faith. Every time Jesus spoke to the smallness of faith, he did so so that they would be in position to increase their faith once the miracle happened. That’s a good point. Amen. Amen.
«'But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us'». And Jesus turns the table. He says: «'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'»! How many of you have prayed that one more than once? Yeah. «When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, 'deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, 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'? So, he said to them, 'this kind can come out by nothing but…'»
Take note that the disciples were the most experienced and trained people to ever live, up until this time, in the areas of healing and deliverance. They have a track record already established, so much so that when they came out of the experience and they’re on hometown, so, without Jesus being present with them, which is significant. But they came back, arguing as to who was the greatest. It’s not the outcome we want, but it didn’t make Jesus nervous. Your desire to be great is fine, as long as you realize what greatness is. And he brings a child into the group and he says: this is greatness. Or he points to the servant and he says: the servant of all, this is greatness.
So, your passion for greatness just has to be redefined according to kingdom values. But it’s a God-birthed desire. What religious does is it kills but what Jesus does is he redefines so that it’s not a power struggle: it’s enablement to serve effectively. Grace is actually the enabling presence of God. So, here we have this story where the disciples are not able to bring deliverance. So, I remind you: they were surprised when it didn’t work, because, every other time that we have record of, it worked. In their old towns, there’s no record of things not happening. In fact, they came back excited that the demons were subject to them, in his name. They came back with the war stories, you know, of the breakthroughs and the victories. And Jesus helped to refine their focus. Rejoice that your name is written in the lamb’s book of life, not just that you’ve got this power thing working.
And so, he’s constantly just adjusting the value systems, but not rebuking them for desires that they had for impact for significance: just redefining. But what is important for me out of this story, besides the fact that the disciples were shocked when it didn’t work, is what they did. They took Jesus aside and he told them: this kind only comes out by prayer and fasting. It’s reasonable for us to look at the story and say, «Well, there’s a key to breakthrough, it’s prayer and fasting». And I think it’s a huge part of the story. I think, you know, it’s not a formula, but it works. Prayer and fasting. We just finished a seven-day fast here at the church. I believe in this. I hate fasting, but, I believe in it. It’s a love-hate relationship. I love obedience: I hate fasting. I believe in fasting. I believe in prayer.
But, notice, in Jesus' situation, he brought deliverance to the child without prayer or fasting. He didn’t do either in that moment. Apparently, he had it in his account. He was able to make withdrawals because he had made deposits. But, for me, the real story here is not the prayer and fasting, as valuable as that is. The real story is that when the disciples didn’t get answer, they took Jesus aside. We tend to want to reduce what we’re supposed to do to bring about a breakthrough, reduce it to a formula, prayer and fasting, and yet, in a different situation, maybe a completely different answer. The point is they were so surprised at not getting a breakthrough that they met privately with Jesus to find out why.
Jesus doesn’t teach us on how to answer unanswered prayer 'cause he has no experience with that. We adjust things to accommodate unanswered prayers, and, unintentionally, create a theology that allows for it. So, we actually become surprised when there’s a breakthrough instead of surprised when there’s not one. Something profound happens to the person who finds that place of co-laboring with the Lord, actually dreaming with God, where we see the dreams of our heart actually being fulfilled. Sometimes, we are more concerned with becoming proud than he is.
Am I saying he allows for pride? But he’s got a tremendous ability to deal with it. We try to take precautionary measures for what might be possible, and, in the process, avoid the breakthrough that we’re crying out for. Then, the temptation to become pride becomes the excuse for not getting a breakthrough, when, all along, the journey to get breakthrough is what refines us. Why do you think God disciplines us? He disciplines us so his blessings don’t kill us. He’s not wanting to put the weight of kingdom blessing on see, the blessing of the Lord on a sanctified life establishes it. The blessing of the Lord on an unsanctified life destroys it. He withholds breakthrough from people for whom it would actually destroy them.