Only Casting Out the Annoying Demons

Suggested Reading: Acts 16:16-34

There is a sentence in Acts 16 that has always bugged me. Paul and Silas were in Philippi as missionaries and they encountered a young woman who was possessed by a spirit with the ability to tell fortunes. This young woman followed them around yelling, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved" (Acts 16:17, NIV) Then the passage tells us in Acts 16:18, "She kept this up for many days" (NIV).

What?  A woman possessed by an evil spirit followed them around for days and Paul didn't cast it out of her? How does that make any sense at all?

Maybe Paul enjoyed the free advertising. Maybe Paul knew what would happen when he finally did cast the spirit out (her owners would start a riot). Maybe Paul wasn't quite sure that it was an evil spirit. I don't know why Paul waited as long as he did. But for days, this woman continued to follow them around yelling, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved!" Until, finally, in frustration, Paul did turn around and cast out the spirit. The girl's owners did get upset and start a riotous mob that resulted in Paul and Silas being beaten and imprisoned. After that, most of us are familiar with the story of how Paul and Silas sang hymns in the prison, how an earthquake at midnight shook the prison, opened the doors, and freed all the prisoners. We know how the jailer came in ready to kill himself for allowing the prisoners to escape, only to be stopped by Paul and Silas because the prisoners hadn't gone anywhere. When the jailer realized that he did not have to kill himself, he asked Paul and Silas a question that most of us have probably never been asked, "What must I do to be saved?"

How did the jailer know to ask that question? 

Because Paul and Silas had been followed around the city for many days by a demon-possessed woman who kept shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved!"

Sometimes, it seems like God is being cruel because God allows hard things to occur far longer than we think they should. Sometimes we wonder where God can possibly be in the middle of such horrible suffering and injustice. I am not qualified to speak to every such instance but I do know that, sometimes, just like with Lazarus' death and resurrection, and with this woman's prolonged demonic torment, God allows hard things to continue because they will bring about something very good. When we find ourselves in the middle of something hard or painful, and we find ourselves asking, "God, how long will You let this continue?" Remember, the jailer and his family who were saved because he knew the right question to ask, and trust that God will never allow you to suffer in vain.

Casting Out a Demonic Half-Shaft

Suggested Reading: Mark 4:19-29

A couple years ago the half-shaft went out on my Pontiac Aztec (a car I, thankfully, no longer own). To replace it, I had to take off the tire, the wheel assembly and then remove the shaft from a specialized joint. I wrestled with that shaft for hours but it wouldn't budge. I googled the problem only to discover that removing the shaft required a special tool I did not own. After googling the tool and discovering that it cost more than I made in a week, I went out and wrestled with the shaft some more. Finally I gave up, reassembled the tire assembly, put the tire back on, and very carefully drove the vehicle to a repair shop, defeated. Normally, I can make due without the specialized tools recommended for repair jobs, but in this particular case there was simply no substitute for the right tool.

Jesus's disciples discovered something very similar when they tried to cast a demon out of a young man whose father had approached them in Jesus's absence. Though they tried, the disciples were simply incapable of casting out the demon that plagued the boy. Jesus, of course, had no problem with the demon when he tried, even though the disciples' failed attempts had threatened to undermine the father's faith. The disciples questioned why they couldn't cast out the demon themselves, and Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer” (Mark 9:29, NLT). In spite of the disciples' years of training at the hands of Jesus and their awareness of how he operated, they had forgotten the most vital tool at their disposal: prayer.  

Sometimes, we forget the power and the necessity of prayer. We begin to think that our Bible studies, training courses, and evangelism seminars are enough. But for many of the tasks we face, the essential, indispensable tool that we need is prayer. Prayer is essential to connect us to the power of God, and no matter how skilled we may be in other areas, no matter how knowledgeable or educated, we will inevitably face many things that simply cannot be overcome except through prayer, inviting God into the situation with the power only God has at his disposal. Without prayer, we will find ourselves pounding our heads against the walls in frustration and failure rather than rejoicing in magnificent displays of God's power.

Whatever your problems and whatever your skills, don't forget the indispensable power of prayer. Prayer is always the right tool for the job.