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81 Jesus answered him, "O faithless generation, how long shall I bear with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me." The account continues: "And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And oftimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but JF THOU CANST DO ANY THING, HAVE COMPASSION ON US, AND HELP US." Do you see His lack of faith and real belief here? Do you sense the doubt and fear that the father had? Jesus responded, as the Moffatt translation has it, "If you can!’ Anything can be done for one who believes." The account continues: "At once the father of the boy cried out, '7 do believe; help my unbelief.'" It was a beginning point. He admitted, confessed his weakness and unbelief. He cried out for help and mercy. It was all Jesus needed. The narrative goes on: "Now as Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, he checked the unclean spirit, ‘Deaf and dumb spirit,’ he said, ‘leave him, I command you, and never enter him again!' And it did come out, after shrieking aloud and convulsing him violently. The child turned like a corpse, so that most people said, 'He is dead’; but, taking his hand, Jesus raised him and he got up. "When he went indoors, his disciples asked him in private, 'Why could we not cast it out?’ He said to them, 'Nothing can make this kind come out but prayer and fasting" (Mark 9:17-29). One must be close to God, through prayer, and even fasting, in order to do the works of God. This i is not an "e-ticket ride" on a Disneyland children's roller coaster. Casting out es a ce The Modern Language Bible has this passage as follows: The father begged Jesus, "but if You can do anything, help us; take pity on us!" Jesus answered, "If You can do anything?’ Everything is possible for the person who believes!" The father at once exclaimed, "I believe. Help me because of my unbelief." Then Jesus, seeing a mob collecting, said to the spirit, "Dumb and deaf spirit, I order you: Come out of him and never again enter into him." The story goes on, "Shrieking and throwing fit after fit, he came out. The boy looked like a corpse, so that many declared that he was dead; but Jesus, taking him by the hand, raised him and he stood up. "After He had gone indoors, His disciples asked Him privately, 'Why were we unable to cast it out?' He told them, 'This kind cannot be expelled except through prayer.’ The account continues: spiritual entities is serious business! What is the lesson for all of us, in this powerful witness to the power of Christ? First, that we must believe. FAITH is absolutely required. Second, that if we lack faith, we can CALL ON GOD for the very faith that we need, and