Matthew 17:14-20 Faith of a Mustard Seed
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: May 8, 2019 Matthew 17:14-20
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
(Revelation of God) Jesus had been exhausted when He went up the mountain the day before; He had spent all night first climbing the mountain and then in prayer. Then, He had been transfigured and consulted with Elijah and Moses. He had returned to looking normal and trekked down the mountain again with his disciples. Thus, He had not slept in more than 24 hours and had performed arduous physical labor, yet He was not tired. I think being in contact with heaven heals and rejuvenates us.
(Understanding the Text) The other disciples were waiting for Jesus’ return at the foot of the mountain. Crowds had gathered around them since Jesus’ whereabouts was a mystery to the people. The disciples were performing the work that Jesus had given them of ministering to the crowd when they ran into a snag. They could not heal the boy. The could not cast out the demon. Why? Jesus said it was because of their lack of faith. Without Jesus nearby, were they depending upon themselves rather than trusting God to work through them? Did they start to work in their own merits rather than in the grace of the Father? This story is told in more detail elsewhere, but I want to focus only on Matthew’s version today. What lesson was Matthew trying to tell people here? It was about faith because both of Jesus’ comments that Matthew records mention lack of faith. Matthew wanted to focus on the faith of Jesus’ followers rather than the people who were coming for healing because he leaves out the comments by the boy’s father. Thus, Matthew wants us to think about the faith or lack of faith with which we carry out our duties given to us by Jesus.
(Application / Prayer) The lesson of Matthew is that just because we do not see Jesus right beside us, it does not mean that we have any less connection to heaven. Through our faith in God, we can work miracles even when we think that we are alone. It requires trusting that God has given us the power to do the work that He has given us. It requires us to work in total dependence upon Jesus rather than working in our own merits. I pray that I will trust You and that You have given me the resources and power that I need to do the jobs that You have given me. I pray that I will not misrepresent You. Please teach me to love because I don’t do it well or right. I pray that I will be transformed.