Because of Your Unbelief

Written by: John Sernaque

Call to Worship

Matthew 17:20

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

DA - The Desire of Ages (1898)

Their faith must be strengthened by fervent prayer and fasting, and humiliation of heart. They must be emptied of self, and be filled with the Spirit and power of God. Earnest, persevering supplication to God in faith—faith that leads to entire dependence upon God, and unreserved consecration to His work—can alone avail to bring men the Holy Spirit’s aid in the battle against principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, and wicked spirits in high places. {DA 431.2}

In this account, Jesus is speaking to the disciples after they tried to cast out the devil from a boy and could not. The disciples asked, why could not we cast him out? Because of their unbelief, their lack of faith. If we try to live our lives by our own strength and own reasoning, we will fail, it’s as simple as that. We are no match for Satan. It is when we empty ourselves, when we surrender all, is when we can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us. Today is the day when we must clean all the garbage away from the door to our hearts so that God can fill us with His spirit and power. It is the day to Let Go, and Let God.

Our Father, God Almighty,

We thank You for this privilege and honor to be able to come to the foot of Your throne, to draw neigh unto You that You may draw neigh unto us. It is our prayer that as we empty ourselves and surrender all to You this day, that You may fill us with Your Spirit and Power. Increase our faith, here are we, here are we, use us and do not pass us by. Help us and strengthen us to move mountains, that all obstacles are removed from our path on our way to complete the work of salvation You would have us do. We pray that You bless our worship and that we may hear and understand Your word so that we may live our lives according to Your Word. Forgive us of our sins. Cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We thank You and praise You, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.