In tonight’s passage we get to see the continued revelation of Jesus’ humility as the Messiah and the difficulty that the disciples had in letting go of their view of what the Messiah would accomplish and how He would accomplish it. At the same time that we see the humility of Jesus we get a very good look at the immaturity of the apostles, if we want an application we get to see the character we are called to and the reality that we are often living in. Our last passage ended with the apostles acting in humility, they were genuinely distressed and concerned as to why they had not been able to set the young boy free from the unclean spirit that had tormented him and so they went and they asked Jesus, “Why could we not cast it out?” This question is going to be important as we move through tonight’s text because it gives us context for the relationship. They trusted Jesus, they confided in Him, they followed Him and knew that they were supposed to learn from Him and so, when in a difficult situation they humbly and vulnerably asked Him for help. Jesus answered their question, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.” We don’t get any information about a response from the disciples, if a discussion ensued but what we know is that what Jesus revealed was not only what was needed for the request they had but also why He lived the way He lived. He revealed to them that His perceived power was a result of His prayer life; that intimacy birthed ability; that wanting to do a good thing was not enough; that authority and ability were always birthed through intimacy and that intimacy comes through prayer. That statement on prayer, fasting and power leads us into tonight’s passage: