This is scripturally incorrect…the fault lies with them! It was a call to clear and deep faith, in a world where the whole direction and ethos of the culture militated against such faith. Mark 9:17-18 tells us, “And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.” This man came to the Lord seeking the healing of his son, but only after the disciples had tried to cast him out, but could not do it. Please enter your email address associated with your Salem All-Pass account, then click Continue. They also saw Moses and Elijah and heard God affirm Jesus as His Son. The Lord answered His disciples in verse 29, “And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” We can certainly understand the need of constant prayer to have the mind of God and walk in His power. I encourage you to read Mark 9:17-28 to learn of the event of the Lord healing a man’s son of an evil spirit. And he said unto them Matthew, besides the following reason, assigns another, as given by our Lord, why they could not cast out the foul spirit, which was their unbelief; of which they were guilty in some sort, as well as the Jews, and the father of the child; but Mark omits it, and only relates this as the reason; this kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting; which they had not observed; (See Gill on Matthew 17:21). … ◄ Mark 9:1 ► And he said to them, Truly I say to you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. So, what would it take for the disciples to be able to heal or cast out demons? 1. If a person says they believe in Jesus and God but refuse to believe in the Holy Ghost can they truly be believers? The odd thing about this statement is that the Lord had stated that there was no need for the disciples to fast. If they cannot heal a particular person, they blame in on the sick person’s fault for not having enough faith. (2-3) Jesus is transfigured before His disciples. Matthew 9:14-15 says, “Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? "And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them." For more on fasting for us today, please click on this link: http://answersfromthebook.net/do-we-need-to-fast/ (202.4), http://answersfromthebook.net/do-we-need-to-fast/. What does it say about smoking pot in the bible? Questions of location had lost interest for Mark. And he said unto them Matthew, besides the following reason, assigns another, as given by our Lord, why they could not cast out the foul spirit, which was their unbelief; of which they were guilty in some sort, as well as the Jews, and the father of the child; but Mark omits it, … Δύναται, can) That is, by no means can you cast out this class of enemies, save with the accompaniment of prayer and fasting. And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” The Lord had just told the man with the sick son in Mark 9:23, “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” It seems that the disciples were not able to heal this man’s son because they lacked the faith to do it. Notice that the Lord Jesus did not comment on the faith of the one desiring to be healed as an obstacle to their being healed.