Mat 17:19-20 (NIV) Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as SMALL as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Jesus had been constantly getting on the disciple’s case about having little faith. So, finally, they come to Him and ask Him to increase their faith. How does He respond? He indicates that the size of our faith doesn’t matter as much as other things. It could be as small as a mustard seed and it would still do the job. Boy, that is confusing!

Matthew 14:28-31 starts to give us a glimpse into what Jesus is saying when He says “little” faith. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” One minute Peter was walking on the water; and, at that moment his faith was doing fine. The next moment he was sinking; and, at that moment he was doubting. Is Jesus saying that Peter had big faith one moment and little faith the next? No. Jesus wasn’t talking about size; He was talking about “little” in duration. Peter was suffering with faith instability. His faith only lasted for a small or “little” period of time; it was small in duration. Peter’s faith was “big” enough to walk on water. But, it was too “little” in duration for him to KEEP walking on water.

Mark 9:17-27 (NIV) A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked Your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” “O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to Me.” So they brought him.

When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “If You can”? said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, He rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” He said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.

2 Cor 5:7 (NIV) We live by faith, not by sight. When Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, we find out that there was a moment when the delivered boy looked dead. What happens to a shield of faith that isn’t constant? What happens to disciples with “little” faith when the boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” If our faith is little in duration, we will go from faith that Jesus will deliver to thinking we killed them. The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out: As we can see here, Satan and demons are allowed by God to do their best to convince us that what we said or did, didn’t work.

The father of the demon possessed boy said: “But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “If You can”? said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Any time Jesus catches us in a situation where our shield of faith isn’t working and points out what the problem is, we need to follow this dad’s example. We need to say: help me overcome my unbelief or whatever Jesus tells us the problem is.

If we are wondering whether or not Jesus will do something, we are in a situation where nothing is going to happen. However, we can’t just decide Jesus is going to do whatever we want. He has to speak faith into us BEFORE we can know what He is going to do. But, once He speaks faith into us for something, we have to CONSTANTLY know we HAVE it. James 2:17 (NIV) In the same way, FAITH by itself, if it is not accompanied by ACTION, is dead.

We live by faith, not by sight: Jesus, didn’t just speak deliverance, He SAW deliverance. He rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” He said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. Jesus, didn’t just see the shrieking and convulsing, He saw the demon come out. If we can’t see beyond the natural realm, we WILL doubt.

We don’t know if the evil spirit tried these tactics with the disciples or not. It would have been easy for the disciples to waver in their faith at the point where the boy looked dead. It would be easy for them to think: “Oh my God, I think we killed him.” It could have even caused a moment of doubt when the evil spirit shrieked and convulsed him violently. On again, off again faith is something that God is not willing to put up with.

One thing we do know, none of these tactics affected Jesus. Jesus told the evil spirit to come out of him and never enter him again. That is what Jesus said and that is what Jesus continued to believe. No amount of shrieking, convulsions, and the boy looking dead affected Jesus; Jesus had CONSTANT faith. If any or all of this happened to the disciples, it would be easy to see why they couldn’t deliver the boy.

Mark 11:24 (AKJV) Therefore I say unto you, What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall HAVE them. When Jesus speaks faith into us, it is a KNOWING. Heb 11:1 (NIV) Now faith is being SURE of what we hope for and CERTAIN of what we do not see. A lot of Christians try to create this in their heart and mind. They think Jesus is wanting them to be sure and be certain. They think that if they can make this happen, they are obeying this Scripture. However, Jesus is telling us what HE wants us to allow Him to speak into us; when that happens, WE become SURE and CERTAIN.

Our job for obtaining an effective shield of faith is to pray and ask Jesus to empower us to do this: Heb 12:2a (NIV) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. He authored our faith at salvation and justification; then THAT faith, the one we got at that born again experience, is further perfected by Him adding additional issues of faith to it. As He adds faith-perfections to our shield of faith, miracles start happening in and through us.

Our shield of faith is built out of knowing God exists and knowing that He rewards those who ernestly seek Him. Then based on that knowledge, we are permitted to start asking for THINGS. Since we know He exists, we start coming to Him; since we know He rewards our earnest seeking, we believe we will get those things that are His will for us. That lays out the basis for our continued relationship with Jesus. We come to Him with a request and then wait to find out whether or not it is God’s will for us. If Jesus speaks faith into us for it, then it IS God’s will. If He doesn’t, then we know it isn’t God’s will for us.