Jesus, help me be like the disciples who came to You in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” If You say to me that it is because I have so little faith, teach me what I need to do about it. Teach me the truth, that if I have faith as SMALL as a mustard seed, I can say to a mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for me (Mat 17:19-20).” Constantly get on my case about having little faith until I get this problem solved. Help me come to You and ask You to increase my faith. Then teach me that the size of my faith doesn’t matter as much as other things. Show me that my faith could be as small as a mustard seed and it would still do the job.

Let Matthew 14:28-31 give me a glimpse into what You are saying when You say “little” faith. When You say to me, “You of little faith why did you doubt?” help me understand what You mean. 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. Are You saying that Peter had big faith one moment and little faith the next? Teach me that You weren’t talking about size; You were talking about “little” in duration. I, like Peter, am suffering with faith instability. My faith like His is only lasting for a small or “little” period of time; it is small in duration. Help me be like Peter where his faith was “big” enough to walk on water. But, help my faith not be so “little” in duration that I can’t KEEP walking on water.

Jesus, when people come to me with needs like this man with the demon possessed son, help me to be ready. 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. Help me not be like Your disciples were in this situation. I asked Your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” Help me not be a part of the unbelieving generation. Help me not so frustrate You that You ask, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Jesus, let it be that when people come to me, let them actually be bringing the boy to You.

Jesus, train me on how to deal with situations like this: 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. Teach me what kind of questions I should ask in situtations like this: 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. Teach me what to say when people lack faith like this father: 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.” Help me know how to challenge them so they can move on into faith. Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Jesus, teach me how to respond to crowds like this: When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, He rebuked the evil spirit. Teach me what to do when I am confronting evil spirits: “You deaf and mute spirit,” He said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” Help me see beyond the resistances of these evil spirits. The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. Let me be able to not only see the resistance but the fact that they did come out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” Give me the kind of faith that enables me to not be fooled by the evil spirits. But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up (Mark 9:17-27). Give me a shield of faith that moves beyond the lies of Satan and is able to bring complete healing and deliverance to needy people.

Jesus, I live by faith, not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). When You rebuked the evil spirit, there was a moment when the delivered boy looked dead. Help my shield of faith be so constant that I am not fooled by this lie. Help me not be a person of “little” faith so that when the boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” Keep my faith from being little in duration; keep me from going from faith that You will deliver to thinking I have killed them. Jesus, since the spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently before he came out, I can see here that Satan and demons are allowed by God to do their best to convince me that what I said or did, didn’t work. Help my shield of faith not be so weak that I fall for these kinds of lies.

Jesus, help me keep the “if” out of my shield of faith. Help me not be like the father of the demon possessed boy who said: “But IF You can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” As You challenged this father, help me see that You take offense to this statement. Help me not get to the place where You have to ask me this question: “If You can”? said Jesus. Help me always know that everything is possible for him who believes.” But, if I do end up in this “if” condition, help me respond like this: Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Jesus, any time You catch me in a situation where my shield of faith isn’t working and You point out what the problem is, help me follow this dad’s example. Help me say: help me overcome my unbelief or help me overcome whatever my problem is.

Jesus, teach me that if I am wondering whether or not You will do something, I am in a situation where nothing is going to happen. Also teach me that I can’t just decide You are going to do whatever I want. Show me that You have to speak faith into me BEFORE I can know what You are going to do. But, once You speak faith into me for something, I have to CONSTANTLY know I HAVE it. Teach me the principle in this verse: In the same way, FAITH by itself, if it is not accompanied by ACTION, is dead (James 2:17). Help me have a shield of faith that is never dead.

Jesus, I live by faith, not by sight: You didn’t just speak deliverance, You were able to SEE the deliverance take place. You rebuked the evil spirit. You said: “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” Then You were able to see beyond the physical realm into the spirit realm. You saw the spirit shriek, convulse him violently and come out. You didn’t just see the shrieking and convulsing, You saw the demon come out. Help me see beyond the natural realm, so I won’t doubt. Give my shield of faith the power so I can see things in the spirit realm.

Jesus, I don’t know if the evil spirit tried these tactics with the disciples or not. But, it would have been easy for me to waver in my faith at the point where the boy looked dead. It would be easy for me to think: “Oh my God, I think I killed him.” It could have even caused a moment of doubt when the evil spirit shrieked and convulsed him violently. Set me free from on again, off again faith because it is something that You are not willing to put up with. Give me a shield of faith that is consistent.

Jesus, one thing I do know, none of these tactics affected You. You told the evil spirit to come out of him and never enter him again. That is what You said and that is what You continued to believe. No amount of shrieking, convulsions, and the boy looking dead affected You; You had CONSTANT faith. Come into my life and make me and my shield of faith be able to handle life with the same consistent faith that flows from You into me.

Jesus, You are saying to me: What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall HAVE them (Mark 11:24 AKJV). Jesus, when You speak faith into me, it is a KNOWING. Faith is being SURE of what I hope for and CERTAIN of what I do not see (Heb 11:1). Help me not try to create this in my heart and mind. Teach me that You aren’t wanting me to be sure and be certain through my own efforts. Keep me from thinking that if I can make this happen, I am obeying this Scripture. Instead, You are telling me what YOU want me to allow YOU to speak into me; when that happens, I become SURE and CERTAIN.

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

Jesus, my shield of faith is built out of knowing God exists and knowing that He rewards me because I am earnestly seeking Him. Then based on that knowledge, I am permitted to start asking for THINGS. Since I know He exists, I start coming to Him; since I know He rewards my earnest seeking, I believe I will get those things that are His will for me. Help this lay out the basis for my continued relationship with You. Help me come to You with a request and then wait to find out whether or not it is God’s will for me. If You speak faith into me for it, then it IS God’s will. If You don’t, then I know it isn’t God’s will for me.