How many stories and movies have been written about people hunting for buried or sunken treasure? How many people have purchased metal detectors to search for lost coins or ancient artifacts in abandoned fields. Something in us identifies with Indiana Jones or Captain Jack Sparrow or real life treasure hunters digging through Egyptian pyramids to find the next “King Tut tomb” or those diving for lost Spanish galleons hoping to find a king’s ransom in gold. There is a hankering in each of us that hungers to discover something as big as a lost city or some small, unnoticed treasure sitting in the dark corner of a dusty antique shop off the beaten path.

This desire is such a universal phenomenon in the hearts of men and women that God must have placed it there. Solomon declared, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings” (Prov. 25:2). The proverb suggests that God hides some things in order for us to discover them like parents placing Easter eggs in unlikely locations. When he commanded Adam and Eve to subdue the earth and take dominion over it, I believe part of that command included the idea of discovery…new lands, new technologies, new scientific principles, new strategies for solving problems, etc.

When we discover something new, unearth a treasure, or solve a baffling problem we feel immense excitement and pleasure. God’s intention was that we would all search for truth. There are two kinds of truth in the universe. The first is discovered truth. That is the province of science. How did God make things, how do they work, how do we work, how can we partner with God’s design to do good in an earth plagued by war, disease and poverty? Good science discovers the things God hid in his creation for us to search out. There is no contradiction between good science and faith. All truth belongs to God and if it is true, it is God’s truth. Scientific discoveries guided by godly principles bring amazing blessings to this damaged world.

The second kind of truth cannot be found in a lab or examined under a microscope. It is revealed truth that comes to us by the Holy Spirit. This truth cannot be found apart from God, but is a treasure that exceeds all the gold and silver in all the sunken ships and ancient tombs in the world. The writer of proverbs declared, “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Prov. 2:1-6).

The Holy Spirit counsels us to seek revelation about God and from God as we would seek hidden treasure. Jesus likened the kingdom of God to a man finding a treasure in a field and then selling all that he had to buy the field and obtain the treasure. God wants us to give into the hunger within us to find hidden riches as long as we remember that he is the greatest treasure. Our bible study, our prayer, our worship and our spiritual discernment should have the expectation of discovery and the payoff of delight when we discover something new about God, his word, or his kingdom. There is nothing better than an “Aha!” moment with God when his truth is written on our heart as a revelation of the Spirit rather than a pondering of our own intellect. Perhaps, our constant prayer should be that God reveal the treasures that he has hidden in the spiritual realm, so that we might grow closer to him, experience the excitement of discovery, and walk in is understanding and knowledge of life. May we all be treasure hunters as well as disciples.

This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it—the Lord is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. Jeremiah 33:2-3

When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked. 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.” Mark 9:14-18

For many, this is a familiar story. Jesus had just taken his students, Peter, James, and John on a memorable field trip. He took them to the top of a mountain where they encountered Moses and Elijah as they spoke to Jesus. As they spoke, Jesus’ clothes became dazzling white and God spoke audibly to the little group saying, “This is my son whom I love. Listen to him!” Shortly after that, they left the mountain to rejoin the other apostles and disciples of Jesus. As they joined them, the text quoted at the beginning of this blog was unfolding.

From accounts in the other gospels, we know that Jesus had given his apostles and seventy-two other disciples the power and authority to heal and cast out demons. He had sent them out on their own to preach, heal, and deliver people from demons. They had great success in doing so. But now, some of his disciples and apostles encountered a spirit that they could not drive out. The father was dismayed, believing there might be no cure for his boy. The disciples were puzzled and probably embarrassed that no matter how hard they had commanded and no matter what they had declared, they could not drive out the demon.Anyone who has been involved in deliverance ministries very long, probably can identify with these men.

Interestingly then, Jesus rebuked the crowd for their lack of faith and immediately commanded a deaf and dumb spirit to leave the boy. The spirit complied and the boy was set free. Later, in private, his disciples asked why they could not drive out the demon. Jesus explained that particular spirit could only be driven out by prayer and fasting. (Some manuscripts only say “by prayer” ) And yet, no one said, “Well, let’s pray and fast for a day or two and then go after this spirit again.” Jesus simply commanded the spirit and it left.

i believe the key here is that Jesus had lived a lifestyle of prayer and fasting. Even though his disciples did not do so, Jesus began his public ministry with a forty day fast in the wilderness and often went off by himself for periods of prayer and fasting. Two things seem evident from this short account.

First, some demons are harder to cast out than others. There are hierarchies of power and authority among demons. When we encounter one with more authority than the ordinary demon, we may have difficulty dislodging that unclean spirit with the level of authority we are opening in.

Second, a practice of fasting and prayer apparently appropriates more authority in the spiritual realm for believers, so that the extra measures of authority to cast out a demon are available when needed. It may also suggest that it takes a lifestyle of prayer and fasting, rather than just an occasional day or so of prayer and fasting to accrue the spiritual authority needed for some situations. I would anticipate that healing might fall in the same category.

So how do prayer and fasting garner us more authority and power than simply living by faith. After all, we are actually operating in Christ’s authority rather than our own. I’m not certain, but I have two thoughts about that.. First of all, extended periods of prayer and fasting (individual and corporate) are attached to breakthrough moments, deliverance from enemies, and life-changing decisions throughout scripture. These two things, which should include worship, seem to bring us into the presence of God more than anything else we can do. And presence imparts.

I’m reminded of Moses coming down from Sinai with his face glowing because he had spent extended time in the presence of God. The night Jesus walked on the Sea of Galilee, he had just gone up on a mountain by himself to pray. Before Jesus chose twelve of his disciples to be apostles, he spent the evening in prayer. Throughout the Book of Acts, prayer and fasting played a significant role in miraculous, breakthrough moments for the church. Time in the presence of God imparts something of God to us. Apparently, God rubs off. The more time we spend in his presence with prayer and fasting, the more of himself God will give to us.

Secondly, desire matters. James tells us that the fervent or earnest prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much (Ja. 5:16-17). Fervency reveals desire. How bad do we want something? All the children in the kingdom will have their basic needs met, but if we want more, we must seek it. Seek, ask, and knock. Extended prayer and fasting reveal our desire for the thing we are asking for. A casual prayer does not get the attention that a desperate or fervent prayer garners. It’s the hungry in the kingdom who get fed. Jesus taught, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matt. 5:6).Prayer and fasting reveals our level of hunger for the things of God and the requests we bring before him.

As this year begins, many churches are beginning with a season of prayer and fasting. That is essential for the year to come. But in our own lives, many of us need to consider regular times of fasting and prayer throughout the year. I have a friend who faithfully fasts one day a week, every week. If we like him, were to give one day a week to fasting and used our meal times for extending our prayer, by the end of the year we would have fasted 52 days and increased our prayer time significantly. Fasting and prayer seemed to have marked the New Testament church even though they were saturated with spiritual gifts. Perhaps, prayer and fasting fueled those gifts. Ask the Lord. See what he thinks. But, according to Jesus, we know some things in the kingdom will only be accomplished by prayer and fasting.

Be blessed this week.

Well, today is New Year’s Day, the first day of 2023 according to the western calendar. Sometimes we forget that New Year’s Day is a cultural construct more than a scientific absolute. For instance, the Chinese New Year will be on January 22 this year. The Hebrew calendar has its New Year begin in late summer or early fall as Rosh HaShana, based on the lunar calendar. The Islamic New Year also falls in the summer months and is also based on a lunar calendar.

No matter when you choose to celebrate the beginning of a new year, hope is always found in the possibilities of fresh starts, new promises, better choices (New Year’s resolutions) with better outcomes, and so forth. There seems to be something in each of us that persistently yearns for something new, something better, something more life-giving, than what we have been experiencing. Occasionally, we may have a year that we think couldn’t get any better, but eventually the realities of living in a fallen world will dull the shine and we will once again be hoping for more or better.

I believe that God has put that hope or yearning in each of us because it ultimately calls us home to an eternal heaven with the Father in which there will be no death, no dying, no pain, no suffering, no loss, no diminished capacity, no depression, no anxiety, no fear, no shame, and no regret. There will come a time when all of our longings for the new and better will be completely satisfied. In the book of Revelation we are told, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true” (Rev. 21:3-5).

As believers, we live with the eternal promise of God making things new. Not just renovated, but new. It actually seems to be his nature to keep creating, to keep moving ahead, and to keep making things new, making things better in ways they have never been before. He manifests that part of his nature over and over again in scripture. To Israel in Babylonian captivity he declares. “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” (Isa.43:18-19). Paul declares, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”(2 Cor. 5:17). Jeremiah wrote, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning;” ( Lam. 3:22-23).

In the New Testament we see the phrases new wine, new covenant, new self, new life, new creation, new heavens, new earth, new and living way, a new order, and more. God is about making things new. That is true in your life as well. If life has been bad, he wants to make it good. If it has been hurtful he wants to heal it. If is has been good he wants to make it even better in ways you cannot anticipate. , He delights in making things new, in doing new and surprising things, and in offering upgrades. It is his heart and his nature.

Because of Christ, this coming year has the potential of new and positive things that have eternal significance. Unfortunately, when we think of new things and upgrades, we usually define those in very worldly, temporary ways…a new house, a new car, a new relationship, and new job, and so forth. There is nothing wrong with those things by themselves, but God wants more for us….peace, joy, wholeness, security, identity, purpose, hope, and a deeper walk with the maker of heaven and earth.

If we judge the life of Jesus by worldly standards, there was not much to write home about. He grew up in near poverty, never traveled more than 100 miles from home, was actually not known by vey many, had only a few hundred followers, had no permanent home, had to walk everywhere he went, and was eventually misjudged, hated by many, and executed unfairly. No busts were sculpted of him like the Roman emperors of his day. We are never even given a physical description of him other than he was, at best, ordinary in appearance. Yet, Jesus would describe his life as abundant because he walked so closely with the Father, loved those around him so deeply, perfectly fulfilled the purposes of God in his life, and saw the power of God flow through him on a daily basis. He had enough joy and peace residing in him that it overflowed to others and a quality of life (not based on material possessions) that others saw and envied.

Perhaps, this is the year when the new and better things we hope for will be a deeper walk with the Father, more of the Spirit, greater fellowship with Jesus, a deeper capacity to give and receive love, and a life more in tune with the purposes of God. You may well need a better car, a better job, and more money to pay the bills, but Jesus clearly directed us to seek first the kingdom of God and then all the other things we need will be given to us by the Father. So often we believe that as soon as we get the perfect mate, the perfect job, the Lexus, and the income we want, we will then be able to serve Jesus and will gladly use those resources for him. But Jesus said our priorities, our first goals, should be just the opposite and in setting those priorities we will then find true love, joy, security and peace.

May I encourage you and myself to recognize that our yearnings for a new year, a better year, a more productive year are part of who God made us to be. We should long for the new that God produces but simply remember where the true upgrades reside and set our resolutions on more of God rather than more of this world. I hope you have a great 2023. And remember….

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 29:11-14