• Meditation1: In Mark 9, it is recorded that Jesus took Peter, James, and John to a high mountain alone, where He showed them His transfigured form. Even then, Jesus only took His beloved disciples. I too, wish to become one of Jesus’ disciples today, to directly witness His deeds and the works of God right beside Him.
• Meditation 2: Jesus said, “If I abide in the Father and the Father abides in me, I can know the works of the Father” (Mark 9:23). According to this saying, if I continue to live in fellowship with God, I too will be able to know the works of God. If I could know God’s plan, no matter what happens, fear will disappear. I want to live in that way. ‘To abide in the Father’ means ‘to live by keeping the words of the Father’ taught by Jesus.
• Meditation 3: In Mark’s Gospel, it is written that a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son; listen to Him.” After this event, Jesus instructed the three disciples not to tell anyone what they had seen “until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.” Also, when healing the sick, He advised the healed not to tell others about their healing. Why did He do this? Perhaps it was to prevent the widespread knowledge that Jesus is the Son of God until His resurrection, which would prove it.
• Meditation 4: Jesus said, “All things are possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23). The ‘faith’ mentioned here refers to the belief that God can do anything. When I have such faith, it means I can do all things.
• Meditation 5: There was an incident where Jesus healed a boy possessed by a demon. Initially, people asked the disciples to drive out the demon, but they could not. However, Jesus did. After this, the disciples asked why they could not drive out the demon, and Jesus replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer” (Mark 9:29).
• Meditation 6: Then what were the disciples doing instead of praying? What does the mentioned ‘prayer’ mean? Considering the context of the entire Gospel of John, it seems that prayer without faith is not a proper prayer.
• Meditation 7: A saying that I had not noticed before caught my eye. The disciples told Jesus that some people were driving out demons in His name but were not following them, and they had forbidden these people from doing so. Then Jesus said, “Do not stop him. For no one who performs a miracle in my name can soon afterward speak evil of me, for whoever is not against us is for us.” (Mark 9:38-40)
• Meditation 8: We cannot accurately judge the ‘doctrines of heresy’ condemned by society as “having no truth in them.” I think we cannot judge even the doctrines historically condemned as heretical in early or medieval Christianity. Only God knows their hearts.

<Application>

Let’s stop repeating ourselves in prayer and pray precisely once.