“The Boy with an Evil Spirit,” Liahona, Feb. 2002, 12–13
The Boy with an Evil Spirit
One day when some people came to Jesus and His disciples, one of them asked the Savior to help his son. The man had already asked the disciples to heal his son, but they could not. The son had an evil spirit in him that made him hurt himself. Mark 9:14–18
Jesus had the man get his son. When the boy came, the evil spirit made him fall to the ground. Mark 9:19–20
When the Savior asked how long the evil spirit had been in the boy, He was told it had been in him since he was a child. Mark 9:21
Jesus said He could heal the son if the father had faith. The father began to cry. He said he had faith. Mark 9:23–24
Jesus commanded the evil spirit to come out of the boy and to never go into him again. The evil spirit was angry. It hurt the boy again. Then it obeyed Jesus and came out of the boy. Mark 9:25–26
The boy was so quiet that many people said he was dead. But Jesus took his hand and helped him stand up. He was healed. The evil spirit was gone. Mark 9:26–27
Later the disciples asked Jesus about the boy. They did not know why they had not been able to make the evil spirit go out of him. Jesus told them they needed more faith to make the evil spirit go out. He said they should have fasted and prayed for more faith. Matt. 17:20–21; Mark 9:28–29
Illustrations by Robert T. Barrett