Podcast Summary: Healing School #29 | The Healing Of The Deaf & Dumb Boy

Host: Nancy Dufresne
Podcast: Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Episode: Healing School #29 | The Healing Of The Deaf & Dumb Boy | Jesus the Healer Broadcast
Date: September 23, 2021

Episode Overview

In this episode, Pastor Nancy Dufresne explores the biblical account of the healing of the deaf and dumb boy as recorded in Mark 9. The teaching centers on faith, authority over unclean spirits, the impact of doubt, and practical lessons on ministering healing. Drawing from personal experience and scripture, Nancy encourages listeners to become skillful in faith and persistent in believing, while addressing the realities of spiritual warfare.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Setting the Scene: Mark 9 and the Disciples’ Challenge

• Context: Jesus returns from the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John to find a crowd gathered around the remaining nine disciples (00:09).
• A man has brought his son, possessed by a dumb spirit, to Jesus’ disciples for deliverance, but they “could not” help (01:30).
• Nancy’s Key Insight: Although the disciples had previously been given – and successfully used – authority over unclean spirits (Mark 6), they were ineffective here. “Why couldn’t they? The next verse tells us why.” (04:10)

The Problem: A Faith Issue, Not a Power Issue

• Jesus’ diagnosis: “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?” (Mark 9:19)

  "So notice this. You can have the power, but not be using your faith. And it won't work just having the power. You also have to use your faith." (05:45)

• Illustration: Faith is like the key that activates a car’s engine—without it, the power available is useless (06:30).

Skillfulness in Faith

• Training is not enough:

  "You can be trained by the Word... Sit under your pastor, but that doesn't mean you're appropriately applying skill… You have to become skillful." (08:05)

• Faith is continually changing: “It’s always going to be increasing or it’s going to be diminishing.” Feed your faith to keep it strong (09:40).

The Manifestation of Demonic Power

• The boy’s condition is spiritual in root—“a spirit causing this boy’s physical condition” (11:10).
• Personal ministry anecdote: Nancy shares her experience ministering at tent crusades, where those oppressed by evil spirits become agitated as they near the anointing:

  "The devil in them caused them to be so agitated, getting close to the anointing… So I trained the ushers, you go after them… they would get set free." (13:30)

Authority When Ministering

• Do not let a demon “take control of a setting.” Instead:

  "We don’t give the devil attention. He’s got one right: shut up and come out." (16:30)

Compassion and the Heart of the Father

• The spirit not only torments the boy but “the whole family through this boy” (21:15).
• On suicide and spiritual torment:

  "If someone commits suicide… their mind is sick. Jesus is rich in mercy… If they were born again... they still went to heaven." (18:44)

Believing is a Choice

• The father’s desperation: “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” (22:00)
• Jesus’ answer re-centers the issue on belief:

  “If you can believe, all things are possible to him that believes.” (23:12)

• Application:

  "Believing is a choice and strictly a choice. It’s a decision you make." (25:31)

Faith vs. Doubt

• The father’s honest response: “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

  "You can have faith in your heart, but doubts in your head… As long as faith is in your heart, every Christian is going to find at times faith in their heart, but doubts come to the mind." (26:00)

• How to respond: Cast down imaginations and answer doubts with the Word (28:20).

The Process of Deliverance and Counterfeit Manifestations

• Upon Jesus’ command, the spirit makes a dramatic exit, leaving the boy appearing dead (30:30).
• Lesson for Ministers:

  "Sometimes people look like they got worse after you minister to them. That was the devil coming out… making one last great display to deceive you into thinking it didn’t work." (31:10)

Why Prayer and Fasting?

• The disciples privately ask Jesus why they failed. Jesus says, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29, 32:30).
• Insight:

  "Prayer and fasting doesn’t change God… It makes us more sensitive to God and to the faith that’s in our spirit…"
  "If those disciples would have been sensitive to the faith in their spirit, they could have cast it out, but they had regressed in faith." (33:20)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• (06:30) Nancy: “Faith ignites the power of God. You have to apply your faith to the power of God.”
• (13:30) Nancy (on deliverance): “They would start getting agitated… take off running. I trained the ushers, you go after them… and invariably they would get set free.”
• (18:44) Nancy: “Jesus is rich in mercy… If they were born again, even though their mind got sick, they still went to heaven.”
• (23:12) Jesus (quoted): “If you can believe, all things are possible to him that believes.”
• (26:00) Nancy: “You can have faith in your heart, but doubts in your head.”
• (31:10) Nancy: “Sometimes people look like they got worse after you minister to them… That was the sickness coming out… trying to make one last great display to deceive you into thinking it didn’t work.”
• (33:20) Nancy: “Prayer and fasting doesn’t change God… It makes us more sensitive to God and to the faith that’s in our spirit.”

Important Timestamps

• 00:09 – 04:10: Introduction and background of Mark 9 healing account
• 04:11 – 09:40: Nature of faith and power; disciples’ authority explored
• 11:10 – 16:30: Demonic manifestation and lessons from tent meetings
• 18:44 – 21:15: Dealing with suicide, compassion, and mercy
• 23:12 – 28:20: The importance of belief as a choice; responding to doubt
• 30:30 – 33:20: Deliverance can get “worse” before better; Jesus’ teaching on prayer and fasting

Conclusion

This episode is a practical, faith-building teaching on healing and deliverance, rooted in both biblical principle and ministry experience. Nancy Dufresne emphasizes the necessity of functioning in faith, being skillful with spiritual authority, and choosing belief over doubt—no matter the circumstance or feelings. The message is underscored by compassion and clarity, with an encouragement to continually feed one’s faith and remain sensitive to God’s Spirit.