Only by prayer and fasting

Matthew 17:14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 15 "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 "So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him." 17 Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me." 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" 20 So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 "However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

Okay folks let's get out of the shallow end of the spiritual pool. Time to swim out to the deep end. As I continue to make a biblical case for fasting on these blog posts, today I point your attention to this story recorded for us in the gospel of Matthew. A man brings his son to the disciples of Christ for healing. The son is obviously afflicted with something like epilepsy or as the father in this story describes it in the King James Version "he is a lunatic." The context of the story helps us clearly understand that this young man's condition was the result of demonic possession. The disciples were unable to cast out the demon. So Jesus comes behind them and does what they could not do, and the boy is healed. After the incident, the disciples inquire privately of Jesus, "Why could we not cast it out?"

Jesus' answer to this question provides some great insight into the role of fasting in the life of the believer. Jesus tells the disciples their lack of faith prevented them from casting out the demon.

The next thing Jesus does is He refutes a conclusion that could be easily drawn from His remarks. The disciples might have easily believed that Jesus was saying the amount of your faith is the key. Actually HE SAYS THE OPPOSITE!! Jesus says, it only requires the faith of a mustard seed. Wow, only the faith of a mustard seed? I would think to cast out a demon, it would require at least a dump truck load of faith, but you are saying Jesus, that it only requires the faith of a mustard seed? That is exactly what Jesus was saying.

Okay, I get it. So what was the missing ingredient for these disciples? Allow me to answer that. WHAT WAS MISSING FROM THE DISCIPLES WAS THE POWER AND ANOINTING OF GOD ON THEIR LIVES. What does it take to cast out a demon? Power...spiritual supernatural power.....accompanied by the faith of at least a mustard seed. I think most of us can handle the mustard seed faith part.....but where does the power of God come from? Glad you asked because Jesus answers the question for us.

"This kind does not go out but by prayer and fasting."

Where does the power and anointing of God come from? Prayer and fasting.....

So what do you want dear Christian. You want an average Christian life, or do you want the power of God resting on you? Apparently according to the words of Jesus, there are some things that you will never experience in the Christian life, and some things that you will never be able to do in the spiritual realm apart from prayer and fasting. The choice is yours.....you can experience all God has for you.....or you can settle for part of it. Go for all of it.....consider making prayer and fasting part of your Christian experience.

Stay tuned, more to come.