The Power of Faith, Prayer and Fasting

And when they came to the multitude a man came up to Him and, kneeling before Him, said “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire, and often into the water.  So I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him.” 

Then Jesus answered, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long am I to be with you? How long shall I to bear with you?  Bring him here to me.”  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the child was cured from that very hour.

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”   He said to them, “Because of your unbelief. For truly, 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.  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”  Matthew 17:14-21

Obviously, the disciples knew Jesus; they were about His work and desiring to learn from Jesus.  With all they had given up, left behind, suffered through, done without, learned from Jesus and all the miracles they had seen firsthand, still Jesus pointed out if they would have had even as much faith as a grain of mustard seed, they could have cast the demon out of the child.  Jesus even pointed out some things come only by prayer and fasting. That speaks volumes and even invites us to ponder our faith level. How often do we want to hear from God enough to invest prayer and fasting?

 I don’t know about you but maybe for me the times I get tore down about mountains {and even little hills} in my life are because of my lack of faith in God’s ability to handle the situation.  No, I do not consciously say I do not trust God; however, my actions reveal my deepest thoughts.  Sometimes only as a last resort I give it over to God in prayer, and I always find He has the ability to handle my little life! The times I go to God first instead of last I am closer to having that.  I desire faith as a grain of mustard seed!!  How about you?  Do you need more faith as well?

Spend time today with God talking about your faith level. Are there things on your heart you need to hear from God on and are you willing to invest prayer and fasting?

God bless you with time with Him today, In Jesus Name Amen!

Rene’ House