Matthew recorded by The Holy Spirit in chapter 10:
1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.
The disciples were given the needed power of authority to cast out demons and heal the sick… without exception.
We don’t more faith, we need to address the issue of unbelief.
Matthew recorded by The Holy Spirit in chapter 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?”
Clearly, the disciples were surprised concerning their inability to cast the demon out of the boy. Peter, James, and John had just returned from the Mount of Transfiguration and witnessed Jesus in His glorified state yet they did not volunteer to cast the demon out themselves. They were rather silent.
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.”
There are three types of unbelief:
- Ignorance
- Wrong teaching
- Trusting what your five senses are telling you rather than what The Word says. Natural unbelief is where your senses tell you something contrary to what you believe.
The disciples allowed the demon’s actions controlling the boy to take their focus away from the spiritual to the physical where unbelief originates. Their unbelief overpowered their faith. Yes, you can have faith and unbelief operating at the same time. When the disciples initially attempted to cast out the demon, they commanded the demon by faith. However, unbelief prevailed. Jesus identified the root of the issue- unbelief, not faith. For He mentioned the faith no bigger than a mustard seed is all you really need on the faith side of your walk. After all, the measure of faith has been deposited in us by FATHER thus we are not lacking in faith even though it may be unapplied.
Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Hebrews chapter 5:
14 But solid food is for the mature, whose spiritual senses perceive Heavenly matters. And they have been adequately trained by what they’ve experienced to emerge with understanding of the difference between what is truly excellent and what is evil and harmful.
The spiritually mature can perceive the unseen realm and differentiate from the physical (seen) realm. They are not moved by the temporary physical realm no matter how intimidating to the spiritually immature. Jesus was never moved by demonic actions and neither should we.
Fasting is meant to subdue your five physical senses and make them serve you rather than control you. Fasting does not talk FATHER into anything but rather it is all about you placing your body into subjection to The Word and the Spiritual.
Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter 4:
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”
What do you live by? We should tune our hearts to what The Word says rather than what our five senses are telling us. Fasting doesn’t change GOD, it changes you. You train your body to serve, not dominate.
Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Philippians chapter 4:
6 Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, 7 then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ. 8 Keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising Him always.
Prayer is about relationship with Our Heavenly Father. As we stay connected with HIM, we will have the Wisdom and understanding on how to approach each situation that presents itself to us.
FATHER,
I pray that YOU impart to me the riches of the Spirit of Wisdom and the Spirit of revelation to know YOU through my deepening intimacy with YOU.
I pray that YOUR Light illuminate the eyes of my imagination, flooding me with light, until I experience the full revelation of the hope of YOUR calling—that is, the wealth of YOUR glorious inheritances that YOU find in us, YOUR Holy Ones!
I pray that I will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of YOUR power made available to me through faith. Then my life will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through me!
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen