As Jesus came down from the mountain with Peter, James, John
and approached the other disciples,
they saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them.
Immediately on seeing him,
the whole crowd was utterly amazed.
They ran up to him and greeted him.
He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?”
Someone from the crowd answered him,
“Teacher, I have brought to you my son possessed by a mute spirit.
Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down;
he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid.
I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable to do so.”
He said to them in reply,
“O faithless generation, how long will I be with you?
How long will I endure you? Bring him to me.”
They brought the boy to him.
And when he saw him,
the spirit immediately threw the boy into convulsions.
As he fell to the ground, he began to roll around
and foam at the mouth.
Then he questioned his father,
“How long has this been happening to him?”
He replied, “Since childhood.
It has often thrown him into fire and into water to kill him.
But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
Jesus said to him,
“‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith.”
Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!”
Jesus, on seeing a crowd rapidly gathering,
rebuked the unclean spirit and said to it,
“Mute and deaf spirit, I command you:
come out of him and never enter him again!”
Shouting and throwing the boy into convulsions, it came out.
He became like a corpse, which caused many to say, “He is dead!”
But Jesus took him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up.
When he entered the house, his disciples asked him in private,
“Why could we not drive the spirit out?”
He said to them, “This kind can only come out through prayer.”
Lectio (Reading)
Read the passage twice and get a sense of what it is saying. Pay attention to what strikes you.Meditatio (Reflecting)
Slowly read the passage again, pausing on words or phrases that stands out. Take time to consider the meaning. particularly in your life.Why could we not drive the spirit out?” He said to them, “This kind can only come out through prayer [and fasting].”
Oratio (Responding)
Read the passage again, slowly. Consider how God has spoken to you and respond back to Him. You may want to consider how this passage is asking you to act differently.This passage is one that continues to cause me great consternation. But for a reason that you probably don’t immediately recognize. The modern translations of the bible have removed “and fasting” from Jesus’s answer. For over 1600 years, Our translations have always written Jesus’ response as “This kind can only come out through prayer and fasting.”
Why is it important? Because all works that God does through our hands come with a degree of prayer. We are connected to god through our prayer, and that connection to Him allows His grace to flow through us out into the world. But when we fast something powerful happens. Jesse Romero says that fasting “weaponizes” your prayer. He said that in spiritual warfare, prayer alone is like a 9mm pistol, but prayer while prayer combined with fasting is like a 50 cal machine gun.
This is because human beings are body and soul composites, and the devil temps us with both. He uses our bodies to temp the soul, and using our minds to weaken our bodies. When you fast you are aligning your body and soul and rightly ordering them toward God. When you fast, you are using your mind, ordered toward God, to assert your will over your body. When this is done there is very, very little wiggle room for the devil to work. And when the devil is kicked out of our lives completely, then our prayer is like a focused laser-beam, and the evil spirits run from that light like cockroaches when the kitchen light is turned on.
Lent begins in a few days. We are supposed to make pledges of Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. Fasting is the one that most people focus on, and with very good reason, Jesus specifically tells us to do so, but we must also not forget to combine our fasting with prayer and weaponize it into a 50 cal machine gun, and use that weapon to remove that evil from our midst. And we must not forget almsgiving. Because the poor are all around us, and will always be so. The need is great and we should never forget how much god has blessed us, and thus share those blessing with those around us that have less. That is Jesus’ wish for our lives, and we are not to desist from that call. Amen.
Contemplatio (Contemplating)
Take time to simply remain in the presence of God.Resolutio (Resolving)
Make a resolution that will improve your life, your relationships, or your faith. Make it small and attainable, and do it.Oh lord, help me today to come up with a plan for prayer, fasting and almsgiving, that will help those around me, and better glorify you. Amen.