How Prayer & Fasting Helps Overcome Unbelief

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.”

Unbelief is a major obstacle to doing the works of Jesus.

Jesus did what the disciples were unable to do. He successfully ministered to the man’s son. When the disciples asked Him, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?” Jesus plainly stated, “Because of your unbelief.”

How could the disciples operate in unbelief if they obviously “believed in” ministering to oppressed people? Clearly, they tried to help the man’s son, but were not successful.

For followers of Christ, unbelief is not a rejection of truth. It is not failing to believe the Bible, or not believing in God. It is not a lack of conviction about what God can do.

Example: Consider an athlete who high jumps who has leaped over seven feet on many occasions. He “believes” that he can jump over seven feet because he has done it many times. What if the athlete stops practicing? What if he loses his discipline and joy of training?  If then he attempts to high jump seven feet, but repeatedly fails to make the height, we have an example of unbelief.

Unbelief is an inability to do what needs to be done because of a lack of faith and corresponding action. As the Bible says, “Faith without works (or corresponding action) is dead, being alone.” (James 2:20)

The high jumper, Jesus’ disciples, and we also, sometimes have the problem of not preparing properly. The work of God relies on grace, the Holy Spirit and faith in God that inspires action. God always honors genuine faith.

What is the solution to the problem of the “unbelief” of believers? Again, Jesus answer was plainly stated, “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

“This kind” is not referring to a special kind of demon, but to “this kind” of faith and relationship with God that is developed through prayer and fasting.

Praying and fasting does not “move God” towards us, it moves us towards God. Nothing in God needs to move or change. Everything in us needs to move or change.

There is no magic about prayer and fasting. It is effective because prayer and fasting helps us clear obstacles to our faith and faith-filled actions. Fasting is more than not eating, it is a season of denying conveniences, choices, appetites, and desires for other things, in order to place full emphasis on God.

Whatever helps us focus on God helps us walk in faith, understand the Bible better, be more completely led by the Spirit and much more. This is like the high jumper who stays in shape and continues to practice—never taking past achievements for granted.

Obviously, fasting is not eating, but it is also an overall focus on drawing closer to God by removing fleshly and environmental obstacles. If a person fasted food, but spent the whole day watching movies or playing video games, this would be a worthless fast from a spiritual perspective.

One of the important functions of fasting is restoring the proper order for living. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 states, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Note the sequence of the words, “…and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless.” The proper order for living is: 1) Spirit, 2) Soul, 3) Body.

However, most of the time people operate in the reverse order of, 1) Body, 2) Soul, 3) Spirit. This lifestyle can only fuel unbelief and not help us develop strong faith and faith-filled actions.

Develop your faith and eliminate your unbelief by strengthening your relationship with God through prayer and fasting.

The Goodness of God Leads to Repentance

For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. (Hebrews 10:1-2)

One of the bad effects of religion that often carries over into Christianity is its focus on man-made solutions to spiritual problems. The Apostle Paul affirms that, "the law is good" (Rom 6:16) to the extent that it highlights the sinfulness of humanity, "so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful." (Rom. 7:13)

For all its righteous commands against sin, in vivid detail, the law could NEVER REMOVE sin from the hearts of people. Equally, all our proclamations against sin, sinners, warnings and threats regarding sin's consequences, and more, never leads people to genuine faith in God. In other words, so long as the "consciousness of sins" remains, people are not truly free.

Too many Christians miss this powerful truth from Romans 2:4: "Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?"

It is God's GOODNESS that leads sinners to repentance, not our legalistic efforts of trying to impose conviction on sinners (and even on Christians!) with statements like, "You are going to burn in hell if you don't repent!"

What sinners need is "purification" from sin. They need to know that God loves them. They need a Gospel and a Savior, whose power alone is sufficient to deliver sinners from their sinful nature. Like Jesus told Nicodemus, the miraculous moment of regeneration is a "New Birth" where, "that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:6) Either a person is born of the Spirit or not. There is no middle state. Neither the law of Moses nor the "law of Christians" can produce this new birth. Only the Holy Spirit can do the work of regenerating the human spirit as a result of the power of the Gospel (Romans 1:16).

We are not in the Holy Spirit's position to judge the "quality" of someone's faith and salvation. Jesus was very clear on this matter, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” (John 7:24) We can only inspect the fruit to know the outcome of anyone's faith. That's righteous judgment.

In the final analysis, the work of conviction of sin, of righteousness, and of justification is God's work. Our role is to effectively preach the gospel, invite sinners to repent and believe on Jesus Christ. What happens in a person's heart is God's work. When Christians try to "add" to God's work, they invariably end up imposing their version of the "law" in which people are only as "saved" as determined by others.

I recommend you keep God's word, not man's words, as the only authoritative, reliable, and effective means of salvation. The Hebrews writer goes on the say….

"15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 18 Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin." (Hebrews 10:15-18)

What Time Is It? | Seven Reason Why You Must Value Time

EPH 5:15, 14 Therefore He says: “ Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16) redeeming the time [Kairos], because the days are evil. 17) Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Colossians 4:5 (NKJV) Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. (NIV) 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.

Opportunity defined: A set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.

Leonard Ravenhill said, “The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized in the lifetime of the opportunity.”

What is Time? Time is the interval between the eternal past and the eternal future which has been given to redeem and restore God’s creation.

Understand Chronos and Kairos time. Chronos is sequential time by the clock. Kairos is the opportunity, occasion, season or set time of divine purpose

Seven Reason Why You Must Value Time

1. Time is holy (Redeem it). It is the gift of God. God’s uses time. Gen 8:22 “While the earth remains,Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.” Revelation 22:10, And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.
2. Time is a covenant because we act together based on it. Covenant is a mutually binding association based on love and trust.
3. Time cannot be recovered because it only moves in one direction will not stop until Jesus returns. 
4. Time is the opportunity, occasion, season or set time of divine purpose (Kairos).Time shows our attention to details. Luke 16:10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.” Time sets in motion the purposes of God in the earth: Luke 9:51, Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem. The devil looks for opportunities to work against us. Luke 4:13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
5. Time needs a plan: Definition of Plan: “A method of doing something that is worked out usually in some detail before it is begun and that may be written down in some form” Jesus operated with plans and purpose. He was very sensitive to His Father’s direction. MAR 1:35 Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. 36] And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him. 37] When they found Him, they said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” 38] But He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.” JOH 12:27 “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.
6. Time is the only way to seize an opportunity: 1 Peter 5:6, Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
7. Time will run out. John 9:4, I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.

Subscribe to Audio Podcast in iTunes

Download MP3 of Message