Mark 9:28-29
²⁸ And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? ²⁹And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
Jesus had been in isolation with the three disciples praying at the Mount of transfiguration, in the mean time His disciples faced a challenge with a demon that they failed to cast out, caught in confusion as the crowds stood by and the critising Pharisees seized the opportunity to pin them down, Jesus appears on the scene with His transcendent appearance that it awestruck the people, what they beheld , who knows!! And He in one move, casts it out !! But notice that He came from prayer to this ministration, was it a one time thing or a lifestyle and consistency in the presence?
So in wonder the disciples ask; why couldn’t we cast it away?
This kind(a generation) can’t go away minus prayer and fasting; Jesus responds. Did He mean that unless you pray, certain things can’t go away or that unless you fast you can’t break free certain things. Is it really about prayer and fasting just to break forth? If it was why then did God question the fasting in Isiah’s days!!
Isiah 58:3
Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
Prayer and fasting are keys to draw in intimacy with God, major tools to manifesting power but when effectively used in consistency, not just one time things done when you feel like. Jesus lived a fasted and prayerful life!! He often times drew away to relate with the father, in that Case He was also full of the presence!!
Luke 5:16
¹⁶And He withdrew Himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
Someone said, You can fast and pray to cast out a demon and still fail but another would just wake up, go and cast out a demon, and, it would be gone, why? Because prayer and fasting should be a lifestyle!!
The realistic thing is; our lives must be filled with the presence of God, fasting and prayer are triggers of this presence! We should come to a place where you don’t need to get a one time moment and engage in prayer just to cast out a particular thing but to build your relationship/ intimacy with God and be that presence.
‘The Presence of God is a Person’
Luke 4:14
¹⁴And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
After the forty days without food, Jesus manifested in power, after forty days and nights, Moses manifested in a certain glory. After the transfiguration / prayer, Jesus cast out a demon that His disciples failed !! This is not a one time thing but daily thing, a lifestyle, something you do even when it seems hard, it is unthinkable to let go !! Communion causes your spirit to be exposed to the atmosphere of spiritual realities, it causes the you in you to manifest.
Matthew 7:28-29
²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
In consistent Communion(eg prayer and fasting) with Christ shall we ever manifest the power of God, having a relationship with God does not mean You have fellowship with Him. (To be married to Your partner does not mean to have intimacy with them).
2 Timothy 3:5
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Save yourself, turn away from displayed but powerless Christianity, Communion with the Holy Spirit, the word of God is/are the gateway to manifest power.
Prophetic Utterance:
I am confident of His presence.
He walks with me and I boldly manifest His presence,
Out of His fullness do I manifest forth His power.
Halleluya
Guiding Text:
James:4:8
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Luke 4:2
²For (during) forty days in the wilderness, where He was tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they were completed, He was hungry.