99% of the people who read this think that Jesus is saying that this certain kind of demon that was tormenting this boy only comes out if a person has fasted and prayed. Of course, the 99% might be right.Matt. 17:14-20 (NKJV)
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.
But a while back I heard someone teach that Jesus was not talking about the type of demon that responded to prayer and fasting, but was rather referring to the kind of UNBELIEF that the disciples were exhibiting. In context, Jesus appears to be teaching the disciples about their unbelief, not the type of demon.
The argument goes something like this: The disciples, prior to this, had had some success in casting our demons. So it wasnt that they didnt have faith; after all they had seen other miracles etc. But something about they way this particular demon manifested "freaked them out." In other words, what they were experiencing in their flesh countered their faith-- i.e. they had unbelief.
Prayer and fasting counter this fleshly type of unbelief. When we pray, we are speaking to an unseen God who lo and behold answers our prayers. When we fast, we deny the senses which teaches us to overcome and not cave in to what our senses are telling us. In other words, a lifestyle of prayer and fasting increases our faith, or said alternatively, decreases our unbelief.
To be quite honest, I don't think it makes a lot of sense that certain kinds of demons only respond to prayer and fasting. If the name of Jesus and faith in his name aren't sufficient, I am not sure how prayer and fasting would make a difference. But prayer and fasting may counter unbelief, which in turn increases our ability to be victorious in spiritual warfare.
Thoughts?
TK