Matthew 17:19-21 KJV 19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
We see here the disciples having a discussion with Jesus. They had tried to cast a devil out of a boy and couldn’t. Now this wasn’t their first rodeo. In Matthew 10 they were given power over unclean spirits and were told to cast out devils. They had most likely cast out devils before. This one was different somehow. We won’t get into that right now. The fact of the matter was they couldn’t do it. When they asked why, Jesus said because of your unbelief.
Then He tells them: If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. He wasn’t talking about this kind of devil; He was talking about this kind of faith. Mountain moving faith. If we want to increase our faith and squash unbelief in our lives. If you want great faith, mountain moving faith, it only comes by prayer and fasting. Notice Jesus also said if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed. Remember Jesus also said in John 12:24 KJV Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. The power of the seed is in it’s death. That sounds a lot like fasting to me.
Notice that Jesus said, “you will say to this mountain.” If you ask that’s not authority, but if you say, now that’s authority. If you want that kind of authority, it only comes by prayer and fasting.
The old saying is so true. “If you want what no one else has, you have to do what no one else does.” Prayer and fasting opens doors that would otherwise stay shut.
Jeremiah 6:16 KJV Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls…
These are the “old paths.” The second part of this verse says: But they said, We will not walk therein. Most people do not want to walk this path because it’s not easy or fun, but it works.
Some examples in scripture of fasting are as follows.
Ezra proclaimed a fast for safe travel and direction.
Ezra 8:21-23 KJV
21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. 22 For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him. 23 So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.
Esther proclaimed a fast for divine protection and favor.
Esther 4:16 KJV Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
The pagan king of Nineveh declared a fast of repentance.
Jonah 3:7-10 KJV 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his [a]nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? 10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
In Luke 2:36-37
We find Anna who served God with fastings and prayers night and day. Who got to see Jesus.
Jesus fasted, the disciples fasted, Paul fasted. These are the old ways and all these understood this.
2 Corinthians 10:4 KJV For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.