Matthew 17: 14-20 tells of a boy with epilepsy who is brought to Jesus' disciples, but they could not cure him. Jesus asks for the boy to be brought to Him, He rebukes the demon, and the boy is healed 'from that very hour.' When the disciples ask Jesus why they could not cast out this demon, Jesus says, "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. However, this kind does not go out exept by prayer and fasting."
I remember this verse coming to mind one time while flying over the Atlantic Ocean and jokingly saying to a mountain below, 'move'! I trusted that if God said it could happen, that it could, hoped that I had faith as small as a mustard seed, but how could I if even the disciples were unable to muster up this much?
But this blog is not about me spouting commands to creation en route to vacation! Recently this verse has come to mind because I feel like there are a lot of mountains that need to be moved- in the world, in my life, in the lives of others. Like the disciples, I want to be Christ's hands and feet to heal, bring hope, and truth. I don't believe that Jesus was annoyed the boy had to be brought to Him, but He tells the discples that there is something powerful about prayer and fasting and in John 14 that 'Whoever believes in me will do the works that I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." I started thinking, what 'mountains' can be moved, or what 'demons' could be cast out by Christ's power in me, so that The Father may be glorified?
So I decided to start praying and fasting- REALLY praying and fasting. Every Tuesday I would skip lunch (I love food, ok, so I decided to start small), and dedicate that time to prayer. I admit the decision about day and time was largely out of convenience since I only work a half day on Tuesdays, finish up paperwork during my lunch, go right home to watch our children, so it is often difficult to get lunch in any way. Still, since committing myself to this seemingly small discipline, many different struggles have presented themselves. I thought that recording and sharing them may help myself and others as we seek to follow and be used by Christ to move mountains By Prayer and Fasting.
