Recently while our family was in a public setting, our kids behaved so badly towards each other that another little boy’s spirit was hurt. Mortified by the fact that I had to learn this from the boy’s mother, I was so angry I had to keep my mouth closed during the ride home for fear of what I might say. Once home, I clearly communicated my disappointment over the situation and the consequences that would follow. After the younger three went to bed broken and remorseful, our preteen proceeded to wage a verbal battle with Alicia and me that was so dramatic, I felt like we were in a scene from an After School Special.
Alicia and I lay in bed that evening feeling exhausted and defeated. Though we were both bewildered by the turn of events we’d just experienced, somehow I knew that the weight of it was ultimately mine to bear. I remembered an incident in my youth when my dad had to stand before the school board on my behalf and receive judgment for my poor choices. Then I began to imagine standing before God on behalf of my children and their poor choices. I started to present my case, pointing out all that I do to instill God’s Word and biblical truths into my children’s lives. It only took a moment before I realized that the gavel had dropped and my efforts had been proven insufficient.
When I asked the Lord, “Why?” I immediately recalled the same frustrating question from the mouths of the disciples. The Lord brought to my remembrance the boy who had a mute spirit. When his father brought his suffering son to the disciples, they could not cure him, but Jesus could. Jesus explained why the disciples were not successful:
And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.” Mark 9:28-29
Everything became clear. God’s Word tells us that a house divided cannot stand. The most common and effective tactic of the enemy is to cause division from within. While the enemy was busy waging war against my family, my defense as a father, as valiant as it might be, was not enough to withstand his attack. A victory of this magnitude can only be won by prayer and fasting.
The concept of prayer and fasting is not new to Alicia and me. At various points in our life we’ve prayed and fasted for wisdom, direction, healing, and victory over sin. But the kind of fasting described by Jesus in this story is a bit different. The disciples didn’t have time to say, “Oh wait, we don’t have the power to do this, give us a week to go home and pray and fast first.” The power they lacked at that moment is the kind that comes from a lifestyle of prayer and fasting.
Spiritual discipline is often compared to athletic training. The time to train for the marathon is not at the race, but months before the race. It is the same with prayer and fasting. The problem is, we do not know today what we are fasting for tomorrow, next month or next year. We must fast in faith, deny our flesh and feed our spirit, so that we are prepared to do God’s work, in His power, when He wills. Prayer and fasting is not a recipe to keep trials from our lives, rather it is what empowers us to have victory in those trials.
The next morning, I shared the story of the boy with the mute spirit with my children. I told them that I was going to be fasting for the next four days praying for one of them each day. I apologized for becoming lazy in this discipline and I committed to fight harder for my family.
I know that in my own strength I will never be able to fight hard enough. It is a team effort summed up by the writer of Hebrews:
I know that in my own strength I will never be able to fight hard enough. It is a team effort summed up by the writer of Hebrews:
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1,2
Endurance is hard. For this reason I fix my eyes on Jesus, my coach at the finish-line, knowing that He endured the death and shame that was supposed to be mine. I fix my eyes on Him because He sits at the right hand of the Father ever living to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25). He is there urging me on as I get closer to that finish line where I will stand and give an account for the family and ministry that He has entrusted to me. It is here that I hope to hear those words, “Well done my good and faithful servant…”
