Organizing the Inside – Day 262 Lord, Help My Unbelief

May 22, 2012 at 2:00 pm · Filed under Faith, Inspiration, Wisdom, Women's Ministry and tagged: Fasting, Prayer, Unbelief

17Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me. 18And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

19Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20And 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. 21Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.  Matthew 14:17-20 (KJV)

Jesus made it clear what the problem was.
Jesus told His disciples, “Because of your unbelief,” this is why they couldn’t get rid of the hard thing. The same applies to our lives as Christians; certain things that keep coming up or that we continue to struggle with are still hanging on, not because of a lack of faith, but because of no faith. You won’t get the full meaning of this scripture if you read it in some versions. The King James Version makes this clear. Jesus said faithless, which is not the same as other versions, which reads “little faith.” Real faith doesn’t have any unbelief mixed in, and only a small amount is needed. We’re talking mustard seed size!

Jesus gives a simple solution.
Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. Matthew 14:21 (KJV) Consider this, Jesus was referring to this kind of unbelief, not a certain kind of demon. The unbelief in your life that affects your faith only goes out by prayer and fasting. Something supernatural happens when you fast and pray. The spirit man becomes empowered as your flesh is crucified and denied food. Caution, fasting without prayer will do nothing but make you hungry. The two must go together, so never fast under constraint or when you’re not praying and only do so when led by the Holy Spirit.

When fasting, consecrate yourself unto God.
Fasting and prayer is what Jesus prescribed as the remedy for unbelief. Take heed to the things you do, the places you go and the things you say. Set yourself aside for holy purposes. (Isaiah 58:7) While I believe you can continue routine daily activities, your spiritual awareness is heightened to hear the voice of God and it’s important to keep your heart in tune. Remember fasting is not a means by which you get your point across to God, but an act of humble submission whereby you allow the Spirit of God to purge the doubt and unbelief. Jesus said unto him, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”  Mark 9:23 (KJV) If you are to, loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and… break every yoke? Isaiah 58:6 (KJV) I assure you that you will not be able to undo any heavy burdens in your own or anyone else’s life with unbelief hanging around. Jesus told His disciples, “Because of your unbelief,” this is why they couldn’t get rid of the hard thing. The disciples couldn’t break the yoke of bondage for one reason, their unbelief.

We don’t fast to move mountains.
We fast to deny the flesh and strengthen the inner man as we draw closer to God. As a result of that closeness (oneness) we are then empowered to do His will. Because of the heightened awareness of your spirit you will begin to see things that were not otherwise apparent. Through fasting and prayer you are empowered to proceed (take action) in faith, break yokes of bondage and undo heavy burdens. The Word of God is real, true and active. (also read James 2:14-24)

Tomorrow, Lord willing, we will look at how to prepare and organize for a fast. We will cover simple steps you can take to make sure you have an effective fast, and that you last until the end.

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