"Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 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. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."—Matthew 17:19-21.
"And
when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why
could not we cast him out? And he said unto them, This kind can come
forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting."—Mark 9:28, 29.If you're not a regular Bible reader or simply not familiar with this story, I'd like to present it in a nutshell, so you understand where I'm coming from...
Once Jesus was on earth, fulfilling His divine ministry, He showed His compassion towards multitudes - He healed those that were sick, mime, deaf, blind, lepers, healed woman with hemophilia, brought a few dead people back to life - all this was done out of great LOVE for His creation. It was not magic tricks or sorcery, as some accused Him of. So anyway, one day nine of the apostles (elected by God), stayed by the mountain with clear instruction from Jesus to continue great work, after Christ's example. They were not only qualified to do this, but they had actually performed many miracles of healing. When they went into towns, filled with divine power, they healed the sick, and cast out devils everywhere; yet on this particular occasion, it seems, they could do none of that, therefore they were completely shocked and discouraged. As they stood there, a poor father had brought to them his epileptic son, who was also possessed with an evil spirit; and they could neither cast out the evil spirit nor heal his epilepsy. What were they doing wrong? Have they lost "their" powers? Again, it's not about magic tricks or some spiritualistic powers used in sorcery. Perhaps, due to so many successful cases of healing, both physically and spiritually, they got into "routine", contributing positive results to themselves? Just a thought.
Imagine now this picture... a broken man, no doubt with eyes puffed from crying and lack of sleep, carrying in his arms a little boy who is screaming, shaking and kicking, pulling his hair out, scratching and biting his father's arms... This man falling on his knees before strangers, of whom he only heard stories, and begging them for help. Nothing he ever tried helped his son enough to make him healthy again. No remedies from knowledgeable medics of those days, nor restraining him physically, or even throwing him in water or fire... Total desperation and hopelessness. Can any of you relate to that? I know I can!
Back to our story now... So this poor man, whose faith in ever seeing his son healed, was hanging on a very thin thread, saying "Gentlemen, please! Help my son!". And so apostles gathered around him, seeing how the boy is pining his frail body, grinding his teeth and foaming from his mouth... Scary picture but not that hard to imagine, is it? You can almost hear those men pray over the young fella... They've done it many times before so why isn't he delivered from this condition?! Looking puzzled at each other (I believe this is the moment they started doubting!), they just lifted their hands and said "sorry, we've done all we could". The next thing we know is Jesus seeing a big crowd surrounding his disciples, who were questioning them, mocking their faith AND God. Therefore He asked people what the fuss was all about. When the boy's dad saw the Master (Jesus), he came out of the crowd and explained that he brought his son and asked the apostles to heal him and cast out the evil spirit, but they were not able to do so. Jesus was grieved from their disbelief and ordered the man to bring forth his son. Then He told him that if he only believed, all things would be possible for them who believed. So this poor father prayed to Christ saying "I believe, help thou mine unbelief"... God immediately commanded the spirit to leave boy's body. After this happened the boy was laying on the ground, as dead. Then Jesus touched him and helped him stand up. The boy was completely healed! Witnessing all that, His disciples later asked their Master privately, why they were not able to do the same. He explained that this kind of "healing" is possible ONLY with prayer AND fasting!
So there you go! How does the above apply to my "honest confession"? I am that father praying daily to help my unbelief. I've seen so many big and small miracles in my son's life that I should not doubt God's power to heal Michael. Yet, in my weak flesh, I always allow that "but" in my mind... "I know you are able to deliver my son or untie his tongue that he could communicate with us with words, BUT!!!!!....". And then there is another major ingredient that Jesus' disciples were lacking when they failed - FASTING! Yes, fasting - completely abstaining from food and drinks, having just pure water, is essential in the healing process. Not only do you obey God's Word, but it has many secular benefits for your body and mind too.
As I have been preparing myself to drink water only, I have done some research on medical side of fasting. There are some cases when a person should not try that. But in majority, if you don't have diabetes, if you are not pregnant or breastfeeding mom, if you are not a pilot, active police officer or a doctor on duty, etc... you are a perfect candidate to water fast.
Please read more on benefits of fasting here.
I need to share, that over the last couple of weeks, we had a really hard time with Booboo - routine has been thrown out the window - no school, our work schedules are different every week and in general we've been on mental "autopilot" ever since we came back from our holidays in America (more on that in my next blog :)). I am suspecting Mikey may have a toothache, as he's been biting things, and people around him, including his precious Yiayia & Papa (grandparents) as well as his baby sister :( . He's been more naughty and hyper than usual. Many days I felt like giving up! My hope that things would improve was hanging on a very thin thread - like in the story about epileptic son. All I could do was cry and beg God for mercy. Not for myself but for my beautiful boy, who is trying to tell me something but gets frustrated, because his mouth and hands are not coordinated with his mind and brain. He hopes I can hear his thoughts, as his amazing blue eyes filled with tears express fear and hopelessness when he grabs my arm and looks into my eyes (which may be physically painful for him to keep eye contact).
Then I was reminded about the power of God, through prayer and fasting in faith, believing like a child... I know I was not the only one abstaining from food and drinks recently :) It is simply incredible what a change we've witnessed - Michael has calmed down, slept through the nights... He still has outbursts of frustration, especially when he hurts somewhere and is not able to show us where. But God gave us a glimpse of what can change if we invest our faith in God, following His instructions, and yes - FAST and PRAY more. Folks! It is worth it!
I heard someone on YouTube saying that even if you don't believe in God yourself, ask a local church or some believers to pray for your child with autism, because there is no say what power of prayer can do! And it really IS a big ingredient of healing process.
God bless and be well y'all ;)
