Sharpen through prayer & fasting

Here is another account of how we can sharpen our spiritual senses and increase our spiritual authority through prayer and fasting....

In Mark 9:17 we read the account of a father who was exasperated with the disciples for not being able to cast out a mute spirit. Not only was it a mute spirit it was a spirit which caused convulsions and fits.

Jesus was approached by a father whose son was having a mute spirit. The amazing thing was that the father knew that the son was spiritually demon possessed. 

This was the cry of the father to the Lord, "Then one of the crowd answered him and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit". In 9:18 the father described the condition of the son "And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not"

The father told Jesus that this condition was evident since childhood and the force that came upon the son was supernatural and beyond man's power to stop. 

Mark 9:22 "And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us"

Jesus then gave the clues to why His disciples could not cast out the violent spirit:

1. Faith. Mark 9:23 "Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him to believes."
The father had the faith for he shouted in verse 24 "Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!"

2. Prayer and fasting. Faith was essential but there was another action that activated great faith for the working of miracles and this was what Jesus revealed to the disciples after He successfully cast out the mute spirit in verse 26 "Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him And he became as one dead....."

In Mark 9:28 the disciples was astonished and asked the Lord "And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" Jesus replied in verse 29 "So He said to them, "This kind can come by nothing but by prayer and fasting"

Did the disciples have faith? Yes they had otherwise they would not have attempted to cast out the mute spirit. 

Did the disciples have the power or the authority? No they did not as they were not fasting and praying that day. 

A precious lesson to me personally that prayer and fasting increases our spiritual sensitivity and releases the power to cast out demons!~