This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting

 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"  Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who has a mute spirit.  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."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."  Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  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 said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.  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 9:14-29

Yesterday we read that following the revelation that Jesus is the Christ, after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.  Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."

 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"  Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who has a mute spirit.  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."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."  Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  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 said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"    We should recall from yesterday's reading (above) that Jesus has been on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John.  So here He is returning to the town and finds this multitude and this event in which the other nine disciples attempt to heal a boy, and the scribes are disputing with His disciples.  My study bible points out first that sickness in Scripture -- and in particular the healings that are written about in the Gospels -- are frequently connected to demonic activity.    So here we begin with a scene in which there is spiritual struggle, and the nine disciples who did not go up onto the mountain with Christ for the Transfiguration have unsuccessfully attempted to heal this boy -- and the scribes are present and involved in disputing with them.  Jesus first turns to the scribes, asking what they are discussing with them, in yet another occasion in which we observe Jesus' quick action to defend His disciples.  But the father of the boy, desperate for help, replies.  Jesus' remark in response to the man, O faithless generation, is directed at the father's need for faith.   We observe also the pitilessness of the demonic, and the harm done to a child.  The father's plea -- Lord, I believe; help my unbelief! -- becomes a plea for all of us.

When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.  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."   We note the repeated reference to the crowds, that the people come running toward Jesus to see what is happening.  In front of the crowds, He rebukes the spirit and commands it to be gone.  The boy is exhausted from the struggle.  But in private, Jesus addresses the nine disciples regarding their own lack of faith sufficient to heal the boy.  (Matthew's Gospel includes a rebuke here; see Matthew 17:19-21.  St. Chrysostom points out, in commentary on this incident in Matthew's Gospel, that the "pillars" of the faith -- Peter, James, and John -- are not included in this rebuke, as they were up on the mountain at the Transfiguration with Christ.)   My study bible says that this kind refers to all powers of darkness, and not those that cause a particular illness.   The banishment of demons, it says, requires faith, prayer, and fasting, and from the writing of the Didache (the first teaching document of the Church), patristic writers have taught that both the person in need of healing and the person performing the healing must believe, pray, and fast.

Faith, prayer, and fasting -- these are elements that make for spiritual strength.  In modern times, many people do not practice fasting and feel that it is irrelevant to their faith.  But there is a misunderstanding about fasting, that it is simply making a sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice, and this is a mistaken belief.  Fasting is the practice of personal discipline, a way that involves body, soul, and spirit in the practice of faith.   It is a way that teaches us that our faith in God involves all of ourselves -- all of who we are as human beings -- just as Christ Himself became fully human in all aspects of what that means, for our sakes.  Fasting is not a question of following rules; it is rather a way to use a tool in moderation and to the best of our ability or capacity to remember God and to mold an internal faith.  It acknowledges that we are not ethereal beings, but that our bodies, souls, and spirits are part of a whole of who we are.   We should remember that there are no "bad foods" in Christian faith, and that hospitality --  as was true for the early monastics in the desert, renowned for their discipline -- always trumps over fasting rules.  (Hospitality was even important enough that if a knock at the door came during prayer, prayer would be interrupted to respond.)    Both the practice of regular prayer and of fasting -- again, with moderation and personal health kept in mind -- are ways of learning a discipline that really teaches us about ourselves as human beings, and in particular about how we are shaped and grown within spiritual discipline.  We ourselves may come to marvel at how we are changed for the good with such practices, and what they can do for our own lives.  Modern researchers teach us about the "neuroplasticity" of our brains; that is, the surprisingly flexible ways in which our brains can adapt and mold to need and new circumstances, shaping who we are and how we respond to things.   These spiritual practices that Christ names are ideal for shaping who we are and who we think we are.  Through the action of grace with faith, not only may we find ourselves mysteriously adapting to the grace we are capable of receiving, but also by building a corresponding internal "structure" that comes from these disciplines in which we use our bodies to fully live our faith.  (You may find, as I have personally, that the practice of fasting has also had the surprising benefit of correcting health issues my doctor had not addressed with such a prescription!   Paradoxically, I am now able to enjoy food when not fasting that I was not able to enjoy before my current simple fasting practice.)  Let us remember, also, that fasting rules always varied from place to place, and can be practiced in a myriad of ways.  But this is not a diet for diet's sake, nor a sacrifice for sacrifice's sake; it is, instead, a way of opening up, making space and time for the more important things we wish to emphasize, for prayer and study and the building up of faith, and for focus on the things of God.  St. John Chrysostom, in preaching about fasting during Lent, prescribed to his well-to-do parishioners to just give it a rest for a while:  the fancy dinners, the hired servants, the efforts in the kitchen, the impressive tablewear and dining decor, the exotic ingredients sought after in the market -- and focus on something better for them for a time.   Spiritual disciplines become a question of forming priorities, of building up within us what is more important, of putting God and our communion with God first.   A prayer rule (such as the practice of Hours Prayers) becomes a way to discipline ourselves to give our time to this inner strengthening of communion and of faith, a deliberate cultivation of our time within discipline that also conforms body, soul, and spirit so that we may be more sensitive to God's grace.  Let us remember that each of these things is for us, for the fullness of what it is to be a human being in body, soul, and spirit -- and that through them we build a faith that helps us in ways that are uncountable in every aspect of our lives.  All of these are accessible to each one of us, wherever we are.  They cost us nothing, and give us everything in return.  Let us grow, like the disciples before us, in this understanding, and in the strength of that faith.