fasting by casting out devil

We read in Matthew where the disciples were trying to cast out the devil out of a child and they could not cure him and then Christ said in Mt. 17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

What a strange statement that Christ has made here, he not only mentions prayer but fasting what in the world does fasting have to do with casting out the devil ? Is not fasting usually associated with that of not eating food for a period of time and yet some would even say that it gets us closer to God. But again how does this have to do with casting the devil out by fasting. The answer lies in Is. 58:5-7

Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

This is the fast that Christ has in mind, in that is he is saying that we are to share the gospel to the unsaved who are under the control and dominion of the devil / satan. It is the word of God that will set us free from the tyranny of the devil.

If I understand you correctly, you are saying that we don't need to fast literally from food in order to be successful in spiritual warfare, but that the same can be accomplished by evangelism. I certainly agree that sharing the good news is primary; but Christ didn't share good news with the oppressed; He set them free, literally, from real spiritual entities which bound them.

Hello Carl11,

I would remind you that, when the disciples said "why couldn't we cast it out" Jesus told them "this kind, does not go out but by prayer and fasting." And some manuscripts don't have "and fasting" included. In any case, the reference to fasting was needed because of a certain kind, type or rank of demonic being, which are fallen angels. In other words, fasting may have been required in order to cast out this higher ranking fallen angel. As it is, we see the majority of those unclean spirits that the Lord and the apostles cast out and that without fasting.

Hello carl11,

Great post! I think "forgiveness" is a powerful form of fasting - denying my flesh the opportunity to walk in unforgiveness.

The good news of the gospel is "forgiveness through Jesus Christ." Satan gets cast out where God's forgiveness is.

Jesus can tell Satan/devil to come out of people because He has forgiven them. Hallelujah! Praise be to God! Thank You, Jesus!

You have taken that passage from Isaiah out of context and misapplied it.

The Lord Jesus literally meant fasting when He combined it with prayer in Matthew 17. What it meant is that the Christian will focus totally on prayer against evil spirits, and even avoid eating in order to stay focused. The spiritual battle is intense, therefore this command is given to be taken literally.

As to the passage from Isaiah, it was meant to show Israel its hypocrisy. Their fasts were meaningless because they were doing evil and wickedness at the same time.

How does fasting relate to casting out a devil?

Matthew 17:14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
Matthew 17:15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
Matthew 17:16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
Matthew 17:17 Then 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.
Matthew 17:18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
Matthew 17:19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
Matthew 17:20 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.
Matthew 17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

O faithless and perverse generation...

They failed because of the unbelief and perverseness of Adam’s generation.

...how long shall I be with you?...

Jesus points out that he is a new generation among men. As long as he remains deliverance is possible, but we better plan for his absence.

...how long shall I suffer you?...

As we suffer the little children, so also does Jesus suffer our immaturity.
Jesus suffers because unbelief and perverse knowledge and behavior is contrary to his faith, holiness and understanding.
Man, in refusing to believe Jesus ends up in doubt of things and that results in ignorance of truth.

...bring him hither to me.

The answer to what to do when Jesus isn’t here is to bring the problem to Jesus. And that is done by faith and truth.

Matthew 17:18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

It was easy for Jesus to cast the devil out.

Matthew 17:20 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.

Unbelief was why they couldn’t cast the devil out.
Jesus reveals that it didn’t require much faith however.
This means that unbelief hinders faith.
That is, that we must believe Jesus and the faithfully do what he says to do, if we desire to deliver someone from the devil.

Matthew 17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Notice that after stating the reason why they failed, only then does Jesus reveal what they would’ve needed to do.
This is how Jesus points out the result of prayer and fasting.

When confronted with a devil, if difficulty arises, then we must pray to obtain knowledge and understanding from Jesus.

And we must fast till we obtain it for the same reason Daniel fasted till he obtained the understanding he sought.

For when the devil resists he must therefore be resisted until victory.
And discernment is required to reveal the devil behind the details it hides behind.

...for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.

Note that the devil hid behind the medical condition of lunacy and epilepsy as he does today.

Note however, that the father of the boy knew that suspiciously, the epilepsy occurred when opportunity to kill the boy existed. That denotes the work of an evil spirit. For it reveals murderous intent that a medical condition can’t explain.

Fasting is set contrary to the flesh and requires us to exercise faith to abstain from things that hinder fellowship with Jesus. It is required is such a case because clarity and patience are needed to hear the Spirit rightly and patience for effecting of the deliverance in the face of warfare.

When a house calls for police to come help it takes time. There’s no magical means of removing an strong enemy a fight must be fought and that takes time.

Remember that Jesus used the Roman Centurian to exemplify surprising faith among men . And in doing so we find that the Centurian was practical in his nuts and bolts grasp of Jesus’ authority and execution of power.
The centurian pointed out that if he asked a soldier under his authority to do something they went and did it. That takes time. And when the task is more arduous the martialing of forces under authority takes more time and effort.
The point being that we need to have a practical understanding of the spiritual world we are involved with. Faith being required because spirit is unseen, and aren’t heard.
The practical view is contrary to notions of spirit being a magical realm. There’s no such thing as magic. So work in the midst of warfare against enemies equates to hardship... thus fasting... as all soldiers endure in war as they await instructions, means and power from higher authority.

how does a abstaining from food cast out the devil ?

How does casting out the devil cause fasting?

Food fast is necessary in some cases and the best to do all in all before stepping into any heavy spiritual war

In order to be set free from spiritual entities Christ had to share / speak the Gospel with them or else how would one be set free.

Abstaining from physical food has nothing to do with that of casting out the devil, it has to do with that of spiritual food; God's word.

I don't fast with food and water I fast by spending personal quality time with god rather than watch t.v. or do other things, also I have personally seen how just the name Jesus can cast away demons

How does abstaining from physical food going to help you in a spiritual warfare ?

We are talking about spirits and the word of God is spiritual and yet it is used as many physical examples such as bread and water.

Likewise the fast that has to be in view is not that of a physical fast but rather a fast of the gospel, the word of God because in that is where the power lays to overcome.

Is Jesus Lord? Then what demon may disobey a command in His name (authority)? There is no demon greater than His name, who will not submit to His authority. They know their end, and they know His authority. The issue was not a need to fast because of the demon, but because of their unbelief. The Lord Jesus told them to fast and pray to address their unbelief, not because a demon needs special preparations to cast out. His authority, His name, is sufficient. Believe. If you don't, go spend time with the Lord, fast and pray. Get to know Him. He is the Lord, all knees shall bow.

Philippians 2:9-11 King James Version (KJV)

9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus specifically said it was their unbelief that did not permit them to cast out the demon. What is the remedy for unbelief? I suppose prayer and fasting, spending time with the Lord.

Why are you asking nearly the same question repetively like a broken record?
Did not the disciples do the same questioning much that Jesus said and did instead of "learning" and "believing"?
Fasting whether food wise or not is a form of "humbleness" leaving yourself entirely in "God's hands" just as Jesus did vs satan,and a "clearing of the mind" for if one is hungry their focus will no doubt be centered on food or enduring until one can have food.

It is to show that the Bible uses certain words such as "fasting" and "baptism" [as for example] people automatically latch on to the physical aspect of these words and never understand that in all reality God is talking about the spiritual aspect of the meaning. Because the whole Bible is a spiritual book and yet it has many physical attributes but which show a spiritual side.

Matthew 17:17-21 King James Version (KJV)

17 Then 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.
18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20 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.
21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

I find it interesting that when you go into the Greek "this kind", specifically kind, is used to mean family, descendants, kindred, offspring, and generation. If you go back to verse 17 Jesus speaks of the generation as being faithless (unbelief), and perverse. If we tie "kind" to that generation, we see that faithlessness and unbelief then is addressed (goes out) through prayer and fasting.

Is it a stretch? I looked in the Greek and found that kind didn't mean angelos or anything related to a demon (or fallen angel). It meant, from all appearances, generation. So it seems that unbelief in a generation (or individually) is addressed through prayer and fasting.

Yeah many might "visualize" things in a physical sense and think they might do likewise but it's no easy thing to cast out devils or otherwise,because your faith must be focused on Jesus,like those in the bible who tried to do the same as Paul and Peter,and could not for lack of belief,and instead of contending with demons they were humiliated,always good to be "sure" of what one can do first instead of "presuming".