Matthew 17:21-23 Prayer, Fasting, and Distress
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: May 9, 2019 Matthew 17:21-23
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. (Matthew 17:21)
As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed. (Matthew 17:22-23)
(Understanding the Text / Revelation of God) I had to use verse 21 from the MKJV because it is not given in the ESV. Prayer and fasting would be needed to increase faith, I think because Jesus said that the disciples’ lack of faith were why they had failed, and Jesus Himself did not need prayer and fasting to cast out the demon. Some might claim that He did it with His divine power, but other places indicate that Jesus only acted with human power allied with the Holy Spirit while on earth. That means that He cast out the demon using the same power that His disciples had access to. Thus, the source of power was the same. The difference was in their faith. Jesus never broke faith with the Father. He totally trusted in the Spirit’s power. He told the disciples that their problem was faith, so the only purpose for prayer and fasting was to focus on their Father and trusting Him, not as some kind of ritual or magic formula.
(Understanding the Text) Time passed and they were in Galilee together. Jesus warned them once again that He was going to be imprisoned and die, but that He would rise again on the third day. It says that they were greatly distressed. To me that reaction means that they did not truly believe in the resurrection. All they heard was Jesus saying that He was going to die. At this point, they believed in Jesus’ invincibility, but they did not believe in His vulnerability. They comprehended force and power, but they did not understand submission and new life. They understood death because it was an everyday occurrence in their lives, but they had no concept of someone miraculously and spontaneously coming to life again after three days. This was so incomprehensible that it simply did not register.
Jesus knew that it was the last leg of His journey as the suffering servant. He had trained these twelve men in how to be leaders and miracle workers and preachers, but now He had to prepare them for the hardships that were about to come. He wanted them to understand that God’s plan was being carried out so that they would still have faith. Matthew is still focusing on the theme of faith here just as he did in the previous passage about the disciples’ failure to heal the boy. They should have had faith because Jesus had warned them, yet when the time came, they did not.
(Application) My application for myself is that Jesus teaches us to have faith. He does not expect it to spring spontaneously from nothing. He gives us cause to believe. He gave me a miracle so that I would have faith that He is planning and that His plans are going forward even when I do not see them and long before it would be possible for any human to be able to predict possibilities. Everything may seem discouraging and counter to indications of success, but I am to have faith that God has plans that He is carrying forward for my good and the good of the people of Emporia and that I need to simply follow the part of the plans that He reveals for my life. I am simply to stand where He says and speak of what I know and let success or failure rest in His hands. As long as I speak with His voice, failure is not failure. It is not up to me how others react. It is up to me to serve God as He asks me to the best of my ability. Then, I need to have faith that He knows what He is doing and has the power to do it.
(Prayer) You know how weak my faith is. You know that I tend to try to plan my way out of problems, and that it drives me crazy when You do not reveal the outcome of a situation to me. I pray that You will continue to have patience with my lack of faith and desire to know the plans for a situation even when I do not need to know. Teach me to listen to You and follow Your guidance in all circumstances.