If you had a chance to ask God a ‘why?’ question, what would you ask him? Why did this bad thing happen to me? Why did my mom pass away?
How about a personal failure question? That’s what we find in Matthew 17. The disciples failed at something they were empowered to do and did not know why they’d failed. They had tried to heal a young man’s boy and were unable, so the man brought his son to Jesus. “And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ He said to them, ‘Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.’” (Matthew 17:18-20, ESV).
I love that the disciples asked their question. People don’t do this today when they finish a task. It’s rare to find someone asking for critique to get better. We live in a culture that will blame others but not inspect ourselves.
Jesus’s answer to the disciples is astounding and multi-layered. The big issue, Jesus said, is faith; then he tells them (and us) what can get mustard seed sized faith kick-started: prayer and fasting. Track with me here. Fasting is not a hunger strike to get God’s attention. Fasting creates space for God. To make a meal during the disciples’ time period was not going to Whole Foods or Costco; it was an all-day affair that involved killing an animal and cooking it. Fasting meant creating space to pray and hear from God.
When someone fasts, they are giving God more time, and when you get more time with God, trust me, God gets bigger in your life. That’s why I believe that you can fast from many different types of things and not just food — social media, television, certain activities — and create space for prayer.
The way you get a grain of faith is by praying and fasting. A private ‘why’ not only helped the disciples but also gave us great insight for when we need some movement on things that won’t budge.
After pastoring an inner-city congregation in Detroit for thirty years, Pastor Tim served at Brooklyn Tabernacle in NYC for five years and pastored in Lafayette, Louisiana, for five years. He became Senior Pastor of Times Square Church in May of 2020.