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We are living in solemn times. The world is convulsing under the weight of sin, suffering, and spiritual darkness. Families are under attack, churches are struggling, and the hearts of men are growing cold. Yet in this hour, God is calling His people to return to the ancient path paved with prayer and fasting.
Jesus revealed a profound spiritual principle in Matthew 17:21: "However, this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting." There are certain battles that cannot be won by ordinary means. There are strongholds that will not be broken by casual Christianity. If we continue to play church, we will not overcome the storms that are brewing. Certain things will not go away unless through prayer and fasting, and unless we surrender fully and completely to Jesus Christ.
This statement was made after Jesus' disciples failed to cast out a demon from a boy. Yes, they had some power. Yes, they had experience. Yet they were powerless against this particular manifestation of evil. The disciples were walking with Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, yet they were powerless.
Sometimes we ask why we cannot do great miracles like the people of old. The answer is simple: the church of God is powerless. The question that confronts us today is: Are we powerless in the face of the kinds of evil that plague our homes, our churches, and our communities?
The call of prayer and fasting is not optional. It should be essential. If you are able to control your appetite, you will be able to control many things. Prayer is the communicating process that allows us to communicate with our loving Savior—the infinite one, the all-wise one, the all-powerful one who is more than able, who can do all things, who knows all things, who holds all things in His hands.
Prayer puts us in direct contact with the one who created us, the one who redeemed us, and the one who sustains us. From Genesis to Revelation, fasting and prayer are woven into the lives of the faithful servants of God. These practices were not mere rituals but deep expressions of dependence upon God.
Sometimes we just turn up at church because we can turn up. It is a ritual. We go to prayer meetings to pray, or in the mornings at 5:00 we make the sacrifice with our bodies, but we just turn up to pray—it is empty. We go there physically but spiritually we are not there. I suggest that you go into your closet and ask God to help you find a connection with the spiritual being.
Moses and Divine Revelation
In Exodus 34:28, after Moses went back to God to receive the Ten Commandments a second time, he was with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights. He did neither eat nor drink during his sacred fast. Moses received the Ten Commandments. Fasting positioned him to receive divine revelation. It was no ordinary encounter—it was communion with God the Creator, face to face.
Moses put away the food for himself. He made a sacrifice because he knew he was facing a divine one. The good news is, brothers and sisters, Moses knew that the divine one is a great sustainer. When we go to fast, our Creator Jesus Christ will sustain us through our fasting. When we surrender to God, God will see us through. God will lift us up. God will bring us through.
Esther and National Deliverance
Esther, Queen Esther, faced a national crisis when her nation was facing annihilation. Esther declared a fast. In Esther 4:16, she said, "Fast with me. Fast with me. Fast with me. I neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I also and my maidens will fast likewise." This national crisis required divine intervention. The result is history: God's people were delivered and their enemies were defeated. Fasting and prayer turns fear into favor. Fasting and prayer turn our affairs into favors.
Jesus Himself Fasted
Jesus himself fasted. In Matthew 4, when he was tested by Satan—tried three times—he fasted 40 days and 40 nights. If the Son of God saw the need for fasting, how much more do we? Jesus was victorious over the devil in the wilderness. He fasted because fasting fortified him to resist the temptation of the devil. The result was victory over temptation.
The Early Church
The early church faced crisis after crisis, and in each crisis they came out victoriously and triumphantly. In Acts 4, when they faced a crisis, they prayed together—not individually. Yes, we need to pray individually, but when they came collectively together, the spirit of the living God fell upon them and they were victorious.
A valuable lesson that the book of Acts teaches us is that prayer changes things—it changes situations, circumstances, and people. Prayer should be the first line of defense for God's people.
Paul says in Ephesians 6:12: "We wrestle not against flesh and blood." One of the things we need to understand is that if we want to be used by God, it cannot be done on a natural level. We cannot serve God out of our own strength, out of our own intellect. We cannot serve out of our own wisdom, out of our own power. We must rely completely upon the power of God.
If the will of God is to be accomplished through us, it cannot be done by our natural ability or natural gifts. We cannot serve God effectively and efficiently in our own strength. Our intellect is not enough. Our wisdom does not surpass the wisdom of God. And our power is limited compared to the power of the true and living God.
So we must rely totally upon the power of God—His natural power, His miracle-working power, His transforming power.
"This kind" represents not just a particular strong demon but also the strongholds, cycles of bondage, generational curses, addictions, and entrenched sin. These are issues that will not move by casual prayer. There are churches that have not seen revival in decades. There are marriages that are in crisis. Our young people are abandoning the faith.
Are you battling depression, fear, or habitual sin? In Psalms 35:13, the Bible says that fasting humbles the soul and positions us for the breakthrough that we need. Fasting weakens the grip of the carnal nature. Jesus said to Satan: "Man shall not live by bread alone." Fasting recalibrates our minds and our soul.
Prayer brings the divine into the human. When coupled with fasting, it becomes a spiritual battering ram.
Ellen White says: "Now and onward till the close of time, the people of God should be more earnest, more awake, not trusting in their own wisdom, but in the wisdom of their leader. They should set aside days for prayer and fasting."
As the Seventh-day Adventist Church gets more educated, I am of the opinion that the church is becoming further removed from God. The more academic we become in the realms of academia, the further and further away we are moving from the things of God. Sometimes we try to use our own wisdom to interpret the word of God and confuse the entire church.
When I was growing up, elderly people would come together and when they began to pray, the Lord would have His way. But I guess we are too busy right now. I guess we live in a world that is full of movement—an AI generation. As we get closer and closer to Jesus, I am wondering if we are getting further and further away. The Second Coming of Jesus is getting closer and closer, but sometimes as people of God, we are going further and further away.
Yes, we show up to church. Yes, we show up. But we are empty.
Ellen White says in The Great Controversy, page 621: "The season of distress and anguish before us will require a faith that can endure weariness, delay, and hunger. A faith that will not faint though severely tried. The time of trouble is before us and the fitting up time has come. Prayer and fasting prepare us for the coming storm."
The disciples failed because they relied on past success. But Jesus showed that certain kinds of evil require a deeper spiritual commitment. Sometimes as God's people, we rely on past success. But every day we need to be there with Jesus. Every day we need to pray fervently. We cannot depend on yesterday. Today is a different day. Today we will face a new crisis. So we need to ensure that the Spirit of God is in us.
When the Spirit of God is in us and we go to God and pray, based on the history, there is no doubt that God will see us through. Whatever challenges may come to the Peckham Seventh-day Adventist Church—if as people of God we put away everything, examine ourselves, come together to pray—God will defeat those problems because the gate of hell shall not prevail against the church of the living God.
Jesus said to Peter: "Upon this rock I build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail." God's church will last forever. Let us not worry about the church of God. All we need to do is surrender all to Jesus.
Ellen White says in Ministry of Healing, page 256: "Prayer and fasting are set before us in the scriptures as a means for seeking divine help. In times of crisis, God's people have turned to prayer and fasting and have seen mighty deliverance."
I want to guarantee you today that when we turn to God in prayer and fasting with a sincere heart, we will see mighty deliverance in our lives. We receive deliverance over bondage. We receive deliverance over backbiting. We receive deliverance over speaking untruth. We will receive deliverance.
When we meet to pray, there are chains that will be broken. Then we have that breakthrough. There are some things that will fall away from us. Addiction will go. Healing will flow. God moves in response to the hunger of men.
The disciples failed once. But praise be to God, after they understood the mission of God on the Day of Pentecost when they surrendered their lives to God, they were able to cast out devils. They were able to heal the sick. They were able to turn the world upside down as the Holy Spirit moved through them.
I want to let you know that the same Spirit that was available for the disciples is available to us today. They were the early church. Today this is God's last-days church. But in order for the Spirit of God to come in us, we have to examine ourselves. We have to have a deep connection to the divine. And when we do so in our closet and come here to church to meet together, we will have a baptism of fire upon us.
In closing, Jesus said: "This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting." We have to take Him at His word. The time for spiritual apathy is over. The enemy knows that he has just a short time, and he is not playing any games—neither should we.
Revival is possible in Peckham. Healing is possible in our lives. Victory over sin, victory over addiction, victory over pornography, victory over stealing, victory over anything that easily besets you is possible. All we need to do is surrender all to Jesus.
We need to return to the altar. Let us weep between the porch and the altar, as Joel said in Joel 2:17. Let us fast and pray—not out of ritual, not just turning up, but out of our desperation because we need our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Ask God what "kind" he wants you to confront in your life, your family, and your church.
Ellen White says in Selected Message, book one, page 121: "A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent need. This should be our first work."
She tells us in Manuscript Release, volume four: "Nothing but the baptism of the Holy Spirit can bring the church up to its rightful position and prepare the people of God for the fast-approaching time." She says our preparation for the final conflict is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit comes through prayer and fasting.
Brothers and sisters, it is important for the people of Peckham that as we examine our lives today and realize that we are not where we ought to be, it is possible to dare to start over and find a new life. Draw near to God and he will draw near unto you.
Certain things only come through prayer and fasting. Whatever is plaguing you, mark my word: if you go to God in prayer and fasting—whether it be three days or whatever days it may be—those chains of bondage will be broken.
May God bless you.
