One day, Jesus took three of His disciples to the mountain and left the other nine in the village. When Jesus came down from the mountain, He saw them discussing something with the scribes.

Mark 9:14-18
14 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. 15 Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. 16 And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?”
17 Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 18 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.”

The scribes couldn’t cast out demons, but they made a big deal about the fact that the disciples couldn’t cast out the demon. They mocked them for something that they couldn’t do either. This happens even now. People who watch you think that you should be just like Jesus and criticize you when you fail, but they aren’t walking the kind of walk that they say you should be walking either.

When Jesus came back from the mountain, the 9 disciples were very happy to see Him. He asked them what was going on. Jesus heard that His disciples were not able to cast out the demon. He called them a faithless generation. (Mark 9:19)

Jesus prayed for the boy and healed him. The disciples wanted to know why they weren’t able to cast out demon.

Mark 9:28-29
28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”
29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”

This is the key: prayer and fasting. Jesus spoke this word. Jesus told them that the key was prayer and fasting. This is still true for us today.

If you are dealing with a spiritual battle in your life, with your children or your finances or your relationship with God, you need to fast and pray. When you stop praying, you start becoming very analytical, prideful, and unteachable. When you stop praying, deception comes into your heart and you start to believe your own thoughts and understanding more than the Word of God. This is very dangerous.

Matthew 17:21
21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

The devil knows the power of fasting and prayer and will do anything to keep you from praying and fasting. When you fast, you crucify your flesh. You deal with your sinful flesh. When your flesh is weak, God is able to deal with you more easily; it’s easier for you to repent and be purified.

When you pray but you are still holding onto some kind of sin in your life, refusing to let it go, your prayers won’t go anywhere. When you pray with sin in your heart and life, your prayers aren’t effective.

When you pray with a clean heart and connect with God, your prayers will be effective and powerful.

Examine your heart. What is in your heart? What is keeping your prayers from going to the throne room of heaven? What is your open door? What sin is killing your spirit?

When Adam and Eve committed sin, they died spiritually. We are in a state of spiritual death until we reconnect with God. We must connect with God every day in order to be spiritually alive and awake.

You lost your first love and fire for God when you stopped connecting with God. What is the key to going back to your first love? Prayer. When you pray, plug into God. Connect with God. Then you will have passion and fire.

Heaven is for those who overcome. You must overcome through prayer.

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God bless you,
Pastor Sun East