Jesus said, "This kind requires prayer and fasting."

Matthew 17: 14-21 (KJV 2000)

Healing of An Epileptic Boy And when they came to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,  ''Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is epileptic, and is very ill: for often he falls into the fire, and often into the water.  And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him." Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I endure you? bring him here to me."  And Jesus rebuked the demon; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, "Why could not we cast him out?" And Jesus said unto them, "Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, Remove from here to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.  But this kind goes not out but by prayer and fasting." ************************************** Prayer and fasting.  A powerful combination.  Jesus is telling His disciples that for them to have been able to cast out the demon, they had to pray AND fast in order to work this miracle.  What kind of situation must it have been for Jesus to tell the apostles they had to do more than simply pray?  It must have been a very serious, difficult situation.  One that Jesus looked at and maybe thought "this is going to be a tough one."  So the above scripture verse is an example where Jesus points out to the apostles that sometimes they will have to do more than simply pray. The breakdown of a marriage is another example of a tough, serious, difficult situation.  When we made the decision to stand for our marriage, (or when we decided to listen to God's call to stand), we all likely thought to ourselves "this is going to be a tough one".  No doubt about it.  It is tough. So we need to do what Jesus told the apostles to do in those tough times.  The scriptures tell us that prayer is powerful.  "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16)  Jesus' example shows us how to add an extra "punch" in our prayers during those tough times - by fasting.

Fasting isn't easy.  We feel it physically.  Before fasting, it is important to check with your doctor to see if your body can physically handle it.  If you are unable to fast from eating, maybe a fast from one of our modern conveniences would be appropriate.  Turn off the tv or radio; devote free time to prayer instead of entertainment; offer your free time to helping out others, etc.  There are many ways to "fast".

Remember, the goal of fasting is to get closer to God.  And that should be our goal during our stand, and afterward for that matter.    In addition, it just might be what is needed to "break through" the evil one's grasp on our wife and family.

Be blessed.