第十六天  馬太福音十七章

中譯 : Rebecca /文字整理:以君 TOD大衛會幕禱告部

當下門徒暗暗的來問耶穌說：「為什麼我們没有辦法把鬼趕出來？」，耶穌告訴他們：「因為你們的不信，這一類的鬼如果不禁食禱告，是趕不出來的」(馬太福音17:19-21)。

2003年位於Rose Bowl in Pasadena 所舉辦的The call 之前 ，我動員了西班牙語系的牧者與青年領袖們參與這個聚集，會後有一位西班牙的領袖找到我，他說從未聽過「The call」(呼召)這個名字，但他的事工名字就叫The call，他從一個夢裏得到了這個名字，在這個夢裏他看到許多年輕人掉到烈火和洪水之中，這烈火是指性的不道德以及一些扭曲，水是指死亡的漩渦，他看到自殺、吸毒、巫術以及死亡的繩索正在毀滅這些寶貴的生命，那個景象極其黑暗，他想要掙脫逃離這個夢，但有一個肉耳可聽到的聲音說：「解開這個問題的答案就在馬太福音17章」，然後他睡著了，又做了相同的夢，聽到相同的聲音說：「解開這個問題的答案就在馬太福音17章」，第三次又做同樣的夢，聽到相同的聲音，第三次夢醒，他立刻打開馬太福音17章來看，他愣住了！經文中講到一位父親的兒子被鬼所附，鬼會把這男孩摔在火裏、摔在水裏 ，然而門徒無法把鬼趕出去，於是耶穌斥責這鬼，讓男孩得著釋放，門徒問耶穌為何不能趕出污鬼，耶穌說因著你們的不信，這一類的鬼不藉著禁食禱告，是趕不出去的(馬太福音17:20-21) 。

我聽了這個年輕人栩栩如生的描述，真的是對馬太福音17章屬靈情況的精確敍述，當我在想這位年輕人與神相遇的經驗時，我就回到馬太福音17章經文的前面，這章開始時是講到耶穌和以利亞、摩西在變象山上，我發現這三個人都有四十天禁食禱告的經驗，摩西禁食四十天見到神的榮耀，而且將以色列民從埃及的鬼魔中釋放出來，以利亞禁食四十天破除了耶洗別巫術的權勢，同時以雙倍先知性的恩膏來膏抺下一代，減低對巴力的敬拜，巴力的祭壇也成為無用之地，耶穌禁食四十天破除撒旦的權勢，藉著死與復活將撒旦的權勢撤底敗壞，我相信藉著禱告與禁食可以將這世代死亡的權勢趕出去。我更感與趣的是，聖經中關於耶穌的禁食，只有提到這四十天在曠野的禁食禱告，難道全球四十天的禁食禱告，將會開始破除帶給下一代死亡、疾病、病痛以及性的不道德的死亡權勢嗎 ?

 

Day 16 Matthew 17

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief… This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” - Matthew 17:19-21

In 2003, prior to TheCall at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, I was mobilizing Hispanic pastors and young leaders. After the meeting, a young Hispanic youth leader came up to me and said that he’d never heard of TheCall before but the name of his ministry was The Call. He received it one night through a dream. In the dream He saw all these young people falling into these devastating and destructive fires and waters. The fires were sexual immorality and deep perversion. The waters were brooding and swirling with death. He saw suicide, drugs, witchcraft, and the cords of death destroying these precious lives. The scene was so dark that he found himself trying to claw his way out of the dream. As he was scrambling to get out, he heard an audible voice, “The answers to this darkness will only be found in Matthew 17.” Eventually, he fell back to sleep and dreamed the same exact dream with the same audible voice. “The answer to this darkness will only be found in Matthew 17.” A third time he dreamed that same dream followed by that same message. Upon awakening after the third dream, he immediately turned to Matthew 17. The young man was stunned beyond amazement. He found that Matthew 17 was the story of how a father’s son was possessed by a demon who was throwing the boy into the fires and into the waters. The disciples could not cast the demon out. Jesus rebuked the demon and delivered the boy. When asked by His disciples why they could not cast it out, Jesus replied, “Because of your unbelief... this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting” (Matt. 17:20-21).

I was blown away by the graphic nature of this young man’s dream in so accurately depicting the spiritual reality of Matthew 17. As I pondered this young man’s encounter, I was drawn to the beginning of the chapter. The chapter begins with the transfiguration of Jesus with Elijah and Moses on the mountain. It is more than interesting to me that all three of those men fasted 40 days. Moses fasted 40 days, saw the glory of God, and delivered a whole nation from the demons of Egypt. Elijah fasted 40 days, broke the power of Jezebel’s witchcraft, and then anointed the next generation with a double portion of his prophetic spirit. Baal worship was brought low and the altar of Baal became a latrine. Jesus fasted 40 days and broke the power of Satan himself and through His death and resurrection destroyed the works of the devil. Through prayer and fasting, we too will cast the powers of death out of a generation!

It is more than interesting to me that the only recorded fast that Jesus ever did was a 40-day fast. Could it be that the global 40-day fast will begin to shatter the powers of death, sickness, disease, and sexual insanity over the coming generation?!