Prayer, Fasting, and Spiritual Warfare

(Mark 9:17-32) (Great Lent 4: St. John of the Cross)

We have now come to the end of the fourth week of Great Lent, to the fourth Sunday of Great Lent. By now, everyone has developed their routine of prayer and fasting – praying and fasting more that we had before this season started – right?

OK, so, maybe we’re not praying as much as we could, or should. Maybe we’ve broken the fast by eating something we shouldn’t have eaten; or maybe by eating too much of something that would otherwise be permitted. But still, we’re fasting and praying – right?

Let’s switch gears for a moment. Think about the sins you’ve confessed – or need to confess – and see how many are “repeats”; sins that we commit in thought, word, deed, or desire, over and over and over again. We all do this, of course, although the particular sin or sins that trip me up may not even be on your list at all. Now, please think about this: What is the connection between this situation of regularly recurring sins, and our poverty in prayer and fasting?

In the reading from the Gospel of St. Mark today, we meet a father with a son that is tormented by a demon. Among other things, the demon throws the boy into the fire, or into water, in an effort to destroy him, to end his life. The fathers tell us that the “fire” into which the boy is thrown can be understood to be anger, and the desires we have in this world; while “water” stands for the flood of worldly cares that sweep us away from the path to the Kingdom. The father is obviously helpless to deal with the situation; and, when he comes to the disciples to have them heal his boy, they are also unable to deal with the situation.

Isn’t this pretty much our situation as well? Don’t we find ourselves consumed by the fire of anger, or of lust, or of greed, or of some other passion that’s almost always on our list of sins to confess? Don’t we find ourselves swept away by the cares of this world, and carried along by the flood, against our will? We seem to be helpless to deal with the situation, no matter how many times we try to do battle with our sins and passions; and others, even the faithful in the Church, don’t seem to have any answers, either. Not only are we unable to help others; we are unable even to help ourselves.

We need to recognize that “this kind” only comes out by prayer and fasting. If we do not take the spiritual warfare seriously, and take up in deadly earnest the weapons of that warfare – prayer and fasting – we will continue to be defeated by our passions, stirred up, at least in part, by the demons who hate us, and the image of God in us, and so they try to defile that image, and to destroy us in body, soul, mind and spirit. Without real prayer and fasting, we will be as powerless as were the disciples in today’s Gospel reading.

Let’s be clear about prayer and fasting. We’re not talking about being super-scrupulous about keeping the rules of the fast; the secret is not in reading the labels! Neither are we referring to the length of our prayers. Neither prolonged fasting nor repetitive prayer will give us the power we lack. Prayer and fasting, in the deepest sense, mean a radical renunciation of self, and a concentration on developing trust in God, and humility before God and men. We must believe, and put this belief in action as trust, that God will be merciful to us. We must seek to know the will of God, and make that will our own, desiring nothing apart from the will of God, and desiring as well to do all that is pleasing to God and beneficial to the salvation of souls, both our own, and of others. When we place the fullness of our being into the hands of God the Father, we will then have the power to pray and fast; and so will have the power to cast out the demonic thoughts and words and deeds and desires that beset and defile us.

Brothers and sisters: We are called anew to a holy fast, to a time of prayer, and of preparation. In the days that remain to us before we celebrate the Pascha of our Lord, let us commit ourselves, and one another, and all our life to Christ our God; beseeching Him to establish in us true prayer, and true fasting, that we may be set free from the sins that defile us: to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.