Kick it Into High Gear. Matthew 17:21.

Vehicles move faster as you switch to higher gears. First gear is slow, but strong enough to tow you up a mountain. Second is a little faster, third faster still, and so on. If you need to go faster, you move to a higher gear.

But you know what vehicle has a really high gear? Han Solo’s Millenium Falcon in STAR WARS.  Each time Han Solo and Chewbacca are in peril, speeding through space at top speed, they push the hyperdrive button and the vehicle suddenly leaps forward to light speed. I’ll never forget when I was a little boy watching through the cockpit windows and seeing all the stars slide into a blur like white skid marks on the black velvet of space. Talk about kicking it into high gear. Hyperdrive saves the day!

After watching STAR WARS, I would go home and ride bikes and run races and do all the things kids do, and I did them all as fast as I could. But if I were losing a bike race, I needed a higher gear. If I were running a touchdown and someone was gaining on me, I needed a hyperdrive button. How could I kick things into high gear? The physical life has limitations that are difficult to overcome.

What about your spiritual life? Is there a higher gear? Is there a hyperdrive button you can press when you need to outrun Darth Vader? Yes.

When the disciples encountered a demon-possessed man, they were unable to heal him. After Jesus easily cast out the demon, the disciples asked why they were so limited. First, Jesus mentioned their lack of faith. “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed … nothing will be impossible for you” Matthew 17:20.  But then Jesus added something else, almost as an after-thought: “However, this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting” Matthew 17:21.

I think the disciples were praying men. We all pray. But what about FASTING? Jesus walked right up and cast out this demon. There was no time to stop and spend a day or two fasting. Jesus must have been fasting regularly. We know He fasted for forty days to begin His ministry. But perhaps He was fasting often, knowing it to be a powerful part of a deep spiritual life.

Jesus said that there are some problems that can only be solved BY FASTING.

You might look at this statement as putting limits on your spiritual power: you won’t have power unless you fast. Don’t look at it that way—after all, you probably already believe there are limits on your spiritual power. (Who among us expects to work miracles regularly?)

Instead, this statement is not negative, but positive: when you face something critical, there is a higher gear.

There is a hyperdrive button: FASTING. I don’t fast often. I don’t expect you to fast often. But keep that tool in your tool box.

Never forget: when you face life’s toughest challenges, fasting can kick your spiritual life into high gear.

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