from my book of essays titled The Best Sex
Prayer and Fasting: Really?
“Yes, really,” I was told, “Jesus said to pray and fast in order to cast demons out of people. And the proof of this is found in both Matthew 17:21 and Mark 9:29.”
Okay then, let’s take a look at three different Bible versions. First the Matthew passage in the King James Version, KJV, then the Revised Standard Version, RSV, and finally the English Standard Version, ESV. And the same for the passage in Mark.
Matthew 17:21
KJV, “Howbeit, this kind goeth not out except by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21). Jesus is telling His disciples, according to this version, that demons cannot be cast out of a person without both prayer and fasting. And fasting means fasting from eating food. Now for the Revised Standard Version.
RSV, oops, this verse is missing, the text moves from verse 20 to verse 21.
ESV, oops again, this verse is missing, the text also moves from verse 20 to verse 21.
Why is this? The majority of the Greek manuscripts from which the KJV developed contained verse 21. However, the RSV and ESV versions deleted verse 21 because it did not appear in the oldest and best manuscripts. At some point, and not likely prior to the 5th century, the verse simply was not there. Codex Alexandrinus, Siniaticus, Vaticanus, and all early papyri manuscripts simply do not have this verse and also thousands of other early copies of Matthew.
So then, it has been argued, well, if it is in the KJV version it must be original because the KJV is the authorized version of the Bible. Indeed, some see it this way but not many anymore. The KJV was authorized by King James of England not by God. Hopefully this is plain enough to end that discussion.
Mark 9:29
Now the passage at Mark 9:29. The KJV has, And he said unto them, “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” And the setting is the same for both accounts in Matthew and Mark where Jesus heals a boy with an unclean spirit.
The RSV now: And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” Now we have the use of the word “prayer” but not “fasting.”
The ESV then: And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” Again prayer, and no fasting.
Prayer, most understand means appealing to our Holy Trinity and not relying on any spiritual power on the part of the Christian doing this ministry.
The RSV and the ESV read the same and are an accurate rendering of the best Greek manuscripts, and not even close.
Imagine if it were necessary to fast one meal, two meals, three meals, over one day, two days, there days, or longer, do we suppose the person needing deliverance is going to wait around for this. This work generally comes up quickly, often with no time to spare. And such was the case when Jesus cast out demonic spirits.
In the six accounts of Jesus casting out demons in the New Testament, in every case it was done right then. No fasting, not even any sort of audible prayer heard by others either. Jesus merely ordered demons to come out, and they did. It is assumed that Jesus was looking to the Father, praying in the moment, trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit to do this work. And this is how it has always been down through the centuries, in our own day, and in my own personal experience, and many hundreds of these.