NOTES for Mat 17:14-27

Did the disciples not have faith even the size of a mustard seed, since they could not cast the demon out of the boy? Yet we have read that they had succeeded before—the Lord Himself gave them authority over unclean spirits. Apparently, the strength of faith is not simply the degree of our confidence in some truth about God or the world. The Lord binds faith and prayer—that is, communion with God—into one. This means that the matter is not confidence, but closeness to God and inner unity with Him. It is no accident that the Lord mentions fasting: when fasting, a person draws vital strength not from food but from communion with God and lives by His life. Such unity is not given to us once and for all. Today we may be closer to God, tomorrow farther away, although this is not always determined by our subjective feelings. Consequently, what separates faith from unbelief is not doubt about God’s existence, but an inward closing-off from Him: prayerlessness and a failure to strive toward Him.