Anyone who has ever tried to do deliverance or had it done to them has probably heard Matthew 17:21 misappropriated.
Matthew 17:21 NASB
[Jesus said], “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
Although fasting and praying have shown themselves as beneficial in deliverances, Jesus’s instructions to fast and pray in Matthew 17:21 were actually instructions to the disciples on how to get rid of the measure of unbelief in their hearts and not as a formula to expel demons.
In verse 20, Jesus states that his disciples failed at the deliverance of the young boy because their faith was smaller than a mustard seed, stating that IF their faith were the size of a mustard seed, “…nothing would be impossible for them.”
Next, verse 21 states that their lack of faith (a measure of unbelief) comes out through prayer and fasting, which both build up our spirit. Study the verses leading up to the child’s deliverance. You’ll find no mention of the boy or his father fasting and praying between the disciples’ failed attempt to deliver the boy and Jesus successfully delivering the boy. In fact, at no other point in scripture is any demonized person who was delivered and healed said to have fasted and prayed for their freedom. They simply encountered Jesus, His Glory, His compassion, His love, and His authority.
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