I blinked. Had I heard right? The man of God continued, “You need to expand your understanding of fasting. Christ said that certain demons come out only by prayer and fasting. Perhaps our understanding of fasting needs adjusting.”
Furlough is a time to step away from the daily battles of mission life to reflect on God’s leading, connect with our support team, and re-equip for a new service cycle. The prayer partners we were visiting during the above conversation had asked me about our work and the challenges to ministry among the Buddhists of southern Thailand. Taking the opportunity to unburden, I began spewing out a catalog of obstacles.
“It is reported that when Rama 4 opened Thailand up to missionaries, he told a concerned official, ‘What can they do against the great mountain of Buddhism?’ After 200 years and only one percent of the population Christian, we are still asking, ‘How can we move this great mountain of Buddhism?’”
The man of God interrupted me. “Remember when Christ cast out the demon from the boy after the disciples failed? He said, ‘This kind only comes out by prayer and fasting.’ Usually, we think of fasting as abstaining from food, but there are other types of fasting.”
“Yes,” I said, nodding in agreement. “We can fast from news, politics, social media, entertainment and relational interactions.”
“Correct, these are all parts of a serious fast, but there is one more thing that we seldom consider.” The man of God paused as if he would draw out the answer from me. Seeing the blank look on my face, he continued. “Sometimes we need to fast from the problem itself. Focus on God; only He can move the mountain.”
Later, when considering the task of moving mountains, I performed calculations with an AI chatbot and discovered it would take approximately 49.1 trillion shovelsful to move Mount Fuji—the mountain I used for my calculations. Overwhelmed with the human impossibility of it all, I remembered Zachariah 4:6–7, “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.” Yes, only God can move the mountain. I need to focus on Him and not the problem. “Thank you, Lord, for giving us new insights through the godly people we are meeting on furlough.”
