God could heal us instantly, yet He has made it so that we must work through the healing process, driving us to come to Him in prayer and making it necessary for us to experience the labor of fasting. There is an indication here that there is something necessary and beneficial to us in the process of healing, in the experience and labor of denying self and reaching out to God, that is perhaps more important than even the end result of healing–or rather perhaps it is this self denial and connecting with God through prayer that is the desired end result.

But it is the labor of those seeking to intercede for the boy of which the Lord is speaking. Their labor, through prayer and fasting, will cast out the demon. The boy has not the strength or ability to do this for himself.

It is all very mysterious. The Lord tells the disciples that casting out the demon requires prayer and fasting–and then proceeds to cast out the demon with a command. He asks the boy’s father if he believes–implying that the father must have faith to have his request granted, yet the demon is cast out even though the father admits that he lacks complete faith. So God, who could heal us all in an instant, seems to have a bigger agenda than our simple deliverance from suffering. Through the struggles, temptations and ‘demons’ that He is allowing in our lives, He is driving us to see and admit our weakness, helplessness, and lack of faith, compelling us to call out to and connect with Him through prayer, and requiring that we deny ourselves–and follow Him.

And equally mysterious: the fact that the labor and faith of others can drive out the demons in those they love.