When You Can't Seem to Beat It
Why Some Battles Need More Than Willpower
Have you ever told yourself:
I'm never doing that again.
And meant it?
Then you did it again.
Maybe it was losing your temper.
Going back to something on your phone you knew wasn't helping you.
Wasting hours doing something you had promised yourself you would control.
Falling into the same temptation.
Repeating the same habit.
You weren't planning to fail.
You actually wanted to change.
Which can make the question afterward even more frustrating:
Why can't I beat this?
The Savior's disciples once asked a remarkably similar question.
They had encountered an evil spirit and tried to cast it out, but they couldn't.
Later they came privately to Christ and asked:
“Why could not we cast him out?”
—Mark 9:28
His answer included something interesting:
“This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.”
—Mark 9:29
That doesn't mean every difficult habit or temptation is an evil spirit.
It doesn't mean fasting is magic.
And it certainly doesn't mean that if you fast once, every struggle immediately disappears.
But it does teach us something important:
Some battles require us to stop relying only on our own strength.
That may be one reason fasting matters so much.
Fasting can look pretty strange if you think about it only as skipping food.
Why would going without meals help someone spiritually?
Isaiah gives us a clue.
The Lord asks:
“Is not this the fast that I have chosen?”
Then He describes fasting with words like:
“loose the bands of wickedness”
“undo the heavy burdens”
and:
“break every yoke.”
—Isaiah 58:6
That sounds like more than being hungry.
Part of what fasting can teach us is mastery.
There are all kinds of things in life that were created to serve us but can slowly start becoming our masters.
Phones are useful.
Gaming can be fun.
Food is good.
Entertainment is good.
Our bodies are good.
Wanting acceptance, success, love, happiness, closeness, and even sexual intimacy isn't automatically wrong.
The question is what happens when an appetite begins making our decisions for us.
How do you know when something you use has started using you?
The Savior showed us the perfect example during His temptation in the wilderness.
He had been fasting.
He was hungry.
Satan told Him to turn stones into bread (Matthew 4:1–4).
Think about it.
Was bread evil?
Of course not.
Would Christ eventually eat again?
Of course.
The temptation wasn't simply about wanting a bad thing.
It was about taking a legitimate appetite and satisfying it the wrong way and at the wrong time.
Satan's question was essentially:
Why wait?
That question shows up in a lot of temptation.
Why wait to feel accepted when you can change who you are right now to make people like you?
Why work for the grade when you can cheat?
Why wait for intimacy when there is a shortcut available on your phone?
Why deal with loneliness, stress, or pain when there is something that can make you feel better immediately?
C. S. Lewis made the observation that wickedness is often the pursuit of something good in the wrong way.
That's why the desire isn't always the problem.
Sometimes the shortcut is.
And suddenly fasting makes more sense.
When you're fasting, your body says:
I'm hungry.
You don't answer:
Food is bad.
You answer:
Food is good. I'm going to eat again. But not yet.
For a short period of time, you experience a legitimate appetite without automatically obeying it.
Fasting isn't just practicing hunger. It's practicing who gets to be in charge when appetite starts talking.
That's powerful.
But it isn't the whole point.
Christianity isn't a program designed to make you so disciplined that eventually you don't need God.
Actually, fasting should teach almost the opposite.
Isaiah says that after sincere fasting:
“Then shall thy light break forth as the morning.”
—Isaiah 58:8
He speaks of healing, protection, guidance, and then gives one of the promises I love most:
“Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.”
—Isaiah 58:9
Think about those last three words:
Here I am.
Maybe the greatest lesson of fasting isn't:
Look how strong I am.
Maybe it is:
I need Someone stronger than I am.
That changes fasting.
You're not simply saying no to food.
You're saying:
There is something I need from heaven more than I need this meal right now.
Maybe you are struggling with pornography and you're frustrated because you keep going back.
Maybe it's anger.
Maybe it's another habit or temptation.
Maybe there is something you have prayed about repeatedly and thought:
Why could not I cast this out?
Don't hear Mark 9 as condemnation.
Hear it as an invitation.
Maybe you don't need to grit your teeth harder.
Maybe you need to bring more of heaven into the fight.
Pray.
Fast.
Repent.
Remove things that make the temptation easier.
Talk to a parent, bishop, leader, or another trustworthy person when you need help.
Use every good tool God has given you.
Because there are two truths worth remembering:
Self-mastery teaches you that you don't have to obey every appetite.
The Savior teaches you that you don't have to fight every appetite alone.
Scripture
“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens… and that ye break every yoke?”
—Isaiah 58:6
“Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.”
—Isaiah 58:9
“Why could not we cast him out?”
—Mark 9:28
“This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.”
—Mark 9:29
Reflection
Is there something in your life you feel has started mastering you?
How can you tell when something you use has started using you?
What do the Savior's temptations in the wilderness teach you about shortcuts?
Why is experiencing an appetite different from sinfully obeying that appetite?
Which promise in Isaiah 58:6–11 surprises you most?
Have you ever sincerely fasted for help overcoming something difficult?
What changes when you stop asking only, “How can I become stronger?” and begin asking, “How can I invite more of the Savior's strength?”
Today’s Challenge
The next time you fast, don't just skip meals.
Fast for something.
Identify one specific person, question, temptation, decision, burden, or struggle you want to bring before God.
Begin your fast by telling Heavenly Father exactly what you are seeking.
Return to that prayer during your fast.
Then watch for what comes next—not only whether the problem immediately disappears, but whether you receive more light, direction, strength, peace, or clarity about what you should do.
Remember Isaiah's promise:
“Thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.”
Christ-Centered Thought
There is a danger in talking about self-mastery.
We can accidentally begin thinking the goal of the gospel is to become strong enough that nothing can beat us.
That isn't the gospel.
The goal is not to eventually need the Savior less.
It is to learn more deeply how much we need Him.
Fasting can teach your body that every appetite does not have to become an order.
But it can also teach your soul something even more important:
You don't have to fight alone.
There may be things in your life you have not been able to cast out yet.
Keep trying.
Keep repenting.
Keep asking for help.
And don't leave one of the spiritual gifts God has given you sitting unused while you're fighting one of your hardest battles.
The power isn't in hunger.
The power is in the Lord you are turning toward.
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