Page 133 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

P R AY E R A N D FA S T I N G
Prayer and Fasting
This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”
With these words, the Lord responds to His disciples
when they fail to cast out the demon from the afflicted child.
Why could they not overcome this evil? Why could human
strength, knowledge, or effort not suffice? Why was the inter-
vention of Christ necessary?
The answer given is both simple and inexhaustible: only
prayer and fasting can overcome such evil.
But why do these two—so humble, so hidden—possess
such power?
Let us begin with prayer.
Prayer is not merely the utterance of words addressed to
God. It is, more profoundly, the orientation of our entire
existence toward Him. Just as a plant turns toward the sun in
order to live, so the human being, through prayer, turns
toward God as the source of life.
And here lies its connection to evil. Evil entered the world
precisely when man ceased to turn toward God and turned
instead toward himself. In this turning inward, man became
enclosed within the limits of his created nature—limits
marked by corruption and death. From that moment, man
believed that he could overcome evil by his own power, by
knowledge, by moral effort, by progress.
History has shown the illusion of this belief. The ancient
philosophers taught that if man knows the good, he will
choose it. Thus began the long effort to overcome evil through
education and enlightenment. Yet even the most educated
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