THE POWER OF PRAYER AND FASTING
1. PRAYER - We all now that communication is one of the most important aspects of a loving relationship. Many times we might not always know what to say or pray, thankfully Lord Jesus provided for us in all our short comings and weaknesses. Below are some powerful verses from the Bible about prayer.
Mathew 6:6 But when you pray, you should go into your room and close the door. Then pray to your Father. He is there in that private place. He can see what is done in private, and he will reward you. 7 "And when you pray, don't be like the people who don't know God. They say the same things again and again. They think that if they say it enough, their God will hear them.
Mathew 26:41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Luke 18:11 The Pharisee stood alone, away from the tax collector. When the Pharisee prayed, he said, 'O God, I thank you that I am not as bad as other people. I am not like men who steal, cheat, or commit adultery. I thank you that I am better than this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week, and I give a tenth of everything I get!' 13"The tax collector stood alone too. But when he prayed, he would not even look up to heaven. He felt very humble before God. He said, 'O God, have mercy on me. I am a sinner!' 14 I tell you, when this man finished his prayer and went home, he was right with God. But the Pharisee, who felt that he was better than others, was not right with God. People who make themselves important will be made humble. But those who make themselves humble will be made important."
Romans 8:26 Also, the Spirit helps us. We are very weak, but the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We don't know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit himself speaks to God for us. He begs God for us, speaking to Him with feelings too deep for words.
The Lord’s Prayer should be prayer not merely as a repetition of words. It should be prayed from the deepest of our hearts. I personally think that even one word coming from the heart means everything. I have to tell you about this. There are many psalms that you can pray to God. Once I saw a pastor preaching while he was sick and while he prayed some psalm of David “Bless the Lord oh my soul, He heals all of my diseases” the pastor got healed right that very moment!
Therefore I also believe that the book of psalms a supernatural prayer book!
2. FASTING - The subject of fasting is in fact another very important “tool” for growing in faith.
The bread that we eat is to nourish our body, to make us to grow and to give us physical strength, thus anyone that feeds only on the physical food can be healthy physically and looking fresh, but the physical body is not the only thing that makes up a man. Man is made up of three entities, which are spirit, soul, and body.( 1 Thess. 5:23)
Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4) We need much more than the physical bread for our survival, we also need to feed our spirit in order to prevent us from dying spiritually. The physical food that we eat can only nourish the body and do no more, feeding only our body with no regard for the remaining two entities will leave us spiritually poor and weak.
Many people, including Christians do not know this truth, hence they neglect their spirit and concentrate on caring for the flesh or the physical body alone, Jesus is trying to remind us of this very important truth.
Jeremiah said in chapter 15 verse 16, “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty.”
Jesus was building His spiritual strength when He fasted for 40 days and night, and after the fasting, the devil came and tried to tempt Him to turn stone to bread referring Him to the hunger of His flesh or physical body, but Jesus reminded Him that man need much more than the physical bread for survival.
For the flesh, fasting is starving and like punishment, therefore it is least practiced by people to seek the presence and power of God. In spiritual terms eating food is a method of satisfying the flesh with its desires. The flesh eats food in order to stay strong and alive, as a matter of fact so strong that the flesh is battling against the willing Spirit within us.
The words: “my Spirit is willing to, but my flesh is so weak against the temptations” is in fact the result of NOT Fasting because the desires of the flesh is stronger. When a person is fasting the flesh becomes weaker and the willing Spirit within us stronger. In other words the Spirit becomes stronger than the flesh because the flesh is learning to obey the Spirit. The practice of fasting is also a powerful tool for casting out evil spirits!
Matthew 17:18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and he departed out of him. And the child was cured from that very hour.19 Then the disciples came to Jesus apart, and said, Why could we not cast him out? 20 And Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief. For truly I say to you, If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Move from here to there. And it shall move. And nothing shall be impossible to you.21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.
Yes, the Bible also teaches that overeating is a sin (Proverbs 23:21). From the beginning the desires of our flesh is an enemy of our will. Fasting is also a powerful tool for teaching the flesh to suppress its desires. The most important thing of Fasting is Prayer, without praying, fasting means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
The first 2 days, for me, was always the most difficult each time. I experienced that when I prayed when the strong hunger came over me, the hunger would actually disappear, by the power of the Holy Spirit in me, my will becoming stronger against satisfying the hunger!
Both the time and menu for fasting is much different for each person depending on their normal eating habits and intervals, for example a person eating 6 meals a day would be fasting 4 hours after skipping a meal, but a person eating one meal per day would only be starving after 24 hours since this last meal, which means he is actually beginning fasting 24 hours after his last meal although he didn’t eat for 24 hours.
A person cannot say that he had fasted today because he forgot to take breakfast this morning! Fasting should be scheduled, for example 1 day a week or 4 days every month etc. Fasting should be for the Lord. It should be a heart committed appointment with the Lord, not to be missed or cancelled for another day.
Since I have not fasted for many days at a time I only took fluids while fasting, water and pure fruit juice, but no food. I would say that a person is indeed fasting when he is craving for food, but be willing not to. It’s like forcing your body to go the gym for a physical exercise when you are utterly tired. Spiritually it works exactly the same, to exercise the desires and will of your flesh not to eat when you are hungry.
I personally recommend taking fluids and skipping meals. Some people suggest replacing meals with fruit etc. I personally do not fast by replacing a meal with other food whether it is fruit or veggies, thereby still satisfying the hunger, those desires of the flesh, with food. But let us look at some examples of fasting in the following Bible verses:
1Samuel 7:6 “They got water and poured it out before the LORD. In this way they began a time of fasting. They did not eat any food that day, and they confessed their sins”
Leviticus 23:32 “It will be a special day of rest for you. You must not eat food. You will start this special day of rest on the evening following the ninth day of the month. This special day of rest continues from that evening until the next evening."
Joel 2:12 "Yet even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
In the verses above, fasting was a day of sorrow, confession of sins and no eating. However Isaiah 58 reveals that there is also a type of fasting that should be evident as a day-to-day lifestyle.
Isaiah 58:6–7 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?"
Just a precaution is to never ever stay without fluids. When a person experience dizziness I recommend immediate stopping fasting. Headaches are a common symptom of dieting so the same symptoms may occur for fasting. No medication should be taken during fasting; I had a personal vision and revelation in this regard. Medication is drugs, this includes appetite suppressants. If you suffer any medical condition especially diabetics, I suggest NO FASTING, but rather following the biblical alkaline diet and a powerful healing in Jesus Name! The same for anyone using medication. Remember that prayer is the key against those sudden hunger desires!