(Matthew 4:1-11) Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. (KJV) In reading the text for this chapter, you may have noted that the word “prayer” is not even mentioned. You might wonder why I chose this passage to entitle it The Wilderness Prayer. If you 17
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do a study of the life of Christ, you will find that Jesus never did face anything without first praying.
I challenge you to separate fasting and prayer. I am of the opinion and belief that Jesus not only fasted during the forty days and nights in the wilderness, but He also prayed during that time. A close examination of the Scriptures will give us the reasons for coming to this conclusion. In order to draw the conclusions, we must examine fasting and prayer as it is given in various passages of the Scriptures.
In the Old Testament the word for “fast” is used at least thirteen times. Of that thirteen times, eleven refer to fasting and some indication to prayer, either by direct reference or by inference. This can be noticed by the following verses from the Old Testament: (Jeremiah 14:12) When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence. (KJV) I call your attention to the words, “When they fast, I will not hear their cry;…” How could God not hear their cry unless they prayed to Him in the first place? For God to hear, or refuse to hear, there has to be a prayer offered. Prayer is not mentioned in the verse, but we cannot mistake the meaning of the passage. Prayer is definitely connected with fasting.
(Joel 1:14) Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD, (KJV)
Here again prayer is connected with fasting.
(Zechariah 7:4-7) Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying, Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain? (KJV)
In this reference a fast unto God would necessarily include prayer.
I believe that you can definitely see, from these passages of Scripture in the Old Testament (and there are certainly more than just these I have cited), that fasting is connected with prayer.
In the New Testament, only Matthew 6:16-18, with exception to the references concerning the title of this chapter, refer to fasting connected with prayer. The word “fast” as used in the New Testament, is found at least six times. In the majority of these times the inference seems to be that of prayer being left out of the fasting, or the neglecting of prayer during the fasting. The Jews, especially the Pharisees, were fasting frequently, but they were doing so in a public sense without prayer. They were showing forth their supposed piety. They were, however, making a mockery of 18
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fasting and praying. Jesus condemned them for it many times. The truth of the matter is given in the following verses.
(Matthew 6:16-18) Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. (KJV)
Again, fasting is indicated to be connected with prayer.
Consider the next three passages which contain the Hebrew and Greek words for “fasted.”
(Ezra 8:23) So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us. (KJV)
We should note that Ezra and his party not only fasted but they also besought the Lord. How can one beseech the Lord without praying? Here, again, fasting is connected with prayer.
(Nehemiah 1:4) And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, (KJV)
No amount of comments can make this passage any clearer than it already is.
(Acts 13:3) And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. (KJV)
I don’t think that any further need to be said to this. The passage seems quite clear.
Before going further in examining the reasons for this prayer, I feel that fasting should be considered in the light of what Jesus did in the wilderness during those forty days and nights. I think that one of the reasons why Jesus fasted as well as prayed during this period of time was to increase His spiritual alertness. Be it remembered that He is about to begin His personal ministry on the earth. Before that can be started, however, a severe trial and test must be faced. Satan will attempt to completely break Him before his ministry is ever started. Therefore, even though He is the Son of God, He has to be fortified for the ordeal ahead of Him. He is God in the flesh and since He is in the flesh, He has to increase His spiritual alertness. There is an explanation for this. The body requires an increased amount of blood when food is consumed because of the digestive processes. When one exercises, the body also requires a greater amount of blood in order to build the muscles. If one neither eats nor exercises, a greater amount of blood is available for mental and spiritual concentration. Jesus needed all the mental and spiritual concentration that could be had for the severe test ahead. How He fared through the trials and temptations there in the wildness would determine whether or not God’s redemptive plan would work. Therefore, Jesus found it quite necessary to fast as well as pray during this time.
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Not only did Jesus present an example in prayer, but He also did the same with fasting. If Jesus did it, then it stands to reason that there are times that his children should do it as well. The first thing for the child of God to do is to determine when too fast. Fasting is the voluntary abstinence from food. It may be for one, two, three or more meals. One must not just fast, there are other things that must be done in connection with the abstinence from food. It should be combined with the memorization and meditation of Scripture. There should always be an objective to be reached. The time proceeding the period of fasting should be one in which good nutritional eating habits are observed and consultation with a doctor if there are medical problems. It should be noted that some people are not able to fast, as it is about to be described, because of health problems. I would be the first to tell you that I am not able to fast now because of the problems that have arisen because of my exposure to Agent Orange from Vietnam. I have, however, used this method in times past during the years that I was a pastor.
Jesus, according to the Scriptural record, fasted for forty days and nights. In order to do that, He had to follow a procedure physically. Bill Gothard, founder and chief instructor for the Institute of Basic Youth Conflicts, gave the following procedure for fasting for an extended period of time.
Men through whom God has worked greatly have emphasized the significance of prayer with fasting. One such man used the following schedule for a day of prayer and fasting.
Whenever this Christian leader had an important decision to make, or whenever he was asked to bring an important message, he would set aside a twenty-four period prior to the meeting or to the time the decision had to be made. The twenty-four hours went from evening to evening. Here are the items included in his day of prayer and fasting.
Evening—Reading large sections of Scripture
He read or scanned as many significant sections of Scripture as possible for general content and key ideas related to the subject of his needs…When a particular section seemed significant to him, he would make a special notation of it for the purpose of studying it further the following morning.
-Sleep-
Morning—Strengthening personal spiritual communion
His first job in the morning was to enjoy a time of personal edification from Psalms and Proverbs. These sections were used to put his own heart in tune with the Lord…He would then reread the significant sections marked the evening before and begin study in each one. The study involved outlining the section, make special word studies, looking up cross-references, etc….As each insight was gained in his study of the Scripture, he would turn it into a personal response to the Lord. As he did this, he would analyze his life and evaluate it on the basis of the principles of each section.
Afternoon—Selecting key verses to memorize
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In the course of his study and prayer, key verses would stand out as those which should be committed to memory. He would begin to memorize these, a few verses at a time…For meaningful variation during memorizing, he would read related excerps of Christian classics or read and hum related hymns…
The word “meditation” is based upon rumination—as a cow chewing its cud. In the same way, this missionary would mentally, emotionally and volitionally think and rethink all that which he had studied for the purpose of identifying key Scriptural principles to be used in the solution of his problem or in the preparation of his message.
During this time of meditation, he sometimes would become weary. If so, he would put himself to sleep meditating on Scripture. By doing this, he often discovered that his mind was clearer after a short nap so that his meditation on the Word was even more meaningful.
After preparing a message by use of this schedule, he would go directly to the platform to bring the message. Those who listened to him speak marveled at the depth of his message and the preciseness of his words in meeting their needs.
One man made the comment, “It was as though we were listening to the very oracles of God!”1
While there is no doubt Jesus did not follow the same type of schedule as is presented by Mr.
Gothard, He would have had to follow some of the principles presented. Water and clear liquids are permitted during an extended fast, but nothing solid. The text reveals Jesus was hungry but nothing is said about Him thirsty. A person can survive for long periods of time without food, but not without water or fluids.
Jesus has some basic purposes for fasting, therefore, we should also have some basic purpose(s) for fasting when we do. Fasting is always voluntary and is never to be forced upon anyone. Concerning this, Mr. Gothard writes further:
In an extended fast of over three days, one quickly experiences a great decrease in sensual desires and soon has a great new alertness to spiritual things. In addition to this, the following are further purposes of fasting listed in Scripture: Fasting to seek God’s will in a specific matter:
The Israelites fasted to determine direction in battle – Judges 20:26
Paul and Barnabas prayed with fasting before choosing elders – Acts 14:23
Fasting in repentance for sin:
The Israelites fasted and repented and put away false gods – I Samuel 7:6
David fasted and repented of his sin – II Samuel 12:16, 21-23
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Ahab fasted and repented after causing Naboth’s death – I Kings 21:27
Hearing God’s Word, Israel fasted, confessing their sins – Nehemiah 9:1-3
Daniel fasted and repented for himself and the people for not having walked in the laws of the Lord – God’s chastisement was to come – Daniel 9:3
Joel called for a fast because of the Lord’s chastening – Joel 1:14; 2:12, 15
The people of Nineveh repented in fasting – Jonah 3:5
Fasting for Concern for the work of God:
Nehemiah fasted over the condition of Jerusalem – Nehemiah 1:4
Fasting for deliverance or protection:
Jehoshaphat and all Judah fasted for deliverance in battle – II Chronicles 20:3
Ezra and the people fasted for the Lord’s deliverance – Ezra 8:21-23
The Jews fasted and grieved after King Ahasuerus’ decree – Esther 4:13, 16
God delivered the Jews from Haman’s plot – they fasted and rejoiced – Esther 9:31
People fasting for repentance and deliverance but God will not hear – Jeremiah 14:12
Fasting to humble oneself before God:
David humbled himself before God – Psalm 69:10, 11, 13
Fasting as part of worship:
Anna served God through prayers and fastings daily – Luke 2:37
The early church was fasting and worshipping God – Acts 12:2, 3
Fasting when in deep sorrow:
Sorrow over the death of Saul and his sons – I Samuel 31:13; II Samuel 1:11, 12
David prayed and fasted over the life of his child – II Samuel 16:21-23
David prayed and fasted for his enemies’ troubles – Psalm 35:13
King Darius fasted when Daniel was in the lion’s den – Daniel 6:182
In closing out this establishment between prayer and fasting, let the following words of Jesus Himself be considered.
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(Mark 9:29) And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting. (KJV)
I know of nothing else that can be written to further establish the connection between prayer and fasting. Thus, if this be the case, then it stands to reason that Jesus was praying while He was fasting.
In considering the reasons for the prayer, we
Fasting opens up your spirit to God
must remember the setting and the time in
when you would otherwise be
which Jesus was fasting and praying. As has
feeding your flesh. It clears the air
already been pointed out, Jesus was a Man
of prayer and to think that He would not
of distraction. It helps you put
pray during a time in which the salvation of
seeking Him above all your other
the entire human race hung in the balance
appetites.
according to His actions and reactions to the
temptations set forth by Satan, is beyond my
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comprehension. It is my opinion that it was
so obvious to the Synoptic writers that Jesus
prayed during the wilderness temptation that
the Holy Spirit did not even see fit to inspire them to include it in any of their writings. Some things in the Scriptures are not stated because they are naturally understood without any explanation.
In the setting of the wilderness, the stage was again set for a battle to be fought between the forces of good, or the forces of God and the forces of evil, or the forces of Satan. Here would be determined whether or not Christ would continue on His course to the cross in order to pay the sin-debt for mankind. Satan was determined to stop Jesus in His destiny. It has been said that the reason that Satan did not try to stop Jesus before this period of time is because he probably did not even know Jesus was alive. Satan may have assumed that Herod had succeeded in killing Jesus when He was a Child and did not even know that Jesus was still alive and well until God declared at His Son’s baptism that Jesus was indeed His Son. Jesus had reached the age of maturity and the time had come for Him to start on the road to the cross at Calvary. The Scriptures even seem to indicate that Satan was very subtle in his approach to Jesus. No doubt Satan had been tempting Jesus from the very outset of His entry into the wilderness with the sly temptations he brings to all of God’s children through the three-fold method of temptation found in I John 2:16.
(1 John 2:16) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (KJV) After the forty days and nights were over, Satan appeared unto Jesus and began to tempt Him in person. The Scripture states that Jesus was very hungry. Satan used this to try to get the Saviour to misuse His power for Himself. He failed in this effort so he tried another. Satan next took Jesus to a pinnacle of the temple and tried to get Him to jump off of it. He again failed in this attempt.
Thirdly, he tried to get Jesus to fall down and worship him by promising Him all the kingdoms of 23
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the world without having to go to the cross and dying to obtain them. In each case Jesus countered Satan’s attempts with the Word of God.
In each temptation, the fate of the redemptive plan of God for the entire universe hung in the balance. Had Jesus surrendered to any of the temptations in even the most minute way, He would have been finished as the Saviour of the universe. To think that Jesus would have gone through these things without praying to the Father is beyond reason. We might say, “Oh, but Jesus was God. He did not need to communicate with Him.” Jesus was God, but He was also a human Being. The only way for a human being to communicate with God is through prayer. Even though Jesus was God the Son, He still relied upon God the Father in times of trouble. Jesus often referred to God the Father. Jesus was limited, to an extent, because he was clothed in a Human Body. Thus, Jesus needed to pray before this extremely trying time came about.
Not only did Jesus need to pray before the Tempter came, but in doing so He set forth an example for all His children to follow. We should not even think of facing the temptations set before us without first praying. Satan cannot be defeated without the power given by God. How are we to obtain this power of resistance against temptations without communication with God? How can we communicate with God without praying? The answers to these questions are so obvious they need not be given.
What did Jesus pray? Again, the Scriptures do not indicate exactly what Jesus prayed. It can be safely assumed that He prayed concerning what was about to transpire. Jesus was facing the most ferocious temptations ever brought about by Satan upon anyone. Jesus need the guidance of the Spirit and the strength of the Father. As
a Man, Jesus need the other Persons of
the Trinity to resist the temptations that
Satan put forth Him. Jesus had to
We are not strong enough to stand
undergo these things because it was
against the devil’s deceptions unless
necessary for mankind. It is believed that
Jesus underwent every type of temptation
we’re regularly on our knees, staying
that any human being would ever endure.
instructed in what is actually true.
The actual temptations recorded seem to
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be the culmination of the forty days and
nights of temptation. With the fate of
mankind dependent upon the outcome
of the temptations brought forth upon the Son of God, it stands to reason that Jesus’ prayer, or prayers, naturally were upon the event at hand. For us to be exactly certain just what the prayer contained is impossible. We can rest assured that Jesus had in mind the temptations that would be brought to bear upon us and as such, through His own temptations, made it possible for every one of us that are saved and know Jesus Christ as our Saviour, to be able to resist the Tempter, through prayer, fasting and the Word of God.
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(Hebrews 4:14-16) Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (KJV)
1
Bill Gothard, Research in Principles of Life (Oakbrook, IL: Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts, 1981), pp. 125, 126.
2
Ibid, pp. 127, 128.
No one can pray for us better than Jesus
and the Holy Spirit. What a blessed,
incomprehensible privilege to have such
perfect prayer Partners lovingly
interceding for us.
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THE PRAYERS OF JESUS
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