PRAYER AND FASTING Luke 11:1 | NKJV 1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” There is close parallel about what Jesus says about praying and what he says about fasting. He teaches us that When you pray/ when you fast don’t do it this way, do it this way. The fact that he uses the word when you pray/ when you fast it shows that he expects us to pray/fast. He doesn’t say if you pray/ if you fast but when you pray/when you fast. Matthew 6:5-6 | NIV 5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Don’t pray to impress people. Pray to be seen by God and not by people. Matthew 6:16-18 | NIV 16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Don’t fast to impress people. Fast for God and not for people. Both portions the scriptures in Matthew 6 show that there is a reward for praying and there is a reward for fasting. You can get such reward from people or from God. Fasting positions us to be sensitive to God. Fasting is a way of denying the body and the soul pleasure while nourishing our spirits. That’s why fasting should be done when we are spending time with God. Fasting without spending time with God is like dieting or hunger strike. As you spend time ministering unto the Lord in prayer and fasting1 be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Listen to His voice. Acts 13:1-3 | NKJV 1 Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. Joel 2:15-17 | NKJV Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly;16 Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. 17 Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ” Fasting helps us to be tuned to God’s frequency. It helps us to stay connected. Fasting can prepare us to set the captives free – setting the oppressed free2. Isaiah 58:5-6 | ERV 5 Do you think I want to see people punish their bodies on those days of fasting? Do you think I want people to look sad and bow their heads like dead plants? Do you think I want people to wear mourning clothes and sit in ashes to show their sadness? That is what you do on your days of fasting. Do you think that is what the Lord wants? 6 “I will tell you the kind of day I want – a day to set people free. I want a day that you take the burdens off others. I want a day when you set troubled people free and you take the burdens from their shoulders. Jesus lived a fasted lifestyle. He was always ready to set people free at anytime. Acts 10:38 – Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. Matthew 17:18-21 | NKJV 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” We can fast to seek God’s face ask for His intervention in our situation. Ezra 8:21-23 | NLT 21 And there by the Ahava Canal, I gave orders for all of us to fast and humble ourselves before our God. We prayed that He would give us a safe journey and protect us, our children, and our goods as we traveled. 22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to accompany us and protect us from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king, “Our God’s hand of protection is on all who worship Him, but His fierce anger rages against those who abandon Him.” 23 So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and He heard our prayer. Ezra proclaimed a fast for them to humble themselves and seek the Lord. Ezra had already testified that his God protects. Going to ask the king for escorts to protect them didn’t sound right to him after he had testified about his God. He chose not the worldly way, but the spiritual way. Shall we take the natural way or shall we take the spiritual way? God’s way works. We can also fast to humble our souls and to keep our flesh under control4. Psalms 35:13-14 | NIV 13 Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting. When my prayers returned to me unanswered, 14 I went about mourning as though for my friend or brother. I bowed my head in grief as though weeping for my mother. Fasting may also be done to show remorse and repentance5. Ahab although he was very evil, he fasted and humbled himself so that God could be merciful to him. 1 Kings 21:25-29 | NKJV 25 But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up. 26 And he behaved very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. 27 So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning. 28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 “See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house.” God showed mercy to the people of Nineveh when they repented with fasting. Jonah 3:4-10 | NKJV 4 And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” The People of Nineveh Believe 5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 6 Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? 10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it. Examples of fasting in the New Testament Jesus fasted Matthew 4:1-2 | NKJV 1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Paul fasted 2 Corinthians 11:23,27 | NKJV 23 Are they ministers of Christ? – I speak as a fool – I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. 27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness— The disciples fasted Acts 13:1-3 | NKJV 1 Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. Acts 14:23 | NKJV 23 So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Using what you have learnt so far and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you and reveal the truth to you, study the portion of Scripture below. Thereafter we can share what the Lord is revealing to us about Prayer and Fasting. Isaiah 58:2-11 | GNT 2 They worship me every day, claiming that they are eager to know my ways and obey my laws. They say they want me to give them just laws and that they take pleasure in worshiping me.”3 The people ask, “Why should we fast if the LORD never notices? Why should we go without food if he pays no attention?” The LORD says to them, “The truth is that at the same time you fast, you pursue your own interests and oppress your workers. 4 Your fasting makes you violent, and you quarrel and fight. Do you think this kind of fasting will make me listen to your prayers? 5 When you fast, you make yourselves suffer; you bow your heads low like a blade of grass and spread out sackcloth and ashes to lie on. Is that what you call fasting? Do you think I will be pleased with that? 6 “The kind of fasting I want is this: Remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice and let the oppressed go free. 7 Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help your own relatives.8 “Then my favor will shine on you like the morning sun, and your wounds will be quickly healed. I will always be with you to save you; my presence will protect you on every side. 9 When you pray, I will answer you. When you call to me, I will respond.“If you put an end to oppression, to every gesture of contempt, and to every evil word; 10 if you give food to the hungry and satisfy those who are in need, then the darkness around you will turn to the brightness of noon. 11 And I will always guide you and satisfy you with good things. I will keep you strong and well. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water, like a spring of water that never goes dry.