Prayer and fasting. Hearing those words will stir up different emotions in each of us. Perhaps you have been taught that prayer and fasting are a special practice reserved only for those times when we really want to get God’s attention. Or, you may have heard that prayer and fasting were a “Jewish thing” and shouldn’t be practiced today. Or you may be like the me a few weeks ago and have to humbly admit that you really hadn’t thought much about it as a spiritual discipline. No matter where you land on this topic, I want to invite you to journey with me as we think and reason biblically about prayer and fasting. As always, it is best to begin at the beginning.

 

The Principle of Prayer and Fasting

For me, it is always best to begin with a definition. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines fasting as: “to abstain from food. To eat sparingly or abstain from some foods.”[1] It defines prayer as “an address (such as a petition) to God…in word or thought.”[2] Prayer and fasting are for a pre-determined period of time where we practice self-denial, in regard to physical necessities, in order to focus our minds and hearts on addressing or petitioning God. To be clear, I will be dealing with prayer and fasting as a joint discipline. Volumes have been written on the topic of prayer and much greater minds than mine have weighed in on the subject. For our purposes we will not be dealing with if we should pray, that is a clear Scriptural mandate, instead we will explore what role, if any, there is for fasting in our prayer life.

Biblically speaking, where does this idea of prayer and fasting come from? The first clear mention we find of it is in Judges 20. When it appears, it is mentioned as though the reader should be familiar with the practice. Some suggest that references to afflicting one’s soul (Lev 16:29) could be understood as fasting, but the idea of afflicting one’s soul is used in various ways and does not seem a clear reference solely to fasting with prayer.

When we look in the Old Testament it sometimes seems like we see prayer and fasting everywhere. Many of the festivals and feasts were accompanied by this practice. It might seem like this is the premier way of getting God’s attention and being heard. However, in Isaiah 58:3ff we learn that it wasn’t fasting and prayer itself that pleased God, but the attitude of the heart. God clearly lays out how “spiritual stuff” like fasting and prayer is only beneficial if it is matched by a heart devoted to the Lord. What then is the purpose of prayer and fasting?

 

The Purpose of Prayer and Fasting

Prayer and fasting took place in a variety of contexts. The following serves as a representative sample of what is seen throughout the OT.[3]

Reason for Fasting                                          Person or Nation                      Passage

Serious Petition                                             David                                        2 Samuel 12

A Time of Trouble                                         Jehoshaphat                             2 Chronicles 20

Repentance/Sorrow Over Sin                         Nineveh                                    Jonah 3

From this sampling we can see that the purpose of fasting and prayer was as varied as the people engaged in it. “In the Old Testament, it appears that fasting with prayer had to do with a sense of need and dependence, and/or of abject helplessness in the face of actual or anticipated Prayer, Fasting, and the Blessing of God calamity. Prayer and fasting are combined in the Old Testament in times of mourning, repentance, and/or deep spiritual need.”[4]

Interestingly, there are only a handful of New Testament examples of fasting. The practice is mentioned in the Gospels as part of Anna’s service to God (Lk 2:36-38), when Jesus fasted (Mt 4), when Jesus gave instructions on how to fast (Mt 6), when the Pharisees were concerned because His disciples didn’t fast (Mt 9; Mk 2; Lk 5), and when the disciples couldn’t cast out a demon (Mt 17; Mk 9; Lk 9).

Apart from these examples in the Gospels there are four references to fasting in Acts and one in 1 Corinthians. In Acts 9, after his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul spent time in prayer and fasting. The purpose of this prayer and fasting is not given, but considering the things just revealed to him, it seems best to understand this as a time of repentance and sorrow. In Acts 10 Cornelius is fasting when he receives his vision commanding him to send for Peter. The context suggests that this was a regular habit of Cornelius. It is possible that he was petitioning the Lord for deeper spiritual revelation, but this isn’t explicitly stated, one cannot be dogmatic. In Acts 13:2-3 the Antioch church is fasting and praying when the Holy Spirit commanded them to commission Barnabas and Saul. The church then fasts, prays, and sends them out. Again, it is possible that they were seeking direction from the Lord, but that is not explicitly stated in the text. As they fast and pray before sending out their missionaries it seems safe to assume that they were seeking God’s blessing. In Acts 14:23 Paul and Barnabas are appointing elders in the churches they had planted. It seems that this process concluded with a time of prayer and fasting and should be best understood as a time of seeking the Lord and petitioning Him for the health of the church and the effective ministry of the elders just appointed. Finally, in 1 Corinthians 7:5 as Paul is giving direction to husbands and wives, he addresses sexual abstinence in marriage and states that abstinence is only to be observed when there is agreement to do so for a specific period of time during which the husband and wife will spend time in prayer and fasting. After this time the normal sexual relationship within marriage is to be resumed. The purpose of the fasting and prayer in this context (in my humble opinion) can only be guessed at.

These are the only occasions in the NT outside of the Gospels that we find instances of prayer and fasting. What does that mean for us in a NT Church context? To answer that question, we must first explore what fasting and prayer does not accomplish. Prayer and fasting do not make God more likely to hear, nor more likely to act. “Rather, fasting along with prayer seems to indicate the sincerity of the people praying and the critical nature of the situations in which they find themselves.”[5] The purpose of prayer and fasting is not to bend God to our will, but to prepare our hearts and open ourselves up to His work in us. The purpose is to express the seriousness of our petition, repentance, or grief, and to demonstrate a desire for God to act on our behalf. John Calvin wrote, “A holy and lawful fast has three ends in view. We use it either to mortify and subdue the flesh, that it may not wan ton, or to prepare the better for prayer and holy meditation; or to give evidence of humbling ourselves before God, when we would confess our guilt before him.”[6] With that we come to our final consideration.

 

The Power of Prayer and Fasting

As I undertook to study more deeply the practice of prayer and fasting, I was struck by a very interesting element. The vast majority of the time prayer and fasting appear in Scripture it is a corporate event. In our age of hyper-individualism and an independence that skates the edge of antipathy for others, corporate endeavors are a much-needed balm to sooth our weary souls.

We find in the experience of the early church that when prayer and fasting were engaged in, the Spirit moved. While this does not mean that the Holy Spirit would not have moved apart from prayer and fasting, it does indicate that there are ways in which prayer and fasting pre pare the church and the child of God for the work of the Spirit. We could say then that prayer and fasting are powerful tools used by God for the maturing of the believer and the growth of His church. Charles Stanley says it well in his book Talking with God, “The purpose of prayer and fasting is not that others might applaud the current spiritual state of a person, but that the person who is praying and fasting might be changed.”[7]

As we look around where God has placed us, we see the ever-growing need for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Persecution is on the rise, nations are embracing and normalizing a broad range of immorality, and it seems that everywhere we turn the failure of God’s people to live as Christ commands is devastating lives. And yet, in the midst of it all, Christ is at work. Though at times it may be difficult to imagine, there are nations in which Christianity is on the rise. Even in the midst of widespread secularization, the embers of revival may be kindling. The wind that may cause the flames of revival to burst forth may just be times of corporate prayer and fasting.

I cannot speak for others, but I can, however, speak for my own sinful heart. Prayer and fasting takes my eyes off of my selfish ambitions and foolish pride. It forces the eyes of this spiritual man to look toward the face of his Redeemer. It is in the promises of Jesus revealed in His Word where hope is found. The power of prayer and fasting is found in its ability to provide focus on Christ as we earnestly petition for His favor, blessing, and revival. Brothers and sisters, may we dedicate our hearts and devote our minds to seek the face of our Sovereign Lord.

 

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ENDNOTES

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fasting. (Accessed 11/2/20).

[2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prayer. (Accessed 11/2/20).

[3] A very fascinating instance of fasting can be found in 1Ki 21:8-10 when Jezebel used a fast for deception and murder. As this is not a representative sample, but a clear outlier, it is not included in the chart.

[4] S. Michael Houdmann, ed., Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered (Colorado Springs, CO: Got Questions Ministries, 2014), 353.

[5] Ibid., 354.

[6] John Calvin and Henry Beveridge, Institutes of the Christian Religion, vol. 3 (Edinburgh: The Calvin Translation Society, 1845), 260.

[7] Charles F. Stanley, Talking with God: Discover New Insights to Help Deepen Your Prayer Life, electronic ed. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1997).