Is there anything like the power of prayer and fasting?
Yes. Read on to discover.
Understanding the Prayer and the Power of Fasting
Note the word Power before the word fasting.
Fasting is like adding a new engine to your prayer life.
It is possible to pray without having any results.
However, every time you fast, there are results.
Fasting does not force God to answer your prayer.
It forces you to let go of your worldly carnal nature and reconnects you to God.
As you draw near to God, God draws near to you and answers your prayers.
Fasting is the key that unlocks the power of prayer.
I urge you to study this topic to understand the incredible power of prayer and fasting.
FACTS ABOUT PRAYER AND FASTING
Every religion practices the art of prayer.
However, Christians do not seem serious about their prayer lives as compared to Muslims, Hindus, Satanists, etc.
Prayer is not an option, all true believers of Christ are commanded to pray
Jesus says that “when you give”, “when you pray”, “when you fast” in Matthew 6….
He takes it for granted that you shall pray.
Prayer is the most common experience of the believer, but the least practiced
Prayer is the most talked about subject but the least practiced amongst Christians.
Christians prefer singing, ushering, preaching, arranging chairs than praying.
Many believers know that they should pray.
They even tell others who are in problems things like I shall pray for you, the Lord shall heal you, may the Lord bless you.
However, they don’t mean what they say, nor do they do what they promise.
How many times have you promised to pray for somebody and done it?
The Lord is not pleased when we don’t fulfill our vows or promises.
In fact, He calls people who fail to honor their promises, fools.
The aim of this guide is to take us through a real spiritual experience of repentance, and understanding how to tap the power of prayer and fasting.
Why do many people hate prayer and fasting?
Because they don’t get results from their prayers.
They don’t get answers from God.
It is natural for anybody to discontinue anything that doesn’t seem to give positive results.
How does prayer work?
Without God, man cannot do anything on earth, and without man, God will not do anything on earth.
Prayer is the partnership of man to allow God’s will on earth.
What happens on earth or in your life depends on your ability to agree with God.
God can do nothing on earth without human beings giving Him release.
Matthew 18:19
Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
Earth depends on heaven to get things done, and heaven depends on earth to release blessings.
Without you, God will not do anything in your life.
Prayer is the earthly license for heaven’s interference in earth’s affairs through man’s faith.
The essence of faith in prayer
For prayer to be effective, you must believe that God is able to do what you want.
Faith is God’s word.
Why prayer meetings are the least attended meetings
People hate praying.
People hate prayer meetings because prayer doesn’t seem to work in their lives.
For how long should you pray?
It doesn’t matter.
In fact, the bible condemns the activity of some people who pray long prayers thinking that they shall be answered.
Prayer is not an option, it is a necessity
God is always waiting on you to collaborate with Him to release what He has already done in your life.
Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Is there anything like a spiritual gift of prayer?
No.
There is no such thing in the bible as an intercessory ministry.
Some people who feel too lazy to pray claim that they don’t have a gift of prayer.
There is nothing like the gift of prayer in the bible because prayer is not a gift.
People would rather go and watch TV while a few people pray for them. This is wrong.
Jesus says “men everywhere ought to pray”.
You should pray for people, and they should pray for you, but this doesn’t replace your personal prayer to God.
How often should you pray?
You should pray always.
In fact, you should be a prayer meeting within yourself.
Is studying prayer the same as praying?
No. Right now, you are studying prayer. But this is not prayer in itself.
Now, let’s pray.
Dear Lord, as I study about prayer, forgive my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness as I have forgiven those who have wronged me. As I study this subject, cause me to understand the power of prayer and to pray always. Give me the spirit of knowledge and the spirit of wisdom and understanding so that I may know Your precepts. I pray believing in Jesus’ Name.
What is prayer?
Prayer is a petition, a legal appeal, or demand placed on a government authority based on a constitutional right protected by law.
Prayer is not begging.
It is an appeal or demand based on legal rights.
The work of God is to do business on earth.
He is always looking for a channel through which to work.
Prayer is you petitioning God for your rights as an heir of the kingdom of God.
What is spiritual fasting?
Fasting is the wilful abstaining from natural pleasures for a spiritual purpose.
Spiritual fasting is abstinence from food to subdue the flesh and elevate the spirit.
Fasting is a personal commitment to renounce the natural and enhance the spiritual.
Fasting is the dedication to a period of time to devote yourself to spiritual matters of reading God’s word and prayer without eating food.
The body is supposed to be under the guidance of the spirit.
When people eat too much, their carnal natures tend to be more at work than their spiritual nature.
Have you ever tried to read the bible and pray after overeating?
How was the feeling?
You probably fell asleep immediately you started.
Fasting reverses all that and gives your spirit priority over your body.
What spiritual fasting is not:
Abstaining from anything for self-gratification.
For example, stopping to eat to lose weight is not spiritual fasting.
Fasting is not about missing a meal, it is not dieting or hunger strike.
Abstaining from food and drinks but continuing in wickedness negates the power of fasting and it is a waste of time.
Read Isaiah 58:3-5
Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not?
wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?
Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure,
and exact all your labours.
Behold, ye fast for strife and debate,
and to smite with the fist of wickedness:
ye shall not fast as ye do this day,
to make your voice to be heard on high.
Is it such a fast that I have chosen?
a day for a man to afflict his soul?
is it to bow down his head as a bulrush,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
wilt thou call this a fast,
What fasting is all about:
Fasting demands replacing eating with the reading of God’s word and prayer.
Man does not live on bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Dedicating time with God daily: to read His word, meditate, speak to Him, listen to Him, see His actions in your life.
Fasting requires reading God’s word.
Watch this video on The Spiritual Implication Of The Principle Of Fasting
What happens when you fast?
Fasting changes you.
Fasting does not change God. God never changes; He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Fasting cleans up your clogged spiritual pipe that connects you to heavenly bounties.
The amount of God’s blessings flowing through to your life depends on your spiritual conduit.
Fasting cleanses your spiritual conduit so that you can receive God’s bounties.
Fasting is therefore the most important aspect of prayer.
Fasting increases your spiritual capacity.
For all kinds of healing and spiritual breakthrough, fasting is a necessity.
Read more about prayer for healing here.
2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Some kinds of demons only come out through fasting and prayer
Matthew 17:20-21
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
Mark 9:29
And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
Fasting breaks habits and spiritual bondage
Think about any bad habit that you have.
Many people have bad habits such as pornography, masturbation, unfaithfulness, alcoholism, sexual pervasion, too much TV,.
Fasting eradicates all kinds of spiritual bondage.
Isaiah 58:6-12
Is not this the fast that I have chosen?
to loose the bands of wickedness,
to undo the heavy burdens,
and to let the oppressed go free,
and that ye break every yoke?
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry,
and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house?
when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him;
and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning,
and thine health shall spring forth speedily:
and thy righteousness shall go before thee;
the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.
Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer;
thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.
If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke,
the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted soul;
then shall thy light rise in obscurity,
and thy darkness be as the noonday:
And the Lord shall guide thee continually,
and satisfy thy soul in drought,
and make fat thy bones:
and thou shalt be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places:
thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations;
and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach,
The restorer of paths to dwell in.
Fasting quiets your heart to hear God’s word
Fasting gives you peace.
It calms your spirit, and your spirit connects you to God in a mysterious way.
The peace of God that surpasses all human understanding keeps your heart and mind as recorded in Phillipians 4:
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Fasting brings God’s intimacy
Fasting gives intimacy with God a priority.
Fasting tells God that He is more important than the delicacies of life.
It gives God position one in your life.
That is what this bible verse means, you will seek me and find me if you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Fasting affirms our love for God.
The Lord wants us to love Him with all our heart, soul and mind according to the following verses.
Matthew 22:37-40, Mark 12:30, Deuteronomy 6:5, Luke 10:27
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Fasting brings intervention in worldly affairs
The complete faster recorded in the book of Esther shows that God’s power can change situations when we surrender to Him in prayer and fasting.
When the Lord’s power comes as a result of fasting, nothing can stop Him.
Esther 4:16
Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.
As king, David fasted. He knew his power comes from God.
Great victories were achieved by kings through prayer and fasting.
Psalm 109:24
My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.
Jeremiah 36:9
And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 20:3-4
And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the Lord: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.
Daniel 9:3
And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
Joel 2:12-13
Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
Fasting can change God’s punishment against a country
Jeremiah 18:7-10
At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
How to look when fasting?
Stop announcing to people, maybe except your spouse or somebody close.
Act normal. You are fasting to God, not people.
Matthew 6:18
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.
The church that Paul attended prayed and fasted:
Acts 13:2-3
As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
Is there any incredible power in prayer and fasting?
This is what to expect when you fast and pray:
Go on a fast and get immense spiritual power in your life.
Every child of God has a right to enjoy the benefits of deliverance.
Deliverance brings freedom and joy.
We have seen thousands of believers set free from demons through authoritative prayer and fasting.
You will see multiplied miracles through warfare prayer.
The breakthroughs you will see are supernatural.
Healings will multiply. It is true, after the fast, you’ll be healed.
Long-term bondages will be destroyed.
The hidden roots of your problems will be exposed and eliminated.
Inexplicable problems will be solved.
Stubborn obstacles will be removed.
Cycles of failure will be broken.
Frustration and despair will be eliminated through warfare prayer.
Discouragement and disappointment will be overcome.
The puzzling problems of life will be taken away.
Lasting peace will finally be experienced.
The abundant life can be enjoyed.
Failures that cause bitterness are reversed through warfare prayer.
Prosperity and success will come.
Advancement will be seen in different areas of your life.
You will experience success in relationships, finances, ministry, and projects.
Deliverance is designed to eliminate the spiritual obstacles that impede progress.
Deliverance will make the rough places smooth and the crooked places straight.
You can see the enemy routed from your life.
You can live free from the bondages and oppressions of demons.
You can experience victory through prayer.
Your words and prayers have tremendous power to destroy the works of darkness.
Challenges to expect during your prayer and fasting
Satan hates prayer.
He hates fasting even more.
Expect resistance from satan when you decide to fast and pray.
All of a sudden, you’ll get invitations to ceremonies, free meal invitations, dinners, celebrations, etc. where you’ll be promised free foods.
You may get all sorts of discouragements before, during, and after the fast.
Your dreams will intensify as the Lord reveals to you your spiritual condition and the demons hindering your progress.
Record all dreams and rebuke any dreams that are from the devil, while accepting Godly dreams.
You will know a dream is from the devil if its intent is to steal, kill or destroy (John 10:10)
You may feel weak, but push on to your breakthrough.
May the Lord lead you and bless you as you enter into a session of prayer and fasting.
You will surely find the incredible power of prayer and fasting.