What is the connection between prayer and fasting?
Prayer and fasting are biblical spiritual disciplines that God calls His people to engage in. When done together, they can be a powerful combination for drawing nearer to God, interceding for others, and seeking God’s will and direction. Here is an overview of what the Bible teaches about the connection between prayer and fasting:
Prayer and Fasting Go Hand-in-Hand
There are numerous examples in the Bible where prayer and fasting are coupled together. After Jesus’ baptism, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to fast and pray for 40 days before starting His earthly ministry (Matthew 4:1-2). The church in Antioch fasted and prayed before sending out Paul and Barnabas as missionaries (Acts 13:2-3). Jesus expected that prayer and fasting would be a regular part of Christian spiritual discipline when He said “when you fast…” (Matthew 6:16).
Fasting is often done in times of mourning or repentance. After Saul’s conversion, he immediately spent three days in fasting and prayer as he mourned his past sin and began his new life in Christ (Acts 9:9-11). Fasting, prayer, weeping, and mourning went together after Ezra learned that God’s people had sinned by intermarrying with pagan unbelievers (Ezra 10:1-6). Nehemiah, Daniel, David, Elijah, and Esther are other biblical examples of fasting coupled with urgent prayer.
The Bible also records times when God’s people fasted and prayed before making important decisions. The early church fasted and prayed before choosing elders (Acts 14:23). Jesus expected that fasting would be a part of His follower’s spiritual lives when He said “when you fast” (Matthew 6:16-18).
Fasting makes our prayers more fervent and effective. By humbling ourselves and purposing to set aside something important to us – like food or comfort – we can devote ourselves fully to prayer. Fasting helps us block out distractions and focus our thoughts on God. Throughout history, fasting has been used to demonstrate grief, repentance, and sincerity in prayer.
Fasting Deepens Our Dependence on God
Fasting highlights our dependence on God and our need for His strength and sustenance. As we voluntarily abstain from something important like food, we are reminded of how much we need God above all else. Fasting shows humility before God as we acknowledge our frailty and utter dependence on Him for everything.
In fasting, every hunger pang and craving reminds us of our desperation for God. We are forced to go to Him and rely on His strength to get through each hour of the fast as we persist in prayer. Fasting draws us into closer fellowship with God as our communion with food is replaced by communion with the Lord.
Times of fasting in the Bible were often called times of afflicting one’s soul (Isaiah 58:3, 5). Fasting requires self-control, self-denial, and temperance as we say no to natural appetites that are perfectly legitimate at other times. As we temporarily let go of natural pleasures and earthly comforts, we find ourselves seeking God more fervently and clinging to Him more passionately.
Fasting Activates More Powerful Prayer
Fasting makes our prayers more powerful. When Jesus’ disciples proved unable to cast out a demon, Jesus told them “this kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29). Some spiritual breakthroughs only come through intense, devoted, and persistent prayer coupled with fasting.
By weakening the hold that desires and cravings have on us, fasting enables us to focus more fully on prayer. Fasting brings purity and stirs passion in prayer. Throughout Scripture, fasting made seemingly impossible prayers possible and brought miraculous breakthroughs.
Though fasting in itself has no power, uniting it with earnest prayer gives our prayers more potency before God’s throne. He is pleased when we seek Him with all our heart, humbling ourselves and setting aside earthly needs and comforts to bask in His presence.
Fasting Brings Personal Revival
Fasting is a means of personal revival and consecration unto God. Times of fasting in Scripture often preceded fresh outpourings of the Spirit of God and critical turning points in redemptive history. Before the Holy Spirit fell upon those first gathered in the upper room at Pentecost, they devoted themselves to prayer and fasting (Acts 1:14).
Fasting prepares our hearts for the move of God’s Spirit. As we deny ourselves and focus wholly on the Lord, fasting leads to personal revival as God draws near and we experience renewed passion for Him. By submitting our bodies through fasting, our spirits are stirred and ignited.
Many revivals throughout history have been accompanied by prayer and fasting as God’s people were stirred, humbled, and purified. As we fast and pray, we should cry out for revival in our own lives, churches, communities, and throughout the world. Fasting readies us to receive fresh fillings of the Holy Spirit.
Fasting Cultivates Holiness and Purity
Fasting has the spiritual benefit of cultivating holiness and self-control in the area of our appetites. As we say no to natural desires that are not wrong in themselves, we train our wills to submit to God. Times of prayer and fasting help break sinful habits and addiction strongholds in a powerful way.
Fasting demonstrates mastery over our own desires and proves that food and other earthly needs do not control us. We serve a risen Savior who has conquered death and the grave. Nothing else should be our master either. Fasting brings freedom by breaking the power of the flesh and its demands.
Fasting teaches temperance, self-restraint, and discipline as we learn to deny ourselves and focus on God. It gives strength to say no to ungodly cravings and break free from worldly habits that hinder our walk with Christ. As we offer our bodies as “living sacrifices” through fasting (Romans 12:1), we draw closer to experiencing His holiness in our day-to-day lives.
Fasting Unites us with Jesus
As we fast and pray, we identify ourselves with Jesus who frequently fasted during His earthly ministry. His 40 day fast in the wilderness prior to His public ministry set the stage for defeating the devil’s temptations by relying on the Word of God (Matthew 4:1-11).
Jesus expected fasting to be a regular part of His follower’s spiritual lives when He said “when you fast…” not “if you fast” (Matthew 6:16-18). Jesus’ disciples fasted regularly (Luke 5:33-35) and continued fasting after His resurrection (Acts 13:2-3). If we want to walk as Jesus did on this earth and experience His overcoming power, fasting should be part of our Christian lives.
Fasting demonstrates humility, sincerity, and earnestness in prayer. As we voluntarily embrace weakness for a season as Jesus did when He fasted forty days, we unite ourselves with Christ in a special way. We identify with His suffering, death, and resurrection power as we “share in his sufferings” (Philippians 3:10). Our bodies follow His lead as we deny our appetites for a time to focus wholly on God.
Jesus promised spiritual rewards to those who fast secretly before God: “And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:18). As we fast and pray, we walk in Jesus’ steps and can expect to share in His overcoming anointing and authority.
Fasting Overcomes the Enemy
Fasting is a powerful weapon in spiritual warfare. Certain strongholds and bondages in people’s lives can only be overcome through prayer and fasting. This is why fasting is sometimes combined with intercessory prayer for others.
Some demons could only be driven out by prayer and fasting (Mark 9:29). The flesh and the devil put up strong resistance to the work of God. Fasting reinforces and strengthens our prayers against the powers of darkness.
Satan tempted Jesus to break His fast and prove He was the Son of God by turning stones into bread (Matthew 4:3). The enemy will always try to entice us to stop fasting before we have broken through spiritually and gained the benefits God intends. As we persist in prayer through weakness and discomfort, the flesh is crucified and the devil is defeated.
Just as Esther called a fast for divine intervention and protection from the evil Haman, we can combine fasting with our prayers whenever we face spiritual opposition. Through fasting, we take away the enemy’s ground and render his evil schemes powerless against us.
In Summary
Prayer and fasting have a powerful partnership in Scripture. When done together, they are an important means of drawing closer to God, seeking His will, cultivating holiness, and overcoming spiritual forces of darkness. As we voluntarily humble ourselves through fasting, we receive more of God’s grace and experience spiritual breakthroughs in our own lives and the world around us.
Times of prayer with fasting often precede new seasons of the Spirit’s outpouring. Revivals and renewal for individuals, churches, cities, and nations have come after God’s people were called to extended seasons of united prayer and fasting. As we deny ourselves through fasting, we are convicted of sin, humbled before God, and renewed in our passion for Him.
Fasting raises our level of spiritual authority and overcoming power through prayer. As we wrestle in intercession clothed in weakness, the Holy Spirit moves mightily bringing revival, renewal, freedom, and divine intervention. By fasting, we enter into deeper fellowship with God and identify ourselves with the sufferings, power, and victory of Jesus.