Prayer & Fasting
Articles on Fasting
Week of Prayer and Fasting 2023
Hello everyone, I pray that you are encouraged and strengthened by the faithfulness of God! He is doing great and wonderful things in our community and around the world. It is my prayer that we would have our eyes opened and our hearts strengthened to see what He is doing (Ephesians 1:17-23).
With Resurrection Celebration (Easter) coming up on April 9th, I ask that you join us in a time of prayer and fasting. Easter is a time when many people are more open to attending church or listening to a gospel message. With that in mind, we need to consider what planning and preparation we can do. First and foremost, we have Jesus’ example and instruction to pray. He modeled this to His followers in Mark 1:35,
“Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.”
Read more...
Week of Prayer and Fasting 2021
In addressing His disciples, it is clear that Jesus knew they would follow His example to fast and pray. Fasting is done for a variety of reasons by many people; athletes fast to purge their bodies so they can perform better. Physicians advise fasting for some conditions or ailments. Cults and other groups fast to awaken or get the attention of their gods. The ‘fasting’ that God calls us to and the one that Jesus modeled is done with the purpose of putting God first. Biblical fasting is done for many reasons, such as:
1. To obey God. (Isaiah 58:6)
2. To deny the flesh when seeking God’s will. (Daniel 9:3)
3. To strengthen the spiritual man. (Matthew 4:2)
4. To honor God, without seeking the attention from men. (Matthew 6:16)
Read more...
God’s Chosen Fast: A Spiritual and Practical Guide to Fasting
Arthur Wallis
Chapter 1: Why Fast? For nearly a century and a half fasting has been out of vogue, at least in the churches of the West. The very idea of someone actually fasting today seems strange to most twentieth-century Christians. They associate it with medieval Christianity, or perhaps with High Church practice. They may recall that political leaders, like Mahatma Ghandi, have used it as a weapon of passive resistance. As a spiritual exercise it is confined, they would think, to believers who appear to be a little extreme or fanatical.
Read more...