Each year, I look forward to our annual 40 Days of Fasting and Prayer. For 25 years I have called our church family to a season of fasting and prayer. For some of us this may be something very new. To give up food for a meal, or for 24 hours, once a week. 

Why? To be clear Jesus said, that his followers would fast. “One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, “Why don’t your disciples fast like we do and the Pharisees do?” Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Matthew 9:14-15 NLT

We are not fasting to earn God’s favor. He has already shown us His loving favor. 

1. We fast for breakthroughs spiritually. 
2. We fast sometimes in response to the grief we experience. 
3. At other times we fast as repentance of sins, or lukewarmness in our faith walk with God.

Think of what you have been praying about for a long time. Perhaps you are praying for a child who has wandered from faith in Christ. Maybe you are praying for your neighborhood. Are you praying for direction in your personal or family life? Or perhaps someone you love is ill and you are praying for them.

There is an example of the New Testament church leaders fasting like this in Acts 13. “One day as they were worshiping God— they were also fasting as they waited for guidance— the Holy Spirit spoke: “Take Barnabas and Saul and commission them for the work I have called them to do.” So they commissioned them. In that circle of intensity and obedience, of fasting and praying, they laid hands on their heads and sent them off. …” (Message)

Fasting is a way of appropriating God’s power into situations like these as we humble ourselves before the Lord. Moses and Daniel fasted. Think of Anna, who day and night worshipped God with fasting and prayer. (Luke 2:37)

Personally, I will be fasting 24 hours once a week. This is how I practice fasting. One day a week I do not eat between supper on the first day and supper on the second day. I drink lots of water to stay hydrated and drink a cup of coffee in the morning to prevent a headache. I give extra time to reading and meditating on God’s Word, worship, and prayer.

Additionally, I will give up something that I enjoy very much to remind me of the purpose of the fast. We do not fast on Sunday’s because that is the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

If this doesn’t work for you, consider prayerfully how you might join with us for the next 40 days. Let me quote from one of my favorite preachers of the last century. D. Martin-Lloyd Jones. “Fasting, if we conceive of it truly, must not be … confined to the question of food and drink; fasting should really be made to include abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for the sake of some special spiritual purpose. There are many bodily functions which are right and normal and perfectly legitimate, but which for special peculiar reasons in certain circumstance should be controlled. That is fasting.”

So, Family, once again, I call upon you to join us over the next 40 days as we seek God in prayer and fasting. Here is a suggested order for you to use in prayer.

1. Pray for an open heart and mind as you read a scripture portion.
2. Pray for yourself. 
3. If you are married pray for your spouse.
4. Pray for your family.
5. Pray for your church. 
6. Pray for a missionary. Each week we feature one missionary to pray for.
7. Pray for me. I know this is bold, but like the apostle Paul, I covet your prayers for wisdom, anointing, and the boldness to express God’s love clearly and relevantly. 

Tomorrow, Father Knows Best.
Peace!