Samuel Daniels

Welcome back, Friends!

I started this series and dealt with the discipline of fasting, types of fasting and whether or no Christian couples should have sex while fasting. I would like to continue and touch on how fasting affects prayer. Hop on, and let’s begin a take-off.

The moment you are born into this world, you are born to a world of warfare. We are at war with the devil, and whether or not you consent to it, by dint of being part of the human race, you are involved by default. Our warfare, however, is not with other human beings but with the devil and his cohorts. Our enemy, Satan, attempts to defeat us with strategy and deceit, through well-laid plans and deliberate deception [1]. The Bible says,

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Should Christians have sex while fasting?

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places [2].

Being cognisant of this fact is imperative for us to deploy the necessary arsenals to our advantage. We are fighting from a winning point of view, and all that we need to do is to learn to deploy the deadly and devastating weapons we have at our disposal.

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds [3].

Two of such weapons are fasting and prayers. They are two sides to one coin. These are spiritual arsenals that work effectively when they are deployed together. The discipline of fasting invariably increases our prayer power. It humbles the soul and gives us the ability to become laser-sharp in our spiritual walk with God [4].

Whereas prayer turns a person’s eye toward God, fasting turns a person’s attention away from this world. Fasting calls a person to focus on those things that are eternal and of greatest importance to God, it calls a person to leave behind —even temporarily— an overriding concern with things that are earthbound and time-bound [4a]. We become extremely sharp because our soul is detoxified when we fast, as a result, every impediment is taken from the way.

It is not only an excellent means of detoxification of the body, but it is also a detoxification of the soul and spirit. Mark 9:29 tells us that, sometimes gaining the victory over certain tactics of the enemy “can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting”. Restricting the body from certain foods also allows us to put our flesh under submission and can help us get a hold of the separation of spirit and flesh. This will enhance our ability to war in the spirit, having put the physical and carnal under subjection. Isaiah 58:6–9 also talks about fasting being a means of loosing the bands of wickedness, oppression, heavy burdens, yokes, affliction, poverty, and sadness [5].

The picture displayed on the left is a gun with a lightweight green laser pointer. Without the laser, the gun is functional, but not as effective as when the laser is in position. The laser makes aiming easier and better. You may hardly miss your target with the laser!

Similarly, prayer is the actual weapon, in this case, the gun, and fasting is the laser. The combination of prayer and fasting is impressively very effective.

Fasting enables you to set your focus on God. Jesus said, “the light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light [6].” The eye being single implies you have a clear undivided and undistracted vision or goal, and fasting does exactly that, and more.

Again, the disciples of Jesus were confronted with a situation where a man brought his son who was suffering from lunacy with epileptic tendencies. The disciples of Jesus even though had walked with Jesus for a number of years and had seen him perform many miracles, and they themselves had performed a number of miracles [7], failed abysmally in trying to restore the boy back to normalcy.

They went to Jesus out of frustration to enquire why they couldn’t cast out the demon this time around. Jesus began to teach and give them reasons why they couldn’t turn the impossible situation into possible.

Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting [8].

This stands to reason that, you can’t provoke some level of divine response without interspersing your prayer with fasting. It is therefore reasonable to add fasting to your prayers if the response delays.

Effects of fasting and prayer

Fasting makes a person experience a greatly heightened awareness of his/her own limitations, weaknesses, and frailties. It makes a person acutely aware of his/her dependency upon God’s provision; not only food and water, but for all things that are beneficial to an abundant life. Prayer in turn points us toward the unlimited, all-powerful, and all-wise nature of our loving, eternal God! It opens us up to a greatly heightened awareness of God’s presence and glory. The weaker you see yourself, the stronger the Lord appears. The more limited you see yourself, the more the Lord reveals to you his unlimited power [9].

What becomes the focus for prayer becomes the battle that we must fight and win, through the Lord Jesus Christ. When we know the focus for our prayers, we know how to pray, against what to pray, and for what to pray. Our expectancy for God’s answer is also brought into sharper focus. Essentially, what is revealed in fasting becomes the focus for prayer. It brings us to the place of knowing what we must pray about and gives us clarity, insight, and focus. What is won in the Spirit becomes the victory or the breakthrough that changes us from the inside out [10].

Thank you for stopping by. Watch out for my next article in this series. Subscribe to my newsletter from below, and get notified. You may also drop a comment in the comment section below.

References

[1] Joyce Meyer, The Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind, (New York: Warner Faith, 1995), 13

[2] Ephesians 6:12

[3] 2 Corinthians 10:4 (KJV)

[4] Cindy Trimm, The Rules of Engagement: The Art of Strategic Prayer and Spiritual Warfare, (Lake Mary, Florida: Charisma House, 2008), 141

[4a] Marylyn Hickey, The Power of Prayer and Fasting: 21 Days That Can Change Your Life, (New York, Warner Faith, 2006), 35

[5] Cindy, The Rules of Engagement: The Art of Strategic Prayer and Spiritual Warfare, 141

[6] Matthew 6:22 (KJV)

[7] Luke 10:17-18

[8] Matthew 17:21

[9] Marylyn, The Power of Prayer and Fasting: 21 Days That Can Change Your Life, 36-38

[10] Marylyn, The Power of Prayer and Fasting: 21 Days That Can Change Your Life, 38

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