Chapter 33
Prayer with Fasting – My Personal Testimony
The Reading: Matthew 17:21, Mark 9:29
The Problem:
My husband and I have developed a habit of fasting and praying together as a team on Mondays - and it all started almost twenty years ago when we still owned a restaurant.
We got married on a Sunday, bought our restaurant on Monday, and went right to work that very day. There was no time for a honeymoon. But my husband promised that if I would work really hard with him for five years, we would sell the restaurant, make a big profit and retire. Well, the years went by, we were still working hard, and had not sold the restaurant yet - after 15 years. We had advertised, used word of mouth, talked it up, and prayed about it. My husband even went to a national food convention wearing T-shirts he had made - with a picture of our Old West restaurant on the back, and a sign on the front saying, "Ask about buying my restaurant."
The Turning Point:
Finally, I took time off on a weekend (something I had never done since we had purchased the restaurant), and traveled to attend a women's retreat. During the night, it came to my mind that we had not fasted along with our prayers for selling the restaurant. I couldn't wait to get back to tell my husband about this latest and greatest idea for getting out of the restaurant business.
We lived on a lake, and went out on our pontoon boat my first evening back, to plan our strategy. I remember floating around in the dark, discussing what would be the best day of the week to fast. Monday was our favorite day of the week, because the restaurant was closed. Our favorite thing to do on our favorite day of the week was EAT! And we always ate other people's food. We devoted the day to rest, doing errands, going out to eat, and taking food from other restaurants out on the pontoon boat. We might stick to the diet every other day of the week, but Monday was our day to spoil ourselves, and eat whenever and whatever we wanted.
We agreed that the Holy Spirit had told me that only fasting and prayer could break this bondage to the restaurant (Matthew 17:21), and that the day it would most effective to fast, because it would be the greatest sacrifice, would be Monday. We made a pact with each other to fast and pray every Monday until the restaurant sold, no matter how long it took.
The Miracle That Followed:
We only fasted three Mondays. That was all it took, and God heard our prayer and sent someone to buy the restaurant. We didn't make a big profit and retire, and the person who took over the restaurant didn't make it, but those requests weren't in the prayer. We just wanted out of the restaurant and out of debt, and He took care of that need. Praise God!
We have continued the Monday habit of fasting and praying as a tradition, because God honored that day of prayer for us. We don't have many requests of our own these days - we are really blessed. But we have fasted and prayed for others' needs as we have been led by the Holy Spirit, and have seen big results on their behalf as well.
The Bottom Line:
A common thread connecting the prayer and fasting seems to run all through the Bible. In the Old Testament, fasting with prayer had to do with a sense of need and dependence or helplessness in the face of an actual or anticipated calamity. Prayer and fasting were combined in the Old Testament in times of mourning, repentance, and deep spiritual or physical need.
- Moses fasted before he received the Ten Commandments and the Law of God. (Exodus 34:28)
- David prayed and fasted over his sick child (2 Samuel 12:16), weeping before the Lord in earnest intercession (vs. 21-22).
- Elijah fasted 40 days before he heard God’s voice again. (1 Kings 19:8)
- Ezra the priest fasted for God’s protection while carrying valuable things for God’s temple. We too can fast for God’s protection. (Ezra 8:21-23)
- The first chapter of Nehemiah describes Nehemiah praying and fasting, because of his deep distress over the news that Jerusalem had been desolated. Tears, fasting, confession on behalf of his people, and pleas to God for mercy characterized many days of prayer.
- Esther urged Mordecai and the Jews to fast for her as she planned to appear before her husband the king (Esther 4:16).
- The devastation that befell Jerusalem also prompted Daniel to adopt a similar posture: “So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes” (Daniel 9:3). Like Nehemiah, Daniel fasted and prayed that God would have mercy upon the people.
- Daniel the prophet fasted for the fulfillment of God’s promises, and received mighty revelations from God. (Daniel 10:3).
- God made it clear through the prophet Joel that the last days outpouring of the Spirit will be in proportion to our fasting and crying out to God in humility, hunger and repentance. (Joel 1:5; Joel 2:12).
- The prophetess Anna “never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying” (Luke 2:37). At age 84, her prayer and fasting were part of her service to the Lord in His temple as she awaited the promised Savior of Israel.
- Jesus fasted and spoke the Word of God to overcome Satan (See Matthew 4:1-10; Luke 4:1-13).
- Jesus fasted to begin his public ministry, and have the power of God and the anointing. (Luke 4:14).
- The more critical the situation, the more appropriate it is to fast with prayer. In Mark 9, Jesus cast a demon from a boy. The disciples had been unable to perform the exorcism, although they had previously been given authority over unclean spirits (Mark 6:7). Later, the disciples asked Jesus why they failed in their attempts to free the boy from the demon, and Jesus said, “This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21). Jesus was saying that a determined foe must be met with an equally determined faith.
- The elders, prophets and teachers in Antioch fasted and ministered to God, which resulted in the launching of Paul and Barnabas’ apostolic ministry to the Gentiles (Acts 13:2,3). Likewise we should fast and pray before getting involved in full time ministry and mission work.
Jesus says to us in Matthew 6:16, “When you fast…” not “If you fast”. A true disciple of the Lord will fast at times. Prayer and fasting should not be seen as a burden or a duty, but rather a celebration of God's goodness and mercy to His children, and an opportunity to draw closer to Him.
