Have you ever needed something so badly that you were willing to give up anything for it? Fasting has been a sacrificial way for people to attain something important, whether physical wellness or spiritual reasons. Some people practice intermittent fasting with the hopes of losing weight and detoxifying the body. In medical fasting, patients are required to fast for several hours before taking a blood test to determine their levels of glucose and triglycerides in the body. Other religions like Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and many others include fasting as part of their spiritual traditions and practices.
In the Judeo-Christian world, the spiritual discipline of fasting is a way to show devotion to God by setting aside your bodily needs in order to focus on pursuing the favor and presence of God. Both in the Old and New Testaments, you will find that believers fast because they have a great and dire need. However, at the heart of fasting is the intense desire to seek after God’s presence and will, not just merely asking for God to answer our prayers. It is not about food deprivation, religious tradition, or a way to force the hand of God to give us what we want. Fasting is our way of showing God our real priorities, namely that we are willing to set aside bodily needs and wants for the sake of seeking Him above all. Most importantly, it is relational in purpose and an act of sacrificial worship. It is a way to show how broken we are apart from God and how desperate we are in our longing for His presence.
- [Hosea 6:6 KJV]
God spoke to Hosea and the Israelites that even if we make many sacrifices, God values love more. Knowing our Lord is far better than just giving Him meaningless offerings.
Morning prayer during fasting
That is why connecting with God is an essential part of fasting. Our way of connecting with God is through earnest prayer. As we start our day of fasting, it is important that we pray and meditate on His Word before anything else. Each day of fasting has challenges that may dissuade us from our commitment to God. As this goes on, hunger pangs may start to kick in and compel us just to give up. Distractions may also come in many forms that hinder us from devoting our time to God, reducing our fasting to merely a dieting practice without real spiritual purpose. Therefore, we must pray for joy, strength, patience, and perseverance to have a powerful and joyful fasting, not just merely to survive it. We must always remember that fasting is not an ordeal to conquer but a way to worship God with so much focus and joy. That is why you should never forget to include prayer in your fasting.
Why is fasting prayer powerful?
Morning prayer during fasting
The relationship between prayer and fasting is not explicit in the Bible, but many accounts in Scripture point to the importance of prayer in fasting.
David, after sinning, fasted and asked God to spare His child’s life (2 Samuel 12:16-17).
Ezra proclaimed a corporate fast for Israel as they prayed for protection from God (Ezra 8:21-23).
Nehemiah fasted and prayed upon learning that Jerusalem was broken down and defenseless (Nehemiah 1:1-4).
Daniel fasted while praying for God’s mercy after finding out from the scriptures about the 70-year desolation of Jerusalem (Daniel 9:1-19).
The leaders of the Church in Antioch prayed and fasted before sending out Barnabas and Saul on a missionary journey (Acts 13:1-3).
In both the Old and New Testaments, you can see the important connection between prayer and fasting. Many biblical accounts of prayer and fasting involve tapping into God’s favor and power to turn a desperate and disadvantageous situation around for the good of His people. For example, when Esther learned of the threat to annihilate all Jews, she asked them to fast in faith that God would change the situation favorably. And as we know, God answered their prayers. Fasting is like persistently wrestling with God, acknowledging that we hold onto Him because He is the ultimate solution to every problem. We know that only God has the power to change our circumstances. However, to be clear, this should still be done with the utmost respect, not with a self-entitled heart. We don’t say:
“Lord, I already sacrificed much for you, so you should fulfill your end of the bargain.”
God will never tolerate disrespect. As we wrestle with God in prayer and fasting, we must maintain our attitude of humility and respect. We can say:
“Lord, I’m holding tight to you, even if I have to sacrifice because I know that I cannot win this on my own. I am powerless without you. More than just your power, I need you in this situation. Please answer my prayers.”
When we fast as we pray, we show God how determined we are to see Him move, setting aside the hunger of our flesh to focus on the hunger of our soul and spirit for His presence. Prayer brings in the limitless power of God, and it is fasting that allows us to have an eagle-eye focus on Him.
Morning prayer during fasting
Thus, we must never forget the importance of prayer in fasting. After all, fasting without prayer, or any effort to pursue God, is pointless. The real reason behind fasting is always about seeking God and His will. That is what brings true power as you pray and fast. Ultimately, we must always acknowledge that the answer to our prayers will depend on the mercy and grace of God.
Morning prayer during fasting
- [Joel 2:11-14 KJV]
In the time of the prophet Joel, God called upon His people to repent. He told His people that He wanted their fasting to be done not just through physical compliance but with wholehearted mourning of repentance for their sins. To God, the true essence of fasting is praying or communing with Him with a broken heart, not just with the tearing of garments or food deprivation. As we fast, we appeal to God’s patience, goodness, generosity, and great love for us. We commit and persevere in prayer and fasting because we know that it is what pleases and honors Him. God blesses those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. His power is made available to those who genuinely seek His presence. His provision is greatly dispensed to those who value what He values. Fasting prayer is very powerful when anchored in an authentic relationship with God.
What is a good scripture for fasting?
As we fast, we must not only pray but also meditate on God’s Word. If prayer brings in His power and fasting helps us concentrate on His presence, then reading the Word of God as we pray and fast brings alignment with His will and promises. Many times, prayers are influenced by emotions and situations. With that said, our requests and expectations from God can go out of bounds from His will. For instance, one can pray and fast for a specific potential spouse, yet that person may not be a Godly person. That kind of prayer, while done in faith, does not align with God’s will of not being unequally yoked with an unbeliever (2 Corinthians 6:14-16). Scriptures help us check our motives in prayer.
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[James 4:2-4 KJV]
James tells us that when we ask God in prayer and fasting, we don’t receive because we ask with the wrong heart. Prayer is a spiritual act, but it becomes repulsive to God when done with a worldly heart. When our desires are heavily influenced by worldliness, we create a gap between God and us. We become an enemy to Him instead of being a friend. The Lord detests a sinful and idolatrous heart.
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[James 4:7-10 KJV]
This Bible verse calls us to submit ourselves to God. We must learn to come against the devil and come closer to God. As we pray and fast, we must ask God to cleanse our thoughts and emotions. We must not take sin and its effects lightly but instead feel and understand how burdensome and destructive sin can be. It takes humility to admit how unclean our hearts are before God. As we humble ourselves before Him and draw close to God, He also delights in drawing close to us.
Reading the verses above helps us see our sinfulness, which influences what we desire. We must be reminded of humbling ourselves before God as we pray and fast.
Fasting also can be done as an act of repentance to mourn how we have offended God.
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[Daniel 9:3-5 KJV]
Daniel prayed and fasted before God to repent for all of Israel’s sins. Sackcloth and ashes is a sign of humiliation and mourning. We learn from Daniel the sincerity necessary in prayer and fasting. He repented without excuses or blaming others, as he understood that all of Israel, including himself, had greatly offended the Holy God. We must realize that all kinds of sins are primarily offensive to our God. We pray for the forgiveness of sins and fast to show how serious we are in that repentance.
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[Ezra 10:6 KJV]
This account of Ezra is another example of a person deeply grieved because of how our sins have offended God. Just like Daniel, he also mourned not just for himself but also all of Israel’s sins. Israel’s sins so mortified him that he did an absolute fast—no bread or water—thereby demonstrating the gravity of the need to fast and pray for repentance.
Scriptures also remind us of how to fast. We must not flaunt it as a religious act but as a personal commitment before God that gets rewarded when done solely for His approval.
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[Matthew 6:16-18 KJV]
In the account of Matthew, Jesus teaches us what fasting is and what it is not. He knew that religious people often put on a public show to demonstrate their piety in how they pray and fast. He doesn’t see this as sincere but hypocritical. Praying and fasting are not meant for gaining applause from the public but are intended as a personal devotion to God, even if no one sees it. When we try to please people, we get the reward from them, but when we aim to please God, He gives the ultimate reward.
Fasting is also a great opportunity to bless others. For those who choose food fasting, it is a good opportunity to bless others. Your usual budget for meals can be given to those who are in need of food. Fasting is an opportunity for generosity.
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[Isaiah 58:3-7 KJV]
We know fasting as a sacrificial way to pursue God and demonstrate the great need to ask for His favor. Thus, we set aside food or any other distractions. However, God teaches us another lesson through fasting—the act of generosity. Fasting while being a blessing to those who are in need is truly in alignment with God. Much like the Pharisees, some people do their fasting to please themselves. In this verse, God rebuked His people for fasting with the wrong heart. Fasting became a meaningless ritual to them and on top of that, they exploited their laborers while fasting. Their insincerity, disobedience, and injustice angered God. Everything they did was unacceptable and repulsive to God, so God told them to take this opportunity to be a blessing. Since they would not be eating, God challenged them to give to the needy and feed those who are hungry. He challenges them to end injustice and help those who are heavily burdened. This is the kind of fasting that God wants—blessing God in sacrificial and authentic devotion and blessing others through deliberate generosity.
When we humble ourselves in fasting and earnestly praying, we are setting up God’s revival and breakthrough.
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[Isaiah 58:8-9 KJV]
As we humble ourselves before God in prayer and fasting, just as God promised Isaiah and the Israelites, He will answer and bring about revival and breakthrough. When we cry out to Him, He will make Himself available to us. His help will break out like the morning light as His glory comes and follows after us.
Lastly, as we consecrate ourselves in prayer and fasting before God, He will do amazing things on our behalf. This is a promise that gives us hope in the unfailing words of God.
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[Joshua 3:5 KJV]
Fasting is a way of consecrating ourselves before God. Before the whole nation of Israel crossed the Jordan River to conquer the promised land, Joshua commanded all the Israelites to consecrate themselves before God. They believed and held on to God’s power to do amazing things for His people.
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[Isaiah 55:10-12 KJV]
As nature never fails to run its course to nurture and bring nourishment to plants and all living creatures on Earth, so shall the promises of God never fail to bless us. His Word that brought everything into existence also sustains and perpetually provides for His creation. We can put all our trust, as we pray earnestly and fast wholeheartedly, in His unfailing Word, because of His perfect integrity. Whatever God speaks, His Word will always accomplish the purpose for which He intended. So, have faith, for God is a perfect promise-keeper.