Day 6: How Do We Pray During Our Fast?

Fasting without prayer is just dieting. Instead, we need to incorporate intentional, spiritual encounters into our daily behavior as believers. Great modern-day evangelists like John Calvin, Martin Luther, and John Wesley have written personal testimonies of prayer and fasting as a part of their disciplined intimacy with Jesus. Importantly, look to Christ for the example of a powerful prayer life.

Beyond thanksgiving and adoration, Jesus centered His prayers around petition. Even His teaching of the Lord’s Prayer are petitions for the Father’s will on earth and for our personal needs. This is an invitation to verbalize our hearts and align the Father’s desires with ours. Crises have also prompted petitions on numerous occasions: in the Garden of Gethsemane, at Lazarus’ grave, and during the challenging of Peter’s faith by the enemy. This is because prayer was Jesus’ first response, not His last resort. Similarly, we need to model a life that supersedes prayer over reason and logic. Prayer fuels our capacity to fight the enemy, the supply line to our resources in spiritual warfare.

As we follow after Jesus, we’ll see that prayer is an act of specific, persistent petition that we expect to be answered in faith. We need to be active participators who articulate specific breakthroughs in our lives. This isn’t about conquering God’s reluctance. Prayer is laying hold of God’s willingness.

Yet, successful prayer can require relentless persistence over a long period of time. The enemy often tries to paralyze our faith through spotlighting unanswered prayers. But know that it’s our Heavenly Father’s desire to bless His children.

If you’ve laid your prayer life down, it’s time to pick it up. If the enemy has silenced you into quiet desperation, it’s time to lift up your voice and contend in faith. Normalize the practice of asking and receiving, seeking and knocking. Delight yourself in the Lord; desire for His will to be done. Then, be amazed at how God shows up when you persistently pray and fast.

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