Try Praying—And Fasting!

Are you facing a problem that prayer alone hasn’t yet solved? Do you have a loved one who has been taken captive by drugs, or alcohol, or some other destructive power? Try praying— and fasting. Sometimes the spiritual battle you’re in is so intense that it calls for denying the legitimate needs of your body and building up your faith through prayer and fasting so that you are able to prevail [break through].

Jesus had told His disciples, ‘Whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing’ (John 14:12NIV), yet when the disciples were confronted with a demon–possessed boy with self–destructive tendencies, they were disappointed because they prayed and nothing happened. And when they asked Jesus why, He said to them, ‘This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting.’

When the Jewish people were threatened with total destruction in Persia, only a foreign king could save them. So Esther said, ‘Gather all the Jews… and fast for me… I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king.’ (Esther 4:16 NKJV) As a result, Haman, who had plotted their destruction, was hanged on his own gallows, and the entire Jewish nation was saved. There are times in life when you must say no to your physical needs so that you can focus on your spiritual ones.

Fasting sharpens your focus in prayer, fortifies your faith, prepares you to meet a challenge, and directs your heart and soul towards God. Fasting is about having single–mindedness in your search for God’s help—and it often brings miraculous results.