Thessalonians 5:16-18 Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Whatever happens, give thanks, because it is God’s will in Christ Jesus that you do this. The combination of fasting and praying is not a fad or a novelty approach to spiritual discipline. Fasting and praying are not part of a human-engineered method or plan. They are not the means to manipulate a situation or to create a circumstance. Fasting and praying are Bible-based disciplines that are appropriate for all believers of all ages throughout all centuries in all parts of the world. God sets us free from chains and darkness - “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone's chains came loose.”( Acts 16:26-27) Acts 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

The seeing Lord (verse 29). God sees all, and waits to intervene and accomplish His will in answer to the prayers of His people. What comes next is a challenge. I challenge you to ask God whether your heart is in the right place to practice prayer and fasting. And if God says yes, I challenge you to do it. If you choose to take this path, you’ll be amazed at what the Lord can accomplish in your heart and life. 5 Fasting Prayers to Guide Your Heart Then God said, "Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. We rarely grasp the full potential of the strength and power of prayer that is available to us. We often go about our daily activities and forget that we are united with Christ. We are connected with Him as our head, and we are His Church designed to express the fullness of His power on earth. Carefully meditate on the Apostle Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:18-23 to get the full picture. God has incomparably great power, Christ is seated at God’s right hand, Jesus defeated Satan at the cross, and we are called to enforce Jesus authority on earth through prayer.The idea that power is inherent in prayer is a very popular one. According to the Bible, the power of prayer is, quite simply, the power of God, who hears and answers prayer. Consider the following: Stormie Omartian is an award-winning bestselling author and speaker who personally connects with readers and listeners by sharing her experiences and illustrating how God transforms lives when we learn to trust in Him. The very simple and direct conclusions I draw are these: First, if the Bible teaches us to do something, I want to do it. I want to obey the Lord in every way that He commands me to obey Him. And second, if fasting and praying are means to a breakthrough that God has for me, I want to undertake those disciplines so I might experience that breakthrough! But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breastand said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

We are wise to recognize that food was the enticement the devil used to cause Eve and Adam to sin in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 2 the Lord God told Adam and Eve that they could eat freely of every tree in the garden of Eden, "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" ( Genesis 2:17 Close Genesis 2:17 Lord, make me so mighty in seeing and mighty in savoring the promises of your sovereign grace that in all my sorrows I might never cease to sing your praise (Matthew 5:11–12; Acts 16:25; 2 Corinthians 6:10; 1 Peter 4:13).Our answer must be a firm "Yes! God has called me to fast. He has called me to give my full attention to Him and to His commandments. He has called me to obey Him fully in all things. And God has called me to say no to you, devil!" Father, your Word is full of wisdom and knowledge. I pray that we, as children of God, trust you Lord and humble ourselves before you... seeking you God like never before. I pray for everyone fasting and beginning to fast. The Holy Bible has numerous scriptures and stories about the power of prayer and how it works in people’s lives. I sometimes hear people say, "I'm giving up chocolate" and they regard this as a type of fasting. I think this is a rather frivolous approach. The first and foremost purpose of a biblical or spiritual fast is to get a breakthrough on a particular matter that one lifts up to the Lord in prayer. A spiritual fast involves our hearts and the way in which we relate to and trust God. It relates to discerning and receiving strength to follow through on what God might reveal to us about circumstances in our lives or a direction we are to take.

Now I'm certainly not linking the devil to a piece of pie, but I am saying this: the devil will always call your attention repeatedly to the thing that is harmful for you, but he will do it in a way that makes you feel deprived if you don't indulge in eating, drinking, or partaking of what is harmful. The implication of the devil is always: "This is so good. Has God really said you can't have any of this good thing?" After Peter and John had been imprisoned and released they joined the Christians in Jerusalem and reported on all that had happened (verse 23). When the Christians heard Peter’s and John’s report did they hold a conference? No, they prayed (verse 24), recognising that prayer was fundamental, not supplemental, and they all felt the same way about it. Do we recognise the supreme importance of prayer, and have we a spontaneous desire to unite in prayer? Little wonder that the unbeliever does not believe in a living God who answers prayer, when many of us have so little real appreciation of its importance and so little desire for it! Philippians 4:6 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Lord, make me so mightily unyielding to the enticements of selfishness that from my heart kindness forever flows (2 Corinthians 6:6; Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:12). Let me assure you at the outset of this book that I am not advocating prolonged periods of fasting for every believer. A fast can be as short as one meal. Neither do I advocate fasting and praying for the mere sake of saying with self-righteousness, "I have fasted and prayed about this." I do not advocate fasting so that the hungry in a foreign nation might have the food you would have eaten that day -- which is highly unlikely. I do not advocate fasting apart from prayer. KEY REASONS TO FAST AND PRAYYet for some reason, she had concluded -- at least subconsciously -- that fasting and prayer were no longer intended for believers in today's world.