The Unity of Prayer and Fasting

“This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.” -- Mark 9:29

The Lord has been speaking to me a lot about the power and importance of Prayer and Fasting united as one. In Mark 9:29 we see that it takes the combination of prayer and fasting for the demon to be cast out. The fact that the church has set aside both aspects and has been apathetic in them makes me sick. In Revelation 3 he says to the church; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die. I believe he is relating to our walk and relationship with him. We walk in a way that looks good, but inside we are dead and have no depth in God. Depth in God comes from knowing him and loving him, prayer is our main source of communicating with God and fasting is a way to show our dedication to the Lord. It is in the place of united prayer and fasting that we truly experience depth in God. Again in Revelation 2 the Lord says: “Yet I hold this against you: you have forsaken your first love.” The lack of prayer and fasting explains this idea of “falling away” or “losing one’s first love” because man cares more for his “desire-nature,” than for the fortification of his soul.

"When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you" -- Jeremiah 29:13,14

When a man or woman is willing to set aside the legitimate appetites of the body to concentrate on the work of praying, they are demonstrating that they are serious, that they are seeking God with all their heart.

The Lord has been and still is communicating the importance of prayer and fasting since before the time of Jesus. We learn in the Old Testament that David prayed and fasted regularly as well as most of the Old Testament people. Elijah prayed for it not to rain for 3 years and it didn’t and then after the 3 years he prayed for rain and it rained. Elijah, Moses, and Jesus all did 40 day fasts as well as Daniel and Paul who fasted and prayed often. In 2 Corinthians Paul says he was in fastings often…

2 At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.

12 Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.

Here in Daniel 10 we see that Daniel fasted for three weeks and then later in the chapter we see that the Lord took notice and sent his angels in response to his prayer and fasting.

When we fast and pray, we should never lose sight of the fact that our fast must be for the glory of God, that Jesus shall continually have all praise, honor, and glory. A continual praise, along with our prayers, should always be in our hearts to obtain the fullest spiritual results. In other words, make it a time of fasting and praise for the glory of God. Jesus, our mediator, is the one who will see that we are richly rewarded. The one who “bought us with his own blood” is certainly worthy of much praise and honor. A praise that continually flows from the heart is like incense that rises to the throne of God.