The Place of Fasting in Prayer

“Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:16-18

We want the power to live the Christian life. The problem is that often we are unwilling to employ or submit to the disciplines which release the power of the Lord Jesus.

In his book, How to Pray, R.A. Torrey explains the relationship of fasting to prevailing prayer: “If we want to pray with power, we should pray with fasting. This, of course, does not mean that we should fast every time we pray. But there are times of emergency or special crises, when men of earnestness will withdraw themselves even from the gratification of natural appetites that would be perfectly proper under other circumstances, that they may give themselves up solely to prayer.

There is...power in such prayer. Every great crisis in life and work should be met in that way. There is nothing pleasing to God in our giving up things which are pleasant in a purely Pharisaic and legal way.

But there is power in that downright earnestness and determination to obtain, in prayer, the things of which we strongly feel our need. This feeling of urgency leads us to put away everything, even things that are normal and necessary, that we may set our faces to find God and obtain blessings from Him.”

“So we fasted and sought our God...” Ezra 8:23