Fasting and Prayer

Acts 13:1-2 Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said



Notice that these five men were corporately fasting and praying. They were seeking God's will. Then God spoke. Prayer and fasting is what we, the church, should be doing. These men were "ministering to the Lord and fasting." It seems to be a forgotten discipline in our day. Why?

Alarming circumstances brought Jehoshaphat to proclaim a fast for all Judah (2 Chron. 20:3).

Look what Esther did.
Esther 4:15-16 15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16 "Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish."

Jesus launched His ministry with fasting.

Fasting and prayer deepens our desire for God and His will. I believe fasting quiets the flesh so we can focus on God and the things of the Spirit. As we so humble ourselves before a holy God, the Holy Spirit deepens our love and hunger for God...for the lost...and for His church.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matt. 5:6).