Why Prayer and Fasting?

Why Prayer and Fasting?

By Apostle Felix

1  Then Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2  where he was being tempted by the devil for 40 days. During that time he ate nothing at all, and when they were over he became hungry. 

Luke 4: 1, 2

32  “No one knows when that day or hour will come—not the angels in heaven, not the Son, but only the Father.

Mark 13: 32

Jesus’ lifestyle of prayer and fasting was a profound sign of His total dependence upon the Father for strength and wisdom. While on earth, He walked strictly within human limitations; He was not omnipresent, but was confined to one location at a time, relying entirely on the Holy Spirit for daily strength. Crucially, He did not pray and fast to bend the Father’s will to His own or alter His earthly mission; rather, He fasted to demonstrate absolute submission to the Father’s purposes. This posture was perfectly displayed in the Garden of Gethsemane just before His arrest. Faced with the cross, He prayed for the cup of suffering to be taken from Him, yet He immediately surrendered His human desires by asking for the Father’s will to be done.

39  Then he walked a short distance away, and overcome with grief, he threw himself facedown on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if there is any way you can deliver me from this suffering, please take it from me. Yet what I want is not important, for I only desire to fulfill your plan for me.” Then an angel from heaven appeared to strengthen him. 

Matthew 26: 39

Prayer and fasting are not meant to change God, but to align us with what He desires for our lives. They are not manipulative tools designed to make God bend to our personal wishes. We do not engage in these disciplines to force God to fulfill His word or cater to our selfish ambitions; He is already a good Father who is faithful to His promises. Instead, we pray and fast to gain clarity and know His specific will. Do we fast to provoke God into answering our prayers? Absolutely not. It is not our “much praying” that forces God to pay attention to us. Long before we even make the decision to enter into prayer and fasting, a loving God has already provided the answer.

8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 

Acts 1: 8

Another common misconception about prayer and fasting is the notion that these disciplines act as the source of spiritual power. In reality, they are not the source of power at all; the Holy Spirit is the true source. As Jesus declared, we receive power only when the Holy Spirit comes upon us. We do not pray and fast to generate divine power, but to make ourselves more conscious of God’s presence than of our physical flesh. These practices do not bring down new power from heaven; rather, they make us far more aware of the power that is already active within us. No born-again believer is truly powerless; many are simply ignorant of the divine Indweller. Ultimately, prayer and fasting help us recognize and fully surrender to the Holy Spirit’s governance in our daily lives