Have you ever been so desperate that you had to fast? You had to go to prayer? Your need was so critical that just saying you were praying about it wasn’t enough. A bedtime lay-me-down-to-sleep prayer wasn’t going to get it. You had to get down to business.
The question for the day is,
“Do we have to work for answered prayers? Do we have to fast continually, check off our Daily Bread chart and say so many “Our Father who art in heaven…” prayers?”
The answer is, “No.” We are the ones who need the changing, not God.
Fasting and prayer changes US, strengthens US, molds our character, changes our heart, mind and soul, gives US direction, wisdom, and clears up things that were muddy before!
The Bible tells us that the prophet Daniel fasted on a regular basis. It has even recorded three of those fasts for us to look at and observe. In one of them he goes completely without any food at all. “And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes…” Daniel 9:3 KJV.
In the other two fasts that are recorded in the book of Daniel, he participated in partial fasts where he ate some foods, but refrained from others.
Each time Daniel fasted, we can find one thing he was very consistent with; he never failed to pray!
Look at the verse above again in Daniel 9:3, “…to seek by prayer and supplications.” Even when it doesn’t specifically mention prayer, we know Daniel prayed because he was a Hebrew prophet and a man of God. He would not have fasted without prayer! The Jewish people understood that the two went together.
God can speak to us because we have allowed Him to cleanse things from our minds when we fast. We have taken time to be with Him and pushed some things aside; things that we liked, maybe even loved, that were important to us. We laid them down in order to be with Him.
Our motives must be pure when we pray. “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” James 4:3 ESV. We are praying for our needs, not necessarily our wants. Max Lucado said it so well, “You have to wonder if God’s most merciful act is His refusal to answer some of our prayers!”
Our heart must be right! “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me…” Psalm 66:18 KJV.
We must pray in faith, believing and we pray His will in all things. “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” 1 John 5:14 ESV.
Then we must pray with perseverance! “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” Luke 18:1 NIV.
And we must be thankful. “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” 1 Chronicles 16:34 ESV.
When we fast, we show the Lord that we want to draw closer to Him and lay aside things that might hinder us in our walk. We aren’t bargaining with God and we are not begging God. We aren’t jumping through hoops or just checking off boxes. We just realize that if our flesh is submitted to Him, His wants and desires for us become OUR wants and desires. We begin to reflect His glory and not our own!
And even if the situation doesn’t change, WE have been changed, WE have been strengthened for whatever lies ahead.
In The Daniel Fast Devotional, we talk about a different person in the Bible who sought God by fasting every day of the 21 day fast. Some of them were desperate like Hannah, she just HAD to fast too! Others did it out of selfishness as with Ahab and Jezebel. Each story is true, intriguing, and will teach us the good and the bad motives behind fasting. Also, at the end of each chapter, there are wonderful recipes that are Daniel Fast approved. Get your copy today!
Great reminder of another form of worship. Like all worship we gain more than we can ever guess spiritually. Since the last time I fasted I learned a couple of things; One is that it’s good to rest the different organs in our body now and then. And two, the process of fasting then once we eat again releases higher levels of human growth hormone in our bodies naturally.
Like all worship, we don’t give to get, but as you said, with the right heart we get so much more than we ever could have imagined. Isn’t that just like our Father? You can’t out give, sacrifice, or love God.
Hello Ruth! God bless you and thank you for visiting. ♥
“Fasting and prayer don’t represent works, they represent hunger and desire to hear the voice of God, to draw closer to Him and lay aside things that might hinder us in our walk.” Brilliant reminder and explanation for the need for fasting and prayer! Thank you for sharing at Grace and Truth! 🙂
Amen Hazel. Thank you for stopping by!
Thank you so much! I will visit your site also. Love making new friends. ♥
P.S. I’d love it if you swing by my blog and let me know you’ve dropped by.
Hi, I’m a cohost for Wake Up Wednesday. Thanks for sharing. There is power in prayer & fasting.
Once we have prayed, we need to thank God that He is working to bring it about. I keep reminding myself of that. Thank you for sharing your inspiring words with us here at “Tell Me a Story.”
So true Sharon, it isn’t on our shoulders! He already paid the price. Love that thought, Leave Him room to do His will. Wow! ♥
Thanks Ellen! So happy to have you today. I’m listening for His voice ♥
Thank you for stopping by. It is a challenge for sure but the benefits are worth it. God bless!
Fasting is a challenge but so very important and I like the cleansing aspect. Great post.
Wonderful post, Candace. I loved that you stated our fasting ins’t work, but a hunger and desire to hear His voice! Great reminder. Linking up with you today from Hazel’s Tell Me A True Story blog!
I like your confirmation that we don’t need to work for answered prayers. All too often I have met people who think they have to “drum up enough faith” for prayers to be answered. This puts the onus on our shoulders – a completely backwards way of looking at prayer. The Lord is the One who does His will, and we do not work for it.
Yesterday our pastor had this to say about asking the Lord for things:
Bring your requests to the Lord, ask Him what you want, and then leave Him room to do His will.
Yes.
GOD BLESS!