The Power Behind Fasting and Praying

There are two main overriding principles related to prayer and fasting in the Bible.

First, biblical fasting is going without food. The noun translated "fast" or "a fasting" is tsom 6685 wich comes from 6684 which means covering the mouth or a literal translation would be “not to eat.” The Greek word for fasting is nesteia 3522 and it literally translates to “no food.”

Some people believe that fasting from television or anything along those lines is acceptable when you fast and pray, although it may give you a sense of giving something up for a time of reflection and praying, the scriptures seem to make it clear that it is going without food that would be considered fasting. In fasting you are afflicting the body and you are in essence destroying life. Food is that which gives the body sustenance and when you go without you are in essence destroying the flesh. Mothers have a very important and powerful job and that is that they promote life and sustain life when they take the time to feed their families.

When we fast we are in essence going against the very grain of creation by avoiding that which gives us life. So the power in fasting comes from relying on the Father to give us that life and to sustain us through his spirit. While we fast and pray we are completely relying on him for our very existence.

Things get very interesting when we are talking about the things that our Heavenly Father encourages us to do. All of the those things seem to have a dual purpose, fasting offers the digestive organs in our bodies an opportunity to rest and spiritually speaking it brings us close to our Heavenly Father by completely relying on him.

Some people wonder about where water falls in fasting and praying. Although the scriptural definition of fasting is with food, it is commonly understanding that it is from water as well. The reason for that is because of the word that is associated with fasting. That word being 'afflicted' or the call for us to 'deny' ourselves on Yom Kippur (theDay of Atonement). The word deny or afflict is word # 6031 and it means:

OT:6031

`anah (aw-naw'); a primitive root [possibly rather ident. with OT:6030 through the idea of looking down or browbeating]; to depress literally or figuratively, transitive or intransitive (in various applications, as follows):KJV - abaseself, afflict (-ionself,), answer [by mistake for OT:6030], chastenself, deal hardly with, defile, exercise, force, gentleness, humble (self), hurt, ravish, sing [by mistake for OT:6030], speak [by mistake for OT:6030], submitself, weaken, X in any wise.

In essence what we are told is to be in a state of complete humbleness and total affliction. Therefore we can correctly presume that fasting and praying also includes water and any type of material which sustains the flesh. Rest assured that when Moshe (Moses) fasted for forty days and forty nights he did not eat food nor drink water for that period of time. Moshe's example and later Yahshua's example are the extreme and in both cases they were both ordered by Yahweh to fast for the length of time. And as I have already said, they were both sustained by the presence of Yahweh himself. For us however unless Yahweh calls us to fast for forty days and forty nights we do have the opportunity to fast and pray for one day or even one week. The important thing is not how long we fast but that we fast and pray with a sincere and humbled spirit before our Heavenly Father Yahweh.

I submit to you that if you do not fast and pray with a sincerity and with a humbled heart you are doing it in vain.

Isaiah 58:3 3 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?' "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please

and exploit all your workers.

By the above scripture we notice that those people that fasted were not fasting with a genuine and humbled heart and they were still doing things that were unacceptable to Yahweh. Having the right frame of mind is essential if we are to receive the power that comes from fasting and praying.

Isaiah 58:4 4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.

The prophet Daniel paints a very good picture about how one is to fast and pray and the power that one receives from it.

Daniel 9:3 3 So I turned to the YHWH Elohim and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

We get the same picture in the book of Esther, when Queen Esther set out to save the Jews from annihilation.

Esther 4:3 3 In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Esther 9:31 31 to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had established for themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of fasting and lamentation.

In essence a time of fasting and praying can a reflect a hear that seeks forgiveness from our past sins and actions that contradict the words of our Heavenly Father.

Joel 2:12 12 'Even now,' declares YHWH, 'return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.'

When we fast we are in a state of spiritual humility but we are not be a state of 'feel-sorry-for-me' humility. After all we are in essence of the presence of our Heavenly Father and we are seeking both his forgiveness and the answers to our prayers and supplications.

Matthew 6:16 16 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

Matthew 6:18 18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Fasting and praying is one way that we can communicate with our Father and letting him know that we are sincere about our walk with him!

Luke 2:37 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.

It is a way by which we can receive answers to our questions that would bring about success both to our lives and the assembly. It also a way that we can use to discern to make sure that we are appointing the right people as leaders and that we can ask our Heavenly father to put his blessing on those leaders.

Acts 13:2 2 While they were worshiping the Master and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."

Acts 14:23 23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.

Lastly, fasting and praying give us immense spiritual power that we cannot receive, understand nor conceive in the flesh. This power of course does not come from us, nor by us, but it is given to us through the Set-Apart spirit of our Heavenly Father (Mark 9:29).

We encourage you to make fasting and praying a part of your spiritual walk with Yahweh.