David Diga Hernandez - Here's HOW to Fast and Pray (According to the Bible)

Perhaps the most neglected of all spiritual practices is prayer and fasting. Most believers participate in worship; some believers have a prayer life. Few believers are consistently and faithfully devoted to the word of God, and even fewer believers than that make fasting and prayer a regular part of their spiritual journey. Now, there are a couple of reasons for this. Number one, I believe that many Christians are simply unaware of the many benefits of prayer and fasting. I did a teaching on the benefits of prayer and fasting, and you can find that with the rest of our content. But right now, I want to focus on that second reason. There’s another reason why I believe many Christians neglect the spiritual practice of prayer and fasting, and that is simply because many Christians don’t know how to fast and pray. That’s what I’m going to cover right here and now: those simple dynamics—what prayer and fasting is and how to implement it in your everyday life. I’m going to show you how to do that, but first, I want to read a verse to you: James 2:17. Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. In other words, faith requires action, and prayer and fasting is faith in action because it’s a response to the word of God. You see, we may not understand all of the mechanics or dynamics behind prayer and fasting. We may not understand why prayer and fasting work so well, but we understand that they work well because we believe the word of God. Whenever you feel spiritually stuck or stagnant, carry out an act of faith. Perhaps in this season of your life, you feel as though your spiritual growth is slowing down, or perhaps you feel like you’re taking a few steps backwards. That is a good time to pray and fast. In fact, it’s good to pray and fast even before you feel that spiritual stagnation because it can prevent that stagnation. Now, we are told to persist when we pray. Matthew 7:7 says, «Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for; keep on seeking, and you will find; keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.» This is talking about persistence in prayer. When you pray and fast, you’re stepping out in faith, and when you pray and fast, you’re participating in persistent prayer. Like a sledgehammer chips away at a brick wall, our prayers chip away at spiritual barriers, and fasting adds more strength to the strike. Now, I want to read a portion of scripture that will give us our basic level of understanding for prayer and fasting. Matthew 6:16–18 says, «And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so that people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face, so that no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.» From this portion of scripture, we can glean several things. Number one, fasting is to be done regularly. Jesus said, «And when you fast,» or «as often as you fast.» This implies that fasting is to be a regular part of the life of the believer. Secondly, we see that it’s something we’re to do privately. Verse 18 says, «then no one will notice that you are fasting.» It’s important that we do not fast with the motive of being seen and praised by others. If your motivation for fasting is simply the admiration of other believers, then that is all the reward you will get. You won’t receive the other benefits that come from fasting; you will only receive the admiration of people, which is ultimately emptiness. Now, you don’t want to become superstitious with this. I’ve seen some believers, when they’re fasting, go overboard in trying to hide the fact that they’re fasting. Jesus wasn’t saying to make it super top secret; he was simply saying that you ought to do it privately and not make it an intentional act to get others to see that you’re fasting. It’s not like with people imagining a birthday wish—"Oh, don’t let them know what you wished for; otherwise, it won’t come true.» Fasting doesn’t work that way. If someone discovers that you’re fasting, it doesn’t mean that all the results will be taken away. This is simply Jesus addressing the need for praise from others that rests inside the heart of every human being. We’re also to fast in faith; our fasting is done before God, not before people. I understand that you can partake in a group fast; in the New Testament, we see that many times they would fast together and do corporate fasting. There’s no way they could hide the fact that they were fasting from each other if they all wanted to fast together; otherwise, that group fast couldn’t have been coordinated. But when we fast in faith, we’re doing it before God. Yes, others may know about it; yes, others may participate with us in fasting, but ultimately, it’s done before God, and when we do it before God, it’s because we’re doing it in genuine faith. Finally, it is to be done prayerfully. A fast without prayer is just a diet. Now, I want to show you the different types of fasting that you’ll see in scripture, and from these different types of fasts, you can make a choice and pray about it.