Fasting 03 - To Amplify Our Prayers
Fasting and prayer go together. Like two wings of a bird, together they take flight. You can pray without fasting, and you can fast without praying, but when you combine the two, there’s a noticeable amplification of our prayer before God.
This comes as no surprise, since fasting is a kind of praying with our body. When the request of our heart is coupled with the yearning of our body, our prayer is purified of its dross and presented like a precious metal before the Father, for him to do as he will.
“Prayer” is an umbrella term for the medium through which we communicate and commune with God and it involves both speaking and listening. Fasting is a key companion in both.
In Part 3 John Herron helps us see the role fasting has in both hearing God and being heard by God. Firstly it is an aid in discerning the voice of God through the noise and distraction of our lives that we might hear how God is coming to us and his will and direction for our lives. Secondly, fasting is an aid to being heard by God, helping us break through the walls that stand between us and the release of God’s plans, purposes, and power. Story after story — in Scripture and church history — attest to this reality: When prayer and fasting link arms, it’s often the tipping point in the struggle to release God’s Kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven.
Part of the Practicing the Way Series. For info and resources on this series go to redeemercentral.com/ptw