Add Fasting To Your Praying

 

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that

provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

You have been hearing a lot about the 90 Days of Prayer, Fasting, and Church

Planting that our Director, Pastor Claude, has declared for August through

October of this year. Prayer, fasting, and church planting are three God-

honoring activities that we will practice together. They are not magic. They do

not obligate God to act. But they are powerful.

First of all, by praying, fasting, and going out to plant churches in villages

without churches, we declare our utter dependence upon Almighty God. We

recognize that this is His work, not ours. He is our Leader; we are his helpers.

We are co-laborers with Christ and we are dependent upon him. We are weak,

but He is strong. So we pray. We remember the promises of God. We confess

our own weaknesses. We remember how he empowered the apostles of the

new Testament. We trust Him to empower us in the same way.

But our 90 Days of prayer, fasting, and church planting are not simply days of

praying for God’s power. They are patterned after the days, described in Acts 1

and 2, that Jesus’ disciples spent in the Upper Room before the Day of

Pentecost. First they prayed, then they were filled with the Holy Spirit, then

went out and proclaimed the wonders of God to people who had not yet

accepted the Good News. Finally, the Lord added to their number daily those

who were being saved.

So why do we add fasting to our prayers? Fasting is not magical. It does not

obligate God to work. But is it helpful? And if so, how?

Fasting is helpful. It is humbling to abstain from food for one or more days to

seek God. But we know that God meets us when we leave our pride behind and

humbly seek him. He is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Jesus expected his disciples to fast, but the primary instruction he gave about

fasting was to avoid fasting that was designed to win praise from men. We do

not fast to gain the approval of others. We fast to devote ourselves to God, to

hear his voice, and to accept his guidance in our lives.

During the 90 Days of Prayer, Fasting, and Church Planting, no one will obligate

you to fast. Fasting is a voluntary activity. But if you are new to fasting, and

you are in good health, I encourage you to give fasting a try. Seek the Lord

with your whole heart. Express your love to God with your whole self. As you

express with words your dependence upon God, show it, for a time, by seeking

God while abstaining from food. During your fast and especially after your fast,

God will meet you. He will guide you, he will empower you. And God’s

empowerment is always a wonderful thing!

This has been “Multiply,” and I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this

encouraging word with today?

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #FastAndPray