Prayer and Fasting
If you've ever read even bits and pieces of the Bible, you've probably noticed that the act of fasting is mentioned MANY times throughout. Jesus fasted. Daniel fasted. Esther fasted. There are many more people in the Bible who did just that. When I first became a Christian and started going to church, I had heard about people fasting, but I really didn't know the significance of it. I realized throughout the years why it is so important to pray and fast. Our church does a corporate fast for 21 days...meaning the whole church fasts in some way or another (by choice of course). The whole purpose of fasting is to deny our physical needs for our spiritual needs. It's kind of like a sacrifice we make to our Heavenly Father. We give up the pleasure of food, to find greater pleasure in the Lord. The key to a meaningful fast is to develop a more intimate relationship with God through prayer. While we are in our quiet time with Him, pay attention to what he is wh