Call to Prayer: God-Honoring Fasts
The Bible is filled with references to the prayers and fasting of God’s people. In Matthew 6, Jesus placed fasting on the same level as praying and giving. He said, “When you fast! When you pray! When you give!”
I wonder why Christians today and churches in our generation don’t place fasting on the same level as praying and giving? Jesus, by His example and His teaching, demonstrated that prayer and fasting are important and integral ingredients in the lives of His followers.
Fasting and love
One purpose of prayer and fasting is to bring our hearts to a place of being filled with a sacrificial love that results in godly attitudes in our lives. True fasting will draw us closer to God and His purposes.
Fasting and humility
I can’t explain why God has chosen prayer and fasting as the gateway to supernatural power. One thing I do know: Scripture, prayer, and fasting are the ways believers humble themselves in the sight of the Lord. When we humble ourselves, He promises to exalt and lift us up at the appropriate time (1 Peter 5:6; James 4:10). God also indicates that He will resist the proud, but will grace to the humble (James 4:6). Again, 2 Chronicles 7:14 indicates the importance of humbling ourselves before God.
Fasting and focus
Fasting brings a sharp focus to the dramatic difference between our physical and spiritual natures. Eating is one of the most fundamental things we do as physical beings. One of the most natural desires is for food. Without proper nourishment we die. By exercising our wills and depriving ourselves of food for spiritual purposes, we acknowledge our spiritual natures and honor our Creator-Father. When we deny the natural for the purpose of calling upon God to do the supernatural, He will enable and empower us to experience the supernatural.
Fasting and worship
Through fasting, we confirm the words uttered by Jesus in the face of temptation during His forty-day fast: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Through prayer and fasting we forsake our own physical needs and the creature comforts of this world and call upon God as the Originator, Giver, Source, and Sustainer of all life, especially our own. We exalt Him as our hope and salvation. True spiritual fasting will result in submission and devotion to God.
God blesses when our fasts . . .
focus on Him and honor Him. Although you will receive spiritual blessings when you fast, these are not the proper motives for fasting.
have spiritual purposes. Although you may realize certain physical benefits, these are not the proper motives for spiritual fasting (for example, weight-loss purposes).
cause individuals to humble themselves and submit to the authority of God and His Word.
cause individuals to acknowledge and repent of sin.
deprive our natural desires and lusts to focus on the spiritual.
A final observation
Even when we honor God by praying and fasting, this does not mean that our heavenly Father will grant everything on our wish-and-whim list. God will only work and bless in ways that are consistent and in harmony with His will and purpose.
Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie W. Floyd
An excerpt from “The Power of Prayer and Fasting” by Dr. Ronnie Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
Leading Your Church in a Sunday Morning Prayer Meeting | Just Imagine
On Sunday morning, October 13, 2013, I led our entire Cross Church Family in a prayer meeting. I believed it was time to issue a call to the Cross Church Family for spiritual revival in the church and spiritual awakening in America.
Our Purpose
Why dedicate an entire Sunday morning service to a prayer meeting? I felt God leading me to alert our Cross Church family of the need for spiritual revival and awakening in America. I lead them through a spiritual process that was both personal and sequential, and then sent our church out with a burden for revival and a hope for the future. Revival is the manifestation of the presence of God in our lives. Revival begins with me. Revival begins with you.
A Personal Conviction
I have a personal conviction about why we pray for revival and awakening. Personally, I believe we need to pray for personal revival, revival in the church, and awakening in the nation, so that we can see the Great Commission of Jesus Christ escalated and accelerated to completion in our generation. I am compelled to call the church to revival and the country to be awakened spiritually, so that we can see the completion of the Great Commission in our generation.
Word-Based, Spirit-Led, and Worshipful
We focused solely on praying, and everything we did was based upon the Word of God. I took the Word of God, read it, taught it briefly, and then led our people to respond to God through prayer. Throughout the worship experience of teaching and prayer, we expressed various moments through songs of worship.
Prayer Times Built Upon Biblical Principles
I taught through five specific principles, spending four to six minutes on each.
- A Vision for Revival in the Church and Awakening in the Nation
- The Exceeding Sinfulness of our Sin
- Cleansing and Renewal
- Fully Surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and Experiencing the Fullness of the Holy Spirit
- Advancing the Gospel Everywhere
After each principle was taught from God’s Word, we moved to prayer. We prayed silently, we prayed together, we prayed on our knees, we prayed standing, and we prayed at the altar. My desire was to lead by the Spirit’s direction; built upon the Word of God, responding to God through prayer, and expressed through worship.
It was a Wonderful Experience
Without a doubt, the entire service was a wonderful experience. Lay people and pastors want to pray. Those who do not know how to pray want to learn to pray effectively. As spiritual leaders, we need to create a pathway for them. It was a highly memorable day for many, and life changing for some.
Just Imagine…
Just imagine what would happen in America if every church spent an entire Sunday morning worship service focused on prayer for revival in the church and awakening in America? Just imagine what would happen if each of those services led toward praying about advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ regionally, nationally, and internationally, calling upon the church to rise up and complete the Great Commission in our generation?
I am convinced that every great movement of God is preceded by the extraordinary prayer of God’s people. Now is the time we rise up as the church of Jesus Christ and elevate prayer in our churches. If we are not careful, we will reduce prayer in local church worship services to routine and less important than announcements.
Jonathan Edwards said it This Way
Jonathan Edwards, the man God used as the catalyst for the 1st Great Awakening said,
“So it is God’s will that the prayers of His saints shall be great and the principal means of carrying on the designs of Christ’s Kingdom in the world. When God has something to accomplish for His church, it is with His will that there should precede it the extraordinary prayer of His people.”
Oh friend, just imagine, if every church in America turned just one entire worship service into a prayer service, calling upon the God of Heaven to bring revival into our lives personally, in His church, and awakening in our nation, so that we can see the Great Commission escalated and accelerated to completion in our generation.
Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.