Prayer and Fasting

In his sermon on fasting, John Wesley points out that fasting comes naturally. That is, at various times we fast, perhaps without knowing it. If we are heavily burdened, depressed, grieving, anxious, we may go without eating, as things are or seem to be more important than eating. Our concentration is focused somewhere besides eating. We may not know, however, to commit ourselves to fasting on purpose when we find ourselves heavily burdened, depressed, grieving, or anxious. We may not know to practice fasting in a disciplined way, so that we can go straight to it, in its spiritual dimensions, when tough times come. And we definitely do not recognize it as a powerful kind of celebration whereby we announce that a consecrated time to God is more important than “the necessities of life.”

Prayer is much the same. Or perhaps I should say, something of the posture of prayer is as unconscious in us as fasting sometimes is. Here I am the UL hospital, 4 in the morning. I was awakened at 2 and can’t get back to sleep. There are any number of family members here, on the bone marrow transplant unit and in the various ICUs. What are they doing? They could sleep at home. There’s not much they can do here, other than be here. Something about this is “natural.”

They are keeping a vigil, meaning to or not. They are doing the very thing that they would do if they knew to pray—staying close to the loved one, looking for some way to communicate presence and express hope for healing. But how much deeper prayer goes. Prayer is presence with the one prayed for. And it expresses more than hope; it is communication with God, the ardent expression of desire.

While the posture of prayer—staying close and hoping, and the ways that shows up in hanging out at the hospital—come naturally, the substance of prayer does not. That is, we might be able to quickly ask God for something in time of need, but the discipline to turn a “natural” inclination into focused prayer comes only with practice.

Prayer and fasting are inextricably linked because fasting leads to prayer. Prayer sustains fasting, but fasting opens the time and space for focused praying. If you spent in prayer the time it takes you to go to, prepare, and/or eat 4 meals a week (fasting 2 days), you will carve out a significant chunk of time for prayer. And so when the need or desire for much praying comes upon you, you will be ready.

The “natural” fast usually comes with negative connotations. It comes from stress or sadness. The spiritual fast can be a response to negative emotions or situations, but is more often a positive response of desiring to spend serious, powerful time with God in a way He has naturally ordained. The “naturalness” of various kinds of vigils also come from negative situations and emotions. But if prayer is the substance of the day for you, there will be more balance in how you “feel.”

So, you already know that you will fast and keep vigil. Why not be prepared? Jesus teaches that prayer and fasting are of vital importance. And more than being prepared for the hard times, what about making prayer and fasting a part of those times when nothing is going on? It will be as simple as breathing to you. And then, to be really blessed, what if prayer and fasting move beyond the “natural forms” and are actually a part of the good times you experience? What if focused prayer was full of the desire and language of praise? What if fasting became primarily a time when you experienced God’s provision through the Word and prayer? You could turn the “natural” upside down: instead of reacting to hardship unconsciously, the “natural,” exhausting responses of not eating and keeping vigil become the times of sustaining. When hard times hit and you know to pray and fast, you would be ushered into a time that, because you have known it constantly and in all seasons, is a comfortable place, the right place to be, a pleasant place even in the midst of trial. If God became present to you that way, just on the surface reaction of turning to fasting and prayer, how much moreso will He be present in the praying and fasting?

It’s not just that this makes sense or is scriptural, countless Christians over the centuries testify that it is their experience.