Prayer and Fasting

The Life Abundant

an introduction to the spiritual discipline of prayer and fasting

There is this friend of mine. He is the most giving

and loving person you will ever meet. He once paid the price

for a slew of accusations that were not his own.

And he did so gracefully and without anger, like he was glad to do so.

He is a great listener and always seems to know

what to say when I am at a loss.

His name is Jesus; would you like to talk to Him?

Prayer

Let's start with prayer. What is prayer to you? Why do you think it is important? What did you learn this week? Listen to this:

“Why is there so little anxiety to get time to pray? Why is there so little forethought in the laying out of time and employments so as to secure a large portion of each day for prayer?

“Why is there so much speaking, yet so little prayer? Why is there so much running to and fro, yet so little prayer? Why so much bustle and business, yet so little prayer? Why so many meetings with our fellow-men, yet so few meetings with God?

“Why so little being alone, so little thirsting of the soul for the calm, sweet hours of unbroken solitude, when God and His child hold fellowship together as if they could never part?

“It is the want of these solitary hours that not only injures our own growth in grace but makes us such unprofitable members of the church of Christ, and that renders our lives useless.”

–Horatius Bonar

The Bible has hundreds of things to say about prayer. The Old Testament (OT) says many things. There are differents typs of prayer in the OT like:

• asking for guidance or divine help (Gen 24:12-14, Jer 17:18)
• intercession (2 Kings 4:32-34)
• thanks and praise (Psalm 100:4,5)
• confession (Dan 9:20)

The New Testament (NT) also has quite a bit to say about prayer. Thanks to Christ, our high preist, draw near to God (Hebrews 7:25) and the Spirit of God will make clear our prayers (Romans 8:26,27). The same types of prayer are in the NT as in the OT, as well as asking for daily needs (Matthew 6:11) and adding forgiveness to confession (Matthew 6:12)

Matthew 6 and 26, Luke 11, and John 17 are key examples of Jesus and His thoughts on prayer and what His prayers were like. Let's read John 17, what they call the high priestly prayer, aloud.

That sounds to me like someone who knows God, who understands God and his place with God. It rings of closeness and love. I want that prayer. I cannot pray all of these things, I am not Christ, but I can talk to God as to someone I know and not some jackpot god, wishing I could get what I want when I ask.

Prayer is talking to God

God created the World. Do you believe that? I am not here to prove it, it's kinda obvious when you think about it but I do. I believe that God created the heavens and the earth and everything in them. He wrote, is writing the story of us, the greatest story ever told. C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite authors, with a great imagination and a grasp on God that often leaves me on the dust. I would love to be able to talk with him, to sit down and ask him some questions and just spend Sunday afternoons with him. I'd get a pipe and we could smoke and talk. And he just wrote a few stories, knew about God. Through Jesus I can talk to God, who writes all stories, in a way. And I can talk to Him. And, if I listen, He will tak to me.

God knows me, all about me and loves me anyway. Jess knows me, too, but she cannot know me like God does. I can't be that open with her. It's impossable. Sometimes I don't even understand me, but even at those times God does. And he still loves me, unselfishly, complete agape with no reservations. Why would I not want to talk to someone who knows all about me, my faults and my triumphs, knows things I cannot explain, and loves me in ways I can only imagine?

Jesus died for me and rose again. He preformed miracles that I can only imagine. He loved people, all people and called them to Him and to God. He was revolutionary, healing the sick and forgiving the sinner. We was a friend to the outcast and found value in fishermen. I want to talk to someone like that, to ask them how they did it, to feel that love and have a new best friend.

I want to talk to God, need to remember to, not as a show on the public square, not to get what I want but to know God, to talk to my friend, to thank my Savior, to hear my Lover, to ask Him questions, to change my focus off of myself.

Prayer is changing our veiw

Let's read Matt 6:9-13. The whole prayer takes us before God. He is honored. His will is set before our own. He is the provider of our needs and of our forgiveness. He can save us from our temptations and addictions. He. He. He. When we pray, if we are praying to better know God, praying as Jesus prayed and as He showed us to pray, we get a new view. Like Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 when he asked for relief, we might not get what we want, but we will hear what we nedd to hear and see new things, like the idea that God's grace is sufficient for us. Prayer is our contact with the creator. Prayer is talking to an old friend, wanting what they want before ourselves, and finding out what those things are. Prayer is speaking with the creator of the universe and realizing we are but a small piece of it. Prayer is knowing that even this small piece is loved.

Prayer, the way Jesus showed it in Matthew 6, is not some great speach to inspire others or show them how great we are. It is a quiet thing, an alone thing, an intimate conversation with God.

Prayer is dangerous

Read Matthew 26:39 “And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, 'My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.'”1 And we know what happens in the following chapters of Matthew's gospel. Jesus prayed as He taught, “Your will be done.” And it was. Jesus died a horrible death under the guise of things He did not do, to pay for sins He did not commit. Prayer is talking to God and knowing that God can do the things we ask. If we pray to know God's will, we need to be ready to do it. If we pray, “Your will be done” we need to realize we may not actually know what that is and we may not like it when we find out. If we ask to be forgiven, Jesus says we have to forgive. If we want to talk to God as a friend we have to give to Him like we would a friend, give up our weekends to help Him move or our money to help Him pay a bill or babysit His kids. If we want a relationship with a loving God we have to be ready to be in that relationship. If you ask God to be real to you, to work in your life, to show you things then you need to be ready. He will.

Fasting

What about fasting? What is fasting? What is it for? What did Matthew 6 say about fasting? Did you find anything else about it?

Fasting is done for a number of reasons in the Bible:

• grief (2 Sam 1:12, 12:16)
• ordination of ministers (Acts 12:3. 14:23)
• to pray (Dan 3:9)
• to confess sin (1 Sam 7:6)
• to read scripture (Jer 36:6)
• to show humiliation (Deut 9:18)
• done by Daniel, Anna, Paul, Cornelius, Moses, Jesus, Nehimiah, Esther (you can look them up if you don't believe me)

Fasting, I think, is yet another way to focus on God and not on ourselves. Don't get me wrong, any of these disciplines can be selfish, and if all you are thinking of is how hungry you are or how great you are during and after your fast, then you might as well eat something. But if you fast to better know God, to tell Him about you grief or struggles, to really seek His will through scripture or prayer, to humble yourself before Him, then it is a worthwhile practice.

Our goal, as stated each time so far, is to know God, to grow closer to Him. If we take time to talk to God we can know Him better. If we fast as a way of focusing more on God and His will we will grow closer to Him. If we read, study, memorize, and meditate on His Word we will understand Him better. These practices, if done in the right spirit, with a heart that longs for Jesus, then we will indeed know Him, which is a truly abundant life.

Next week we will look at worship. Read Psalm 24, 29, 33, 47, 65, and 67 (one a day). Pick a verse on the worship of God and memorize it. In your prayers take some time, like the Psalmists, and tell God about Himself. Focus on Him and what He has done this week and I will see you next time.

1 New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.