One of the largest misconceptions about prayer and fasting is how it happens. This is often what trips people up the most as it is often portrayed in an over complicated way that is not only unnecessary, but can scare you away from even attempting to join.
The reality is that how to enter a season of prayer and fasting is actually very simple. There are three main steps that need to be taken to make sure your time of prayer and fasting is fruitful and that it helps you grow spiritually and draws you closer to God.
Plan
Although it sounds ridiculous, the first step to a fruitful season of prayer and fasting is to plan to have a fruitful season of prayer and fasting! Failure to plan to be in this season means that you won’t prioritise it and will likely allow other things to take time away from it or become distractions.
Therefore, plan your time of prayer and fasting carefully. Whether you plan to do it alone or you plan to join the body of Christ each evening, know what you’re doing. If you can only make it to church some nights, plan those nights accordingly and be prepared to stick to your time.
Once this plan is in place, guard it jealously. Don’t let other distractions or ‘emergencies’ distract you from the plan!
If something comes up, ask whether or not it can wait to be dealt with until after your season of prayer and fasting. If it can, don’t feel bad about pushing it till later—and also, don’t let any person in your life make you feel bad about doing so either. They may not understand the gravity of you jealously guarding your time with God.
Time
As part of your planning process, specify the times that you’ll carve out of your schedule to spend in prayer and in reading God’s Word. These times can be in the early morning, afternoon, or before you go to bed.
Because you’re setting this time aside during a season of prayer and fasting, the general recommendation is that you schedule this time at moments when you would (usually) be eating. This includes breakfast time, lunch breaks at work, or dinner time.
Join Your Spiritual Family
The last thing is to join your spiritual family in corporate prayer and fasting. Doing this has multiple benefits, such as surrounding you with people that are going through the same physical withdrawals as you but can also help encourage you spiritually and mentally.
Aside from this encouragement, joining together at church gives you access to a curated guide of things to pray for. If you complete praying for your list of items you’ve noted down in your morning or afternoon prayer sessions, the evening sessions at church give you more, targeted items to pray over (such as the church, finances, ministries, etc.).
At the end of the day, how you pray and fast is up to you, and you alone. Your fast is between you and God.
There is no right or wrong way to fast.
The only thing to remember that every season of prayer and fasting should be characterised by two distinct elements:
A Sacrifice (Fast)
Every time of prayer and fasting should include a sacrifice. This is, after all, what prayer and fasting is about. While the modern age has brought on the need to also fast from digital clutches, such as your smartphone or TV, it is generally recommended that you fast food (although you can add a digital fast on as well!).
This is because a lack of food is what helps weaken your body and strengthen your spirit. This sacrifice show that you’re serious about the prayers you’re praying and serious about expecting God to do something miraculous.
An Increase in Prayer
A season of prayer and fasting that doesn’t include a substantial increase in the time you spend praying is essentially a waste (or a diet if you want to look at the silver lining). The reason behind why we pray and fast is to draw nearer to God and to increase our prayer lives.
Therefore, ensure that you don’t focus too much on the sacrificial part of prayer and fasting to the extent that you forget to pray.
It is better to eat some food and increase your prayer life dramatically than to starve but see no change in your prayer habits!
If you want more info, download our full Prayer and Fasting Manual here!
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