Hearing from God: Times of Prayer and Fasting

The subject of prayer and fasting is huge and I’ve not come across any one book that is definitive or all-encompassing, so please don’t think I’ve got it all covered either. Nearly every paragraph I write could be or has been expounded into chapters and books by a real author or authority. I do hope that this entry is helpful and will cause you to explore AND experience more on your own…

Prayer—an awesome tool to hear from God for yourself
I simply LOVE prayer, I pray in different ways at different times as I am sure we all do…and some how we learn to hear God speak to us individually.

There are times where I simply find myself praising God for so much, or for something very specific. This weekend I had been on a mini-retreat of prayer and fasting From Saturday morning until Sunday evening. I broke my time of fasting, starting with communion. Last night after I came home, I felt I should finish off my weekend by watching, The Passion of the Christ. Wow, I was struck by the reality of the suffering in the physical realm, and just a tiny glimpse of what Christ must have also suffered in the spiritual realm. I found myself crying (not a usual thing for me…LOL). As I continued to watch the movie I also spent time in prayer and reading the Word of God, specifically the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ sufferings. I am so thankful for what Christ has done for me and for all of us, and I felt I was hearing from God through this movie and through my time of praise, worship, and thanksgiving that the movie sparked within me.

I set the alarm on my PDA for 4:30AM with this reminder, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” I try to just lie awake and listen for God. At 5:00AM my regular alarm clock goes off and I try to go through a list of personal prayers that I’ve marked down. I find my prayer lists are great “starting points” for my prayers and helps to keep me on track. I also find that during this time, I am a bit more conversational… “Lord, wouldn’t this be cool, if….”, or “Holy Spirit, I desire for You to come and be with me….” I also find myself asking, “Holy Spirit, how do You want me to pray about this situation.” Until this past Sunday, I was frustrated at times, when some things were left unsaid…not it is all “G” (thanks Jordan)! God can say so much in His silence...cool stuff.

I also try to maintain this same habit of prayer during the course of my day as I can and/or as the Lord leads; and before I go to sleep each night. I try to make the time to review the day’s events and my list of prayers again, covering things not addressed or "updated" in prayer some more.

I do great at talking/praying to God, and very hard thing for me, which I am training hard to get better at…and this is listening prayer. I even am reading a book by the same title…hope it helps me. It’s like trying not to think of “pink elephants”. I find myself, “okay, listen Keiger, okay, shhh, oh Lord, help me to listen, okay, shhh. Okay Lord, speak when you are ready for I am now going to start listening right now. Okay, now…this really is the start of me listening Lord. See, I’m here to listen. AHHH, I keep talking, okay, starting NOW…..” You can get the idea.

Prayer—an awesome tool to hear from God for others. During my prayer times, I also have an intercessory prayer list that I split between my early morning time and bedtime prayers. Again, this is rather conversational and I ask God to “update” me with what/how to pray for this person. It is great when I get an impression from God. I’ll make note of this so I can continue to pray accordingly in the future. This also helps me see God’s movement for this person and through my prayer journey.

Prayer—an awesome tool to hear from God for our future relationships.
Some time ago, I heard about praying for one’s future mate, children, etc. I was intrigued by this and try to incorporate this into my prayer life. I bought Stormie OMartian’s book, Power of a Praying Husband, and I took her recommendations and modified them to have elements to pray for my future mate. It is a rather long list, so I even split them down to pray some things every time, and then the rest once a week. It has also helped me hear from God as to what He wants and to what is important to God regarding Godly attributes and critical elements of a successful marriage.

Prayer—MEN it’s time to hear from God.
One more point, this one directed to the men reading this blog. PRAY! Strive to be a prayerful leader in all aspects of your life. Too often, I find that men typically don’t pray as much as women do and that is sad. I asked one married man if he prays. His answer was, “Nah, my wife does all that praying stuff for our family.” No wonder his marriage and family were struggling. He was not taking his role as spiritual leader seriously. It is sad to think how little he thought of the power of prayer and of hearing from God. Why so many prayer groups, prayer meetings, and prayer teams are lead and filled by so many women? THANK YOU to every one of you WOMEN! It has been so many of YOUR prayers that has sustained the church and helped us men. It is time overdue for us guys to step up to the prayer mat! It just might help to also move away from the dinner table and come before the Lord, hungry and in need of spiritual food like during a fast.

A Quick Overview of Fasting
Anyone can fast, and I'll be bold and say everyone should fast in some manner. Why do I say this? There seems to be a link with those who move effectively in the spiritual realm to having developed a lifestyle of fasting. Fasting allows the human spirit to commune with the Holy Spirit in a unique and intimate way.

Fasting can be done in a variety of ways and for various lengths of time. One can abstain from all food and/or liquids, or some other way as such...

There have been people who abstain from all food and will have only water, or vegetable juice or fruit juice. Some people will fast not from all foods but from certain foods...deserts, “rich” foods and only eat plain foods (Daniel Fast). Others will fast from alcohol or soda, or something that is “sacrificial.”

I've know people to sacrifice “Monday Night Football” for a whole season and they used that time for reading the Bible and to pray over their children...so there are really no limits and no “right” way to conduct a fast.

It is important to say that JUST refraining from eating is NOT fasting...it is just starving or a diet. Prayer, worship, meditation on the Word of God, intercession...these things should be incorporated into the time in some manner.

You may be called to fast because God has placed it on your heart.

You may be called to fast because you want to press in to the heart of God and you want to develop a more intimate relationship with God.

You may be called to fast because you want to intercede on behalf of someone else or over a situation or need in your life.

You may be called to fast, just to do it and experience the sacrifice of something for God.

Try taking the time you would use to prepare your meal(s) and the time to eat to spend in prayer, worship, etc.

Whenever you feel pangs of hunger or think of food...pray, worship, etc. Jesus fasted 40 days (not recommended unless God clearly is calling you to do so). In Matthew 6:16, Jesus says, “when” you fast...not “if”.

Extended fasts should be done with great care and coming off the fast is just as important. A general rule to follow is for as many days as you have been fasting, that many days should be slowly and gently followed before going back to your regular diet. I've NOT followed that a few times and was really sick to my stomach... Ben and Jerry's after 3 days of water only is not such a great idea....even if it does taste good.

I tend to do 24 hour fasts on a regular basis. I'll skip eating anything after say, 6:00pm praying and drinking water only until after 6:00pm the following day or as I feel is right.

This is by no means a complete study and it is purposely brief...any questions?

Books:
The Hidden Power of Prayer and Fasting, by Mehesh Chavda
Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, by Richard Foster
The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives, by Dallas Willard


Jehovah Our ROCK!


Keiger