What is the connection between prayer and fasting?

What then is meant by "prayer and fasting"? Prayer is the realisation of complete dependence, and the expression of it before God, combined with confidence in Him, and the expectation of His response to our cries. True prayer, therefore, presupposes that we have come to the end of ourselves, of our own wisdom, and of our own strength; for as long as we have the slightest trust in ourselves, in our own skill, mode of service, manner of speech, or in our natural abilities, we cannot be wholly cast upon God. This was the lesson Paul had to learn from the thorn in the flesh, and which he was taught by the Lord when, in answer to his prayers, He said, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness!' (2 Cor. 12:8-9.) By "fasting" we are to understand, not the mere abstinence from food, but rather the refusal of the things of the scene through which we are passing, the things which appeal to us as men, such as the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, which the apostle Paul terms "worldly lusts." (Titus 2:12.) He shows us in Philippians 3 that he himself practised fasting, and the only power for it, viz., having a glorified Christ as the absorbing Object of his soul. It was in the joy of possessing such an Object that he counted all things loss, all things whether good or bad (as men deem good and bad), because he desired to have Christ alone as his gain.

Fasting for today?

Before closing let us mention something about fasting today. The fact that in certain circles of Christendom fasting has become a mere religious exercise must not turn away our eyes from the first Christians who fasted with great earnestness (see 2 Cor. 6:5). Before Paul and Barnabas set off on their first missionary journey the brethren fasted and prayed (Acts 13:3). And when these two, on their journey back, had ordained elders in the various assemblies of Asia Minor, they prayed with fasting and commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed (Acts 14:23).

We may also learn much from the words of the Lord Jesus about prayer and fasting in Matthew 17:21. A French brother wrote as to this in the "Messager Evangélique 1864":

"Fasting means a conscious taking of distance from earthly and natural things so that the heart can be engaged in prayer with spiritual and heavenly things. Fasting is a means to interrupt the link between our natural being and the world which surrounds us; prayer is the means to maintain the link between our spirit and heaven. The former is the holy negation of natural man, the latter the expression of full dependence of the renewed man. But we ought to be on our guard against a monkish, ascetic and lawful spirit which tends to exalt the flesh."

Faith indicates a spirit of confidence in God: prayer — dependence on God: fasting — separation to God, in the form of abstinence from lawful things. These are the things which lead to power in the service of God. Their opposites — unbelief, self-confidence, self-indulgence, are the things that lead to weakness and failure. These words of our Lord play like a searchlight upon our many failures in serving Him. Let us consider our ways in the light of them.

The disciples in the house questioned the Lord as to why they were not able to cast out the demon, and were told, "This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting." There are therefore different kinds of spirits. However, the connection of this verse and verse 19 shows that we are faithless if we lack prayer and fasting. For prayer expresses dependence on God, while fasting emphasizes self-denial or no confidence in the flesh.

These and kindred questions are searching to the last degree. Oh, that we knew God better—put Him to the test! He delights in faith, and invites us to trust Him. Mark, Ezra and his little band prayed and fasted. The two go together. It is a principle that runs throughout Scripture. When the disciples were powerless to act in the presence of evil, the Lord mildly rebuked them, saying, “This kind goes not forth but by prayer and fasting.” As it has been well put, prayer is bringing God in, and fasting is shutting man out.

Prayer is the expression of entire dependence on God. Fasting indicates the absolute refusal of ourselves and all human gratifications. Practically the first man is completely set aside, and we walk in simple dependence on God alone. This will mean death to myself as a man here in every way. Faith connects our souls with another scene altogether, where the first man has no place. Faith closes its eyes to all that is visible; and then, like Moses, we shall endure "as seeing Him who is invisible." At the same time it will open out a scene invisible to the natural eye: "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."

Prayer is bringing God in; fasting is shutting mere nature and human resources out.

(Vv. 28, 29). Alone with His disciples, in the house, we learn from the Lord the deeply important truth that the faith which uses the Lord in all our difficulties can alone be sustained by intimate communion with God, set forth by prayer, and abstinence from the things of the world, set forth by fasting. As with the disciples, so with ourselves, behind our lack of faith to use the power of the Lord there is a lack of communion in prayer with the Lord.

But the Lord answers for His own disciples that His personal presence among them left them no cause for fasting. The very Source and Center of all blessing was with them, as the bridegroom present among the sons of the bride chamber (those identified with Him before the day of marriage celebration). It was becoming for them to rejoice, not to mourn. However, the days would come when the bridegroom would be taken from them (and in fact by the cruel violence of men's rejection); then they would fast. Such is the character of our present day: we have reason to mourn the absence of our Lord, and the discipline of self-denial is only consistent. Fasting is therefore often seen in the book of Acts, but always linked with prayer, for prayer is of positive character, fasting a negative accompaniment, but not to be ignored.

Prayer and fasting

On several occasions the Book of Acts mentions fasting in connection with prayer. In one instance (Acts 14:23), the apostles chose elders in each assembly in this region but then, interestingly, commended the other believers to the Lord (not to the elders). Whilst oversight was useful and necessary (and its official institution possible while there were apostles on earth), each believer had and retained a direct relationship with the Lord in whom they had believed. The apostles’ prayer with fasting shows the intensity of their desire that each of these young believers should prosper spiritually, in direct communion with the Lord.

Fasting should not be undertaken with a view to obtaining merit, nor in an attempt to make God intervene in a specific manner, nor to ‘show off’ before others (Matt. 6:16), but it can help us to pray more fervently in intercession or in seeking the Lord’s mind (see Acts 13:2). Paul’s letter to the Corinthians shows that he fasted often (2 Cor. 6:5; 11:27).

Further occasions of prayer