40-Day Corporate Prayer and Fasting

Prayer and Fasting is Not Fast Food Remedy for Spiritual Fulfilment: Fasting, by Biblical examples, is abstaining from food or drink for a time for the purpose of seeking God in earnest and fervent prayer. It doesn’t help us earn more grace with God, but it does help remove the “clutter” in us and release the Holy Spirit. Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, explained fasting as: “When we fast, we turn from the “things” that daily grab our attention and focus deeply on Him. During that time, we come to realize how much food and the things of this world are occupying our thoughts, time, activities, and finances. As we fast, God will show us the areas in our lives that we keep off limits to Him and the ways we seek to control our lives rather than let Him lead us. Any coldness in our hearts melts during a fast, and we become transformed and empowered to walk in His ways." Fasting helps release the power of the Spirit in our lives."Fierce witnesses rise up; They ask me things that I do not know. They reward me evil for good, To the sorrow of my soul. But as for me, when they were sick, My clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; And my prayer would return to my own heart" Psalm 35:11-13 (NKJV).

The Bible shows us examples of absolute fasts, where both food and water are fasted for a period. We also see examples of normal fast, from which only food is abstained. Daniel did a partial fast of specific foods. The duration of fast also varied, from one day to 40 days. Today, many do variations of partial fasts, perhaps juice only, or intermittent fasting where one eats only during an 8-hour period and fasts for the other 16 hours in a day. Jesus is our ultimate model in life, in faith, and in ministry. Before He started His earthly ministry, He prayed and fasted for forty days. Afterward, He moved in the power of the Spirit. Prayer and Fasting is a means drawing us nearer to God, to seek and search for Him with all our hearts. They are also a means to humble ourselves before God. Fasting is a means in which we draw near to God, to seek and search for Him with all our hearts. Fasting is also a means to humble ourselves before God. ""Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God’” Luke 4:1-4 (NKJV).