How to Fast and Pray

You've heard people speak about how they fasted and prayed and what a rewarding experience it was. You'd like to do this, but you don't know exactly how to go about it. The whole idea of fasting and praying might scare you. Here are some practical tips to begin this wonderful spiritual adventure.

Things You'll Need

• A Bible
• Spiritual or Gospel music (optional)
• Journal (optional)

Instructions

1. Decide the reason why you want to fast. If you don't know why you're doing this, you're not going to get anything out of it. Are you having trouble at your job, at school or in your marriage and you need some answers? Are you thankful to the Lord for something and you want to fast just because He's been good to you? There can be many reasons for fasting and praying.

2. Decide what kind of fast you should do. The most common kind of fast is not eating anything, but some people do "media" fasts where they don't watch TV or listen to music or read the newspaper for a period of time. Actually, it depends on the greater sacrifice.

3. Choose how long your fast is going to be. If you are just beginning to fast, try fasting for twelve hours, such as from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. You can drink juice and water, but don't eat anything.

4. Get focused. Begin your fast day with prayer. Throughout your fast and pray day, you should be praying, but it doesn't have to be a continuous action. Read the Bible, or a book with spiritual content. You can listen to spiritual or gospel music as you wash dishes, or have a video or CD of a favorite minister playing. The object is to stay focused on and be open to the Lord.

5. Be patient as you wait for your answer. It may not come during or at the end of your fasting and prayer period. The answer may come within days or even weeks afterwards.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a journal to record your prayers and the events of your fast and pray day.

• Have a prayer partner while you're fasting. You can pray together, and when you're feeling weak, you have someone to call. Plus, there's power in agreement.

• If you have dietary restrictions or are on medication, use wisdom when it comes to going without food for a period of time.