Why fast and pray? 
God is infuriated by various sins that is occurring in the world and our world is experiencing major shaking. The prophets are giving warnings about God’s judgments. This is the hour that all churches around the world, cross-ethnic, and inter-denominations to come to fast and pray and repent, just like 2 Chronicles 7:14 ” if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Let us do according to the following principles, and on a daily basis, obey the Holy Spirit, and truly seek God’s revelation, to confess our sins, repent and pray. We have not truly revered God (fear God) for a long time, but instead worshiped idols in our hearts. Therefore, repentance is required at all levels, as an individual, as a family, as a church, and as a society or country.
- On the individual level, we do not respect God, and do not value God’s word. We do not obey the first commandment, and do not love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength and all our mind.
- On the family level, we do not respect the the sacred order established by God, the holy marriage between man and woman. We commit sins of physical and mental fornication. The relationship between parents and children is gone.
- On the church level, we are not one body, and we don’t love each other as a family to please the Father.
- On the national level, we are rebellious, proud and independent, arrogant, do as we please, and shed innocent blood.
We have to rend our heart to repent in order to move the heart of God and pray that God will not bring forth the doomed disaster just as God had listened to the prayer of repentance of Nineveh (Jonah 3:10). Moreover, we must stand in the gap for our country, (Ezek 22:30), not only to confess, and to repent for our country but also to avoid the use of accusational prayers, instead, use positive prayers with blessings. The following guidelines are to help us pray and to please God’s heart.
The purpose of fasting:
Fasting and praying is to help us to repent, to be self-clean, to turn away from sin, to gain authority to pray for the kingdom of God, and to let God bring forth revival instead of judgment.
- Water or Liquid fasting: drink only water and liquid, do not eat solid food.
- Fast one meal: Eat one less meal a day.
- Daniel fasting: no meat, only eat fruits and vegetables.
- Hobby Fast or Fast on things you enjoy: Forbid things that you like everyday, such as: coffee, chocolate, hobbies, including evil words and negative thoughts.
- Media Fast: Do not use any media, such as: TV, video games, cellphones or the Internet.
Fast and pray precautions:
(Before Fast)
- Set your goal, what is the reason for fasting (for example: fast for the country, family, church, and individual).
- Set the fasting style as the Lord leads and commit to a fast of 40 days. You can also ask your family doctor for advice on what kind of fasting is appropriate for your current physical condition.
- Ask God for the fasting grace so that you will not be hungry and be filled with the burden of prayer in the spirit, with a broken and contrite heart.
- Eat light/simple food during the first two days before you start fasting, avoid fat and sugary foods. If your stomach is not good, you can drink some milk to protect the stomach wall before you start fasting
(During Fast)
- Be careful to keep your heart, and read Isaiah 58:1~12 to examine the motives.
- During the fasting period, attend more church meetings.
- In addition to the regular reading of the Bible, it is recommended to read and pray in a way that prays out loud, meditates on the Word of God, and declares the Word of God.
- Try to arrange for people to pray with you in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening (seek for revelation and hunger for God).
- Those who never fast completely for more than 3 days, and want to fast completely for a long time, you need to pray clearly and discuss it with your spiritual cover. It is best to start slowly and gradually, eat two meals a day, then eat one meal a day, and then gradually reduce the amount of food until completely no food.
- Drink as much water as possible, drink at least five cups of warm water a day, and drink slowly. Do not take a hot bath.
- Please remember to brush your teeth and brush your tongue (the bad breath will be caused by the toxins in the body).
- Sometimes it may be necessary to use an enema to cleanse the digestive system.
- If you are fasting for a long time, avoid all hard labor, all actions must be slowed down.
- You can drink a little soy milk, ginseng tea, vegetable soup, brown rice tea, glucose, honey water to supplement the lost strength.
- Pray for “self-control” when eating a restorative meal before ending a long period of fasting.
- When ending the fast, first eat a small amount of light food, for those who did long-term total fast, do not eat a lot and drink a lot immediately.
- When fasting, do not compare with others the length of your fast, how much you fast but concentrate on God.
- If you fail to fast one or two meals, don’t be discouraged, don’t accuse yourself, and just continue to fast.
- During the fasting period, listen more to God and expect God to speak to you through dreams, visions, and supernatural ways.
- Breakthroughs are always after fasting; often not during fasting. After the fast is over, continue to expect God to accomplish great things.
Suggested ways to pray:
In addition to personal prayer, you can also choose:
- With the family: establish a family prayer altar, the whole family fasts and prays together, decide on a fasting way that the whole family can participate, come together everyday, and pray according to the theme in the 40-day fasting prayer manual.
- With the group: Decide on a fasting style. You may want to set a timetable for daily prayers and assign a prayer time for the day so that each group member has the opportunity to participate.
- With colleagues in your office: Encourage Christian colleagues in the office to fast with you. You can use the tea or lunch time to pray according to the theme in the prayer manual.
- Through video conferencing / voice call / chat platform: set your heart, pray daily with a friend through a communication platform, such as WhatsApp, Skype