Prepare by Prayer and Fasting
From the teaching of Jesus about casting out spirits, we know that prayer and fasting are at times essential elements of spiritual power. We see this same dynamic combination taking place in the Early Church when they needed clear direction from the Lord. We will need both supernatural power and divine guidance, perhaps like never before, as we seek to navigate the treacherous currents of the dark days ahead. Indeed, from a certain perspective the Last Days are an impassioned prayer movement (“Come, Lord Jesus”) fueled by the power of an imposed fast—as famines sweep the earth. Practice now for what will be perfected later.
Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. Daniel 9:3
All scripture citations are from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless otherwise noted.
End Times Challenge
It is always a good idea for Christians to pray, but the times that are coming will require prayer to be combined with fasting to get the “results” we’ll need. Why? How? When?
Bridal Response
Step 1. Pray!
This must be repeated with every new challenge, because our usual reaction is to look to past experience and our abilities and say, “No way!” or try slugging it out bravely in our own strength. We all-too-easily forget that our strength is in Him, our hope is in Him—not in ourselves. So, if the Holy Spirit is making us aware (waking us up) to a fresh challenge, then the first thing the Lord wants us to do is cast that care on Jesus, because He cares for us enough to help us with it.[i] Pray, therefore, until fear and doubt fall away. Jesus is willing and able to help us with anything, that’s why He guarantees in scripture that if we call on Him, He will rescue/save/help us every time.[ii] How much do you have to call? Cry out in prayer until you receive confidence that He has heard you and the help is on the way.
Step 2. Begin Now
It is easy to see that everyone who was anyone in the Bible fasted at some point or another. All the major players fasted for God’s help with their mission. At certain times, everyone fasted. Why? Fasting from food (sometimes from water) is a dramatic declaration that we are so serious about seeking God that we are willing to deny our body its legitimate need: We want God and His will more than food. Sometimes people fasted in order to be drawn closer to the Lord by Him. At other times they fasted for guidance, healing or other specific gifts of the Spirit. Often the entire community fasted in repentance for sins and/or for rescue from impending calamities. We will likely feel compelled to fast for all these reasons.
Fasting can be done by individuals or in groups and is effective either way, if led by the Lord. If you don’t know how to listen to the Lord for individual guidance for when to fast, or how to submit to your church’s leadership when they call one, then fast and pray until you can! The important thing is to get started with it. The Holy Spirit can teach you far better if you are “up and running” than if you’re merely pondering it as an academic question.
Here are some tips for how to do it. Start with partial short-term fasts, eliminating certain foods or food groups for a day or two, then work your way up. Come off the fast with small portions of a balanced diet, not a junk food extravaganza. Always have a prayer target, a purpose for the fast. That way any hunger pangs the devil tries to sidetrack you with, can be blunted by using them as reminders to pray harder for the target.[iii] That’s the why and the how of fasting. The when is up to you, the Holy Spirit and events as they unfold. Our Bridegroom is away, but He is coming. Fast for His soon return!
"The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days." Luke 5:35
Next Way to Prepare
Prepare by Discerning the Times The gospels reveal that Jesus fully expected people to discern the times they were living in. He royally dressed down the Pharisees for not doing so. If this applied to the relatively peaceable events surrounding Jesus first coming, how much more must it apply to His second? From today, all the way through to His Return, we will need to have a “weather eye” for shifts and changes in the spiritual atmosphere surrounding us. How can you seek shelter from a storm, if you don’t know one is coming your way? How can we learn to discern the times we will be going through?
Free Downloads
Signs of the Second Coming (36-page eBook)
Signs of Christ's Return (2-page Handout)
Ways to Prepare (37-page eBook)
Endnotes
[i] Pride (in us) tries to find the answer to life’s challenges in us; humility casts all cares on the One who wants to help us: Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7
[ii] This promise is given numerous times in scripture. The Lord wants us to know His help is always available to anyone who calls on Him for anything—lavishly available (“bestowing His riches”). For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him: For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:12-13
[iii] I call this beating the enemy’s sword of temptation into a plowshare that grows my purpose by reminding me to pray. It works every time: He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Isaiah 2:4