40 Days of Prayer & FastingSample

Created to Fast

God designed us to fast. He created man as spirit and as flesh, then put him in the garden. And in the middle of the garden there was the tree of life and the tree knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:16 says that God told Adam and Eve “But you must not eat...” or in other words: “you have to fast”. He put them in the garden, but told them to specifically deny their desire to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He created them to DENY and withhold. He created them to fast. Fasting does not make you immune to attacks—it makes you susceptible to them. The serpent came when he saw flesh dying. If Adam would have denied his flesh when the tempter came, they would have remained in the presence of God. If you don’t learn how to deny your flesh, you will find yourself far from the presence of God. But His mercy and His blood bring you back into His presence. God missed His people being in His presence so He sent His Son, Jesus as a sacrifice so we could come back and meet with Him. It was in God’s original design for us to fast—that’s why we spiritually grow so much when we fast. We fulfill part of His design for our lives.

Prayer: Jesus, thank You for what You did so that I can meet with You daily. Thank You for Your mercy that allows me to know You and encounter You with no restrictions. Teach me how to deny my flesh so I can be close to Your presence. Increase my fear of the Lord. I repent for desiring anything more than desiring You. You are the only one I fear, and You are the only one worthy of my life. Thank You for making fasting part of my design and giving me fasting as a way to connect with You and become more like You. Thank You for this powerful gift that kills every part of my flesh that is not pleasing to You. You did the hard thing on the cross so that encountering You through fasting would become easy. Amen.