The Prayer Punch
After fasting forty days and forty nights, he [Jesus] was hungry (Matthew 4:2).
Scripture: Matthew 4:1-11
Song: “Nearer My God to Thee”
My friend Lois once told me, “The Lord takes prayer and fasting seriously.” She should know. Lois’s husband died when their two sons were 12 and 14. After his death, she fasted every Friday morning for wisdom in raising them on her own. Though Satan raised many a doubt in her mind, God heard those prayers. Today, Lois’ sons are devoted Christians, with wives and family members following the Lord.
Satan also takes prayer and fasting seriously, but in a different way. He sees it as an opportunity to strike a blow against us, just as he did with Jesus. At the end of a 40-day fast, when Jesus was hungry, the tempter put Him through the paces of three temptations. Jesus countered each one with the truths of Scripture—and won.
Satan didn’t realize the spiritual principle our Lord illustrated: Though a person is weakened physically through fasting, he is strengthened spiritually. Time spent in giving up food is a time for drawing closer to God.
Due to health issues, not everyone can refuse food in a fast. But all of us can give up something important to us—social media, a TV program, a sports activity—and spend that time in prayer. Doing so sharpens our spiritual senses, making us alert to the devil’s lies and to the truths of God’s Word that silence him.
Father, draw near to me as I draw near to You in fasting and prayer. In Christ, amen.