What are your thoughts on the power of fasting and prayer?
I have fasted and prayed to God on several occasions asking for things for myself and my family. I read somewhere that God only answers our prayers if what we ask for is according to his will. To me that means that many of my prayers will go unanswered. But the things I have prayed for are very important to me and I don’t want to lose hope. What are your thoughts on the power of fasting and prayer?
No prayer goes unanswered, however God in his infinite wisdom may not answer it the way we would like it to be answered
Prayer helps the person who is praying most of all.
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I believe fasting helps clean your physical body and prayer cleans your soul.
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Placebo Effect…
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Atheist
I don’t get how starving yourself would please god. That’s why i’m an atheist.
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Have a nice day :]
First ask yourself, how do you even know there is a god..
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Fasting only makes me hungry.
Praying is just superstitious mumbling to something that isn’t there.
There is no "power" in fasting or praying.
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ahhh…
if u are fat, u should fast
often
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If your going to fast and pray then do it the correct way which is to Yahweh the correct name of he god of the ancient Hebrews. Pray the correct way facing east with your hands stretched towards the heavens such as Prophet Ezekiel did. Fasting builds up the connection which makes the prayer work. Praying to Yahweh is a paranormal contact. It opens the thought process.
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No prayer goes unanswered, however God in his infinite wisdom may not answer it the way we would like it to be answered
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So you should only pray for things that God has already decided you’re going to get?
No wonder you have a success rate.
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Sometimes we need the spiritual maturation that comes from self-denial or sacrifice of material possessions. Sometimes that maturation is necessary for obtaining our desires. Jesus pointed out that some evil spirits are so stubborn or powerful that even when one has the correct authority, the spirit will still resist being cast out unless the minister has both fasted and prayed first.
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It works for some better than others. I tried and it did nothing for me but I know a lot of people who it has worked for.
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If you know what you want is outside God’s Will, why do you pray for it? It can never bring you happiness.
I speak of such things as praying you will not get caught the next time you rob a bank, or you pray that your married boyfriend’s wife will not find out you are having sex with him, etc. . . . . . You are wasting your time for sure if you pray in this manner, even if you are fasting.
If you just aren’t sure whether or not something is God’s Will, then fasting will help you know. I speak of which college you should attend, which job offer you should accept, which man you should marry, etc.
And of course, to cover all the bases, God will definitely answer prayers that clearly are in His Will, such as your asking that your become more Christlike, kinder, more generous, more considerate, more friendly, etc.
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"I have fasted and prayed to God on several occasions asking for things for myself and my family. I read somewhere that God only answers our prayers if what we ask for is according to his will."
I believe that God will grant us the things which we need and are good for us. What seems to be important today might not really be important. It just seems to us this way at the moment. Since we do not know the larger picture we need to learn trust that he will provide everything we need and that things will work out exactly the way they are supposed to. Once we accept that you will find much more peace in your life rather than feeling like you have to struggle to achieve things you think are important. Our needs are actually much less than we think they are.
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Everything we ask for is supposed to be for the advancement of God’s Kingdom. We’re supposed to be willing to give up everything, even to the point of dying for God. When Jesus teaches us to pray, He starts with "Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed by Thy Name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done;" He doesn’t start out with "Give us this day our daily bread" or even "Forgive us our trespasses." He starts out with the focus on GOD and His Kingdom. So it’s my impression that we should only be praying for the advancement of His Kingdom. We’re to die to the self and be alive in Christ. So if your hand were broken, for example, you’d pray something like "If it will advance Your Kingdom, please heal my hand. If that is not Your Will, then so be it."
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Prayer has to be focused on the ultimate goal of glorifying Jesus. So if you are just asking for yourself only without any long term goal of bringing glory to the Lord, then it might not get answered. You must praise the Lord and thank him before you ask for anything. Are you baptized in the Holy Ghost? If not, then you need it. And study what the Bible says about prayer. Read the following verses:
Ps. 66:18, Eph. 6:18, II Cor. 10:4-5, Eph. 6:12, Jude 20-21, I John 1:9; 3:22, 5:4-5, 5:14-15, James 5:15-18, Luke 18:1-8; 21:36, Mark 1:35, I Cor. 14:12-15, Lam. 3:22-24, Mark 11:22-24, James 4:2b-3, Phil. 4:6-7, Mark 14:38-41, Matt. 7:7-8; 18:18, 6:16-18, Isa. 58:6-1, John 14:14; 15:7 for study on the subject.
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First of all we don’t fast to ask God favors.
Fasting is a way of training your flesh to resist sin. When you deny your hunger as Jesus said to the devil on the mountain…That the Word of God itself could feed you.
When we fast today it is a "joke" comparison to the Prophets and Jesus and the Saints! They actually didn’t eat nothing for 40 days! While I hear some Catholics say "I gave up TV or hot dogs…yeah right.
You want to hear a fasting schedule of The Greek Orthodox Christian?
The entire year, no meat (no cow, no lamb, no fish, no pork, no chicken…) every Wednesday and Friday with exception of a big Holiday.
40 days before Holy Week there is no meat at all and no dairy products also.
Holy Week no meat at all again and on Holy Wednesday Good Friday, Holy Saturday not even a drop of oil on our food. Maybe some fruits, water boiled beans…
15 days Before the death of our Virgin Mary Mother of Jesus…No meat.
Same thing 40 Days before Christmas.
We don’t eat or drink before Communion.
As you understand the true Orthodox is hard to follow and that is not even close to what are God did for us. Many don’t even do 1/10 of this.
When we fast though it is for preparing our hearts for Communion on the Holy Easter as symbolic as to walk along with Jesus towards the Cross. Our entire Calendar and life is adjusted to His Life that we live every year from birth to Resurrection.
What kind of fasting to you do and what does fasting really mean to you? You must know that what is important to you is not always important to God. Do not be mislead by false preachers on the radio that take little verses an twist them to their convenience. I have heard people say that what is important to you is important to God. The only thing important to God is your soul. If what you ask for is something that will draw you away from Him , He will not give it to you. As for asking Him what you want , remember this…
Matthew 6:7-13
7But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11Give us this day our daily bread.
12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
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Fasting actually puts you in a better position to hear from God. Don’t lose hope. However, you need to seek God on whether or not you should fast over these things or just pray. Look in the Bible at His promises and see which apply. His Word is His will. If we learn to listen, we can find out why something may not be answered the way we think.
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"Through fasting and prayer, one can stop wars, one can suspend the laws of nature."
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