Practical Guide to Seven Days of Prayer and Fasting
Useful basic practical guide to Prayer and Fasting
1) Why should we fast? (Joel 1:14)
a)Jesus fasted40 days before He started His ministry. (Matt 4:12; Lk 4:14)
b)Fasting is an act of humbling of self, humility and consecration. (Ps 35:13)
c)Fasting helps us become sensitive to the Holy Spirit. (Acts 13:2)
Helping us to deny our own flesh and crucify the carnal mind.
d)Fasting brings spiritual revival. (Dan 9:2,3)
Helping us to prevail in prayer and intercession.
e)Fasting is God’s Providence to give us a healthy lifestyle and it cannot be substituted by any other way. It is the privilege of the children of God.
f)To fellowship with God, have intimacy with Him and knowing Him.
g)To fine tune our spiritual sharpness, our capacity to focus, to put our heart into tranquility.
h)To be made whole, healed and restored spiritually, physically, emotionally and psychologically. (Hos 6:1-2)
2)Preparing to Fast (Es 4:16)
a)Get your heart and mind ready, set your mind clearly on the objective of fasting, and maintain a thankful heart.
b)Write down the clear objectives forfasting; add a clause of flexibility, so that God may speak His objective.
c)Pray and commit to a type of fast, asking God for grace to remain determined.
d)Plan your calendar
Conserve your energy and devote more time to prayer and reading God’s Word.
e)Prepare spiritually
Fine tune your mindset, make known to God that you desire to weaken the flesh so as to be close to the Lord spiritually. Allow the Spirit of God to direct the mind, to direct the body for renewal action, meaning: getting ready to change.
f)Prepare physically
Don’t overeat before fasting. On the contrary, reduce food intake gradually until the day of fasting. Avoid food that is high in calories. Eat only salad and fruits three days before fasting.
3) During the Fast (Mat 6:16-18)
a) Read the Word of God and fellowship with God
b)Talk with and listen toGod; try to hear the voice of God, once
you hear, verify with the Holy Bible. Then wait for a season to confirm. Once confirmed, put it into action and let no one stop you.
c)Seek the Lord
Pray and read God’s Word during meal times. Join at least one prayer meeting.
Be ready to respond when you hear from God.
d)Commit to renew and changeyourself
Whatever God makes known to you, make restitution immediately. Change any habits immediately. Be accountable to someone for your renewal.
e)Practical tips
- Avoid medical and even natural herbal drugs
- Limit your physical activity and exercise
- Rest as much as you can
- Maintain an attitude of prayer throughout the day
- Drink plenty of clean water
- Allow for temporary bouts of physical weakness, impatience, irritability and anxiety as your body adjusts.
4) Breaking the Fast (Acts 14:23)
a)One hour before- pray harder and thank God for such grace of the opportunity to have intimacy with God through fasting.
b)Reintroduce solid food gradually in small portions throughout the day. Start with fruits, juices and salad.
c)Continue praying
Let the momentum you gained during the past transform your prayer and devotional life.
d)Expect Results
Persevere in prayer. Keep a copy of your prayer points, giving thanks to God as you see how He answers your prayers at the end of the year.
“I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me from
His holy hill.”
Psalm 3 : 4
World standard testimony of fasting & prayer :
Osan-ri Prayer Mt., Korea.
Over 30 years ago, in a small village located on the outskirt of Seoul, a Korean lady pastor would often go to a nearby graveyard to spend time alone with God in prayer.
A lady pastor? Praying in a graveyard? Alone? Doesn't this begin to sound like a perfect setting for a Gothic tale?
Nevertheless, this is no Gothic. In fact, this is the humble beginning of God's favorite famous tale—the "KoreanPrayerMountain" - which continues to unfold today.
Our Father God has a creative flair for writing interesting and captivating drama, with mega ounces of divine humor sprinkled here and there. Who would have thought of putting aside rich and powerful men and, instead, asking a small and humble lady with a prayerful heart to build a prayer mountain? Which property agent, in his right mind, would pick a small village and a place of the dead for that matter, to be an ideal spot for an international prayer centre? Well, God picked both. First choice, quite literally.
Not only had He picked the cast and the setting, He had chosen to make His presence felt by lavishing His precious anointing and divine blessing upon this place, to the utter amazement of the Korean people and the world. To add a brilliant twist to this story, the
small lady, subsequently, had a world-famous son-in-law, Dr. David Yonggi Cho. Now, who else, but God, could have come up with that?
Whenever I think about this matter, I am very encouraged by the precious lessons I could glean from it. Whether rich or humble, famous or ordinary, men or women, as long as we are willing and obedient before our Father God, any one of us could be asked by Him to
fulfill His Kingdom task. God would actually ask us to do Kingdom exploits? We are to have a say and put a hand in His BIG Kingdom business? Now, doesn't such prospect sound exciting for us, His precious children?
Likewise, the significance of the graveyard (which is still standing today) testifies to God's power and grace, hope and promises in the lives of His children. Whatever our current spiritual condition is, even if it's dark and bleak, through prayer, all things can be
transformed into His marvelous light.
To date, millions of sincere Christian men and women, young and old, from all over the world, have come here to seek God's face. Each has left this mountain with an amazing story to tell about God's deep work in his individual life. Each life transformation story
entails training and strict discipline in the walk of obedience and truth before God. As such, it is often interspersed with brokenness, sufferings, tears, heartaches and gradual death to self. But, in the midst of suffering and dying, each person has received
divine blessings and rhema words from Him and Him alone. Such divine revelation far outweighs every bit of pain suffered at the loving hand of our Father God.
Listening to their personal "mountainous experience” is like taking a peek into the intricacies of God's Kingdom story, albeit a little confusing and even beyond our diminutive human skull. We can be challenged and encouraged by their stories. But
nothing beats stepping foot onto the actual ground. That itself is partaking of God's anointing, grace, power and glory. That will give us a special story to
tell, like Moses'. Wouldn't that be splendid?
Today, the KoreanPrayerMountain has become a model for other countries. After their visit to this place, some foreign Christians have gone back to their home countries and build a similar prayer mountain for their fellow Christian brothers and sisters. Such is
the amazing grace and goodness from God that his children could share good ideas with one another, across international borders and even language gaps, to edify the Body of Christ world-wide. Isn't that awesome?
Of course, no one person can be greater than God. No one place on earth can be more beautiful than our eternal dwelling place-Heaven. Nothing can be a substitute for Jesus Christ, our Lord. Notwithstanding, if it pleases God to handpick a man or a place to be a precious and special instrument to bless the Body of Christ for a season, why should
anyone question His sovereign choice? Wouldn't it be better to receive His special provision for His children with thanksgiving and enjoy it to the fullest while it is still today? I know such special provisions do exist for I have personally experienced
them many times.
I know it is not an easy decision to make time for a trip to the KoreanPrayerMountain. Most of you are very busy, urbane people with work and family commitment. Besides, this is not a restful holiday trip. Quite on the contrary, it is an action-packed, fun-filled spiritual adventure.
However, it is precisely because of the odds stacked against making such a trip; God has never failed to honor those who honor Him by going for it. In fact, given the circumstance, He is more willing to give an answer to a certain prayer you may have been carrying for many years in your heart. Our Father God is more than happy to bless you who desire fresh anointing oil from Him--after you have spent the time and financial
resources or even endured some difficulties to come to the mountain. Now, why is that so?
Here's why. God is faithful to us and as far as He is concerned, He loves to out-give us in the "love department". However, He desires us to be men or women who know how to sow wisely unto Him, be it time, money, affection, devotion, faith. EVERYTHING! Once we are spent BECAUSE OF HIM and FOR HIM, that's when He would gleefully (yes, gleefully!) open His heavenly floodgate and pour forth His blessings into our lives!
He will definitely let us reap more than abundantly whatever we've sown, in full expectation of His mercy and miracle. Now, what's wrong with expecting something that which only God Himself would give?
Whenever a team of Singaporean Christians comes to Korea, I can always sense the strong hand of God covering them. Maybe those of you who have come here before might not have recognized it immediately. Nevertheless, you must remember our Father God never forgets your dedication. One day, one fine God-chosen day, He will surely answer you in a very amazing way.
I pray that many more Singaporean Christians would visit Korea. I know you have a heart for prayers. I had seen how much you pray to God in your churches or at the prayer meetings in Singapore. It touched my heart. But, once in a while, it is refreshing for your
spirit and good for your soul to leave a familiar environment and journey to a new place to receive new inspiration from God. Sometimes a retreat like this can shake or even shatter our antiquated perspective on life and tried-and-tested methods of problem-solving. Once the breaking is done, only then the Holy Spirit can pour new wine into our new wineskin.
Besides Singaporean Christians, I also hope many more Indonesian, Malaysian and other parts of Asia Christians would visit Korea. In return, I also pray that my Korean brothers-and-sisters-in-Christ would visit local churches and prayer meetings in Singapore and other countries.
However, I do not want you to be ignorant of the Devil's scheme. Whenever our Father God gives us a good idea, Satan is mad with jealousy. The reason is simple: what God loves, Satan hates; what God gives, Satan robs. I've witnessed his wiles, how he tried to
attack and destroy the planning that goes into organizing such a trip. Bottom line: he simply does not and will not allow us to draw closer to the Holy Spirit. Therefore, he would try all ways and means, every under-hand method, device and arsenal at his
disposal (sometimes that involves our family members or our health), to dissuade or deter us from making the trip. He will act like a crazy wind whipping up a big storm in an otherwise placid lake, in order to shake your confidence in God's idea.
Well, let me tell you one very important thing. Whenever Satan tries to pull off a trick like that, know this: it is a sign of God's grace over your life, indicating that your time has come for "IN-DEPTH BREAKTHROUGH"! It certainly needs a sharp wisdom from above to discern and interpret the circumstantial evidence of God's grace over one's life.
Hallelujah! God bless you!
I would like to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt appreciation for your prayer for the Korean hostages in the recent kidnap incident in Central Asia. Through a concerted prayer effort, we have become one family in the Holy Spirit. This is
especially so for the Singaporean members of Kainotes Ministry, who has held overnight prayer sessions for the Korean hostages.
The Korean hostages have since been released and they are now safe in Korea.
Praise the Lord!
In Christ,
Rev Jey Lyu(AOG, Korea)
Co-founder of International Believers Fellowship
Co-founder of International Chinese-Korean Fellowship
Author of “Secret of Praying Well.”