“Prayer and Fasting” (Ready to Worship S15E1)

January 28, 2022

Host: Wade Webster | Released Friday, January 28, 2022

This season on Ready to Worship, we are focusing on prayer. As you know, prayer is one of the prescribed acts of our worship. It should be noted that prayer is not more important or less important than any other act of worship. The five acts of worship are equal in importance, just as the five steps of salvation are equal in importance. Baptism is not more important than faith and faith is not more important than baptism. In like manner, prayer is not more important than the Lord’s Supper and the Lord’s Supper is not more important than prayer. Faith and baptism are equally essential in salvation and prayer and the Lord’s Supper are equally important in adoration. I am simply choosing to focus on prayer this season. It is my hope that focusing on prayer will allow us to study it more deeply and strengthen it more fully.

The Bible repeatedly connects prayer and fasting. They are linked in both testaments. They were practiced by both the children of Israel and the church (Neh. 1:4; Acts 14:23; 1 Cor. 7:5). Sadly, we rarely connect them in our culture today. Fasting is strange to us. Yet, it is still practiced by many of our brethren around the world. In this area (fasting), and in perhaps others (hospitality), brethren in other countries are miles ahead of us, even though we have had the gospel longer. As much as fasting (skipping meals) would do most of us some good physically, and all of us some good spiritually, I am suggesting a different kind of fasting. Rather than foregoing meals, I am suggesting foregoing media. Most of us spend too much time on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) and too much time in front of the television (Netflix, Prime, Disney, ESPN, etc.). Giving up media, or greatly reducing it, will free up hours for prayer and allow us to focus more clearly on it. For sure, it won’t be easy. Habits are hard to break. I suggest starting small. Take a day off. Take a night off. Take an hour off. Redeem or buy back some time (Eph. 5:16). Use the time that you free up, or a portion of it, for prayer. Less screen time and more prayer time will bless all of our lives. As we get ready to worship this week, let’s fast and pray. I believe that we will find that this combination will make our week and our worship better.