Anglican Mission Prayer Initiative

Section Navigation

Winter Conference

- Winter Conference 2009
- Past Conferences

Anglican Mission Center
PO Box 3427
Pawleys Island, SC 29585
+1 (843) 237-0318

Request Prayer

Anglican Mission Prayer Initiative

Expectant Prayer

Scripture tells us to pray with the expectation that God hears and responds when we cry out to Him. Expectant prayer forms the foundation and supports all we do in the life and ministry of the Anglican Mission.

Through persistent intercession, we seek the Lord for guidance and empowerment, and we see Him show forth His mighty hand and outstretched arm. We rejoice in the powerful way He answers prayers to forgive, redeem, protect, transform, heal and direct those who call upon His name.

Elizabeth Walter heads a national team of intercessors who pray for our mission and leadership. Submit a prayer request now.

"The earnest prayer of (the saints) has great power and produces wonderful results." James 5:16 NLT

“ Jesus said, I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15

Fasting: Does It Make a Difference?
By Rita Green: Anglican Mission Prayer Network

Throughout the Holy Scriptures, there are references to the people of God fasting: Moses, David, Elijah, Esther, Daniel, Anna, Paul and the one who knew no sin, Jesus Christ, God himself. Scripture reveals various reasons for these fasts, and we will consider just one in this article. Please meditate on any or all of the scriptures given at the conclusion of this article as you personally prepare to fast.

On many levels this generation is changing more quickly than we can understand or embrace. Along with this rapid change, there seems to be more pressure to yield to what “seems right in our own eyes.” In these changing, and sometime bewildering times, it appears that the church may need to take a deeper look at the biblical encouragement to fast and pray. In what seems to be an “it’s all about me” culture, does fasting have any benefit for the church, to the world as a whole, and in our own personal lives? Scripture certainly indicates that fasting and prayer can make a significant difference. Let’s take a brief look at only one of the scripture references to fasting: Jesus’ life and fasting.

It is revealed in the Gospels that Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon him, and he was driven (led) by the Spirit into the wilderness where He fasted for 40 days. This time of fasting and prayer occurred prior to Jesus embarking upon his public ministry. Jesus apparently needed a period of solitude with God the Father which included a lengthy fast. (He was driven by the Spirit to do this.) The scriptures also reveal that when questioned about fasting, Jesus linked fasting with not putting new wine in old wineskins and the consequences if this was done (Matt. 6:14-17). Why would this be linked, and what does it have to say to us today about fasting? Jesus had just been baptized, and the new wine of his public ministry was about to begin. He was putting away the old wineskin of his life as a humble carpenter and taking up the ministry that he was sent by God the Father to do for mankind. The old wineskins could not contain the magnitude of what God was going to do with the life of Jesus on this earth. The transforming power of God was in the process of being poured out upon the whole earth through the life and death of Jesus as the Messiah and apparently, even Jesus needed to be prepared, encouraged and directed by God the Father through prayer and fasting. To rush through these passages and their significance without trying to fully comprehend the magnitude of them would be to our great loss. If the one who knew no sin needed to fast and pray, how much more do we as sinners need to consider fasting as a part of our prayer life and spiritual discipline. Did Jesus’ life change anything? For the Christian, the answer is everything changed. Eternity was changed. This world we live in and eternity was changed forever! The fasting and prayers of Jesus, as he began to fulfill the call of God on His life, cannot be looked at lightly. The intimacy of Jesus with His Father through fasting and prayer deserves our attention and meditations. When our world is crying to deny ourselves nothing, is the Holy Spirit desiring to lead the church into a life where fasting is again a regular part of its ministry on this earth? In our fast-changing times, can we dare risk not taking a deeper look at fasting? Are we called as Jesus was, after his baptism and anointing, to put off the old wineskins through fasting and prayer, so that we can be about knowing the will of God in our present day and moving in obedience to that will? Can we believe that fasting can make a difference in our present world and in our daily lives? Through fasting and prayer, can we not look back to whatever represents an “old wineskin” in our lives and press ahead into the new wineskins of the will of the Father as Jesus did? May the Holy Spirit stir up a new wind of desire to participate in fasting in this generation!