A Day of Prayer and Fasting

The Call: “For all believers in Christ in the PCA, EPC, ARPC, and ACNA to set aside Good Friday, April 10, as a day of prayer and fasting and to cry out to God for help in addition to a day of worship.”

Joel 2:12-13 — “Even now declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.”

The prophet Joel sees a massive plague and famine threatening his nation and Joel calls the people of God to prayer, fasting and repentance. Fasting was a regular practice of the faithful in Israel and that tradition was carried into the NT Church. The Westminster Confession of Faith lists “solemn fasting” as an extraordinary part of worship for special seasons. Certainly, the pandemic warfare in which we are engaged is one of those seasons. Fasting and prayer belong together, and it seems most appropriate, especially on this occasion. As Calvin once said, “Since fasting is a holy exercise both for the humbling of men and for their confession of humility, why should we use it less than the ancients did?” 

And more importantly, our Savior not only endorses fasting, he expects it to be part of life for his people. For in Matthew 6:16-18, he begins, “And when you fast…” Notice that he doesn’t say, “If you fast…” It would seem that fasting will be an element of our life here on earth.

To help us think this through, I’d like to offer three reasons for us to fast:

First, because we recognize our own indwelling sin is not a veneer, but it is deep and profound. So we come seeking God’s forgiveness. “Rend your hearts and not your garments” says the Word of God. Fasting is linked to self-humiliation and seeking after God Himself.

Second, we grieve and mourn the suffering and the death of so many people. We passionately believe in the sanctity and the preciousness of life. The economic losses, though painful, are a distant second. In our hearts we cry out, “Lord, heal our land.” Prayer and fasting are not meritorious works in which we are leveraging God to hear us. Prayer is a means appointed by God to accomplish His own purposes. Surely God does not need our counsel to run the universe. He knows all things, penetrates all hearts and does not need us to change his mind and intervene to tell him what to do. That is a terrifying thought! However, our prayers are a vital part of God’s purposes. Here then is His sovereignty: He accomplishes His purposes through our prayers. 

Third, there is a forward facing part of this day of prayer and fasting. Modern people fast for all kinds of reasons, but this day of prayer and fasting is special. We recognize His sovereignty in all things, so we pray “Lord, heal our land. Thy kingdom come and thy will be done in these things.” We pray for an end to COVID-19. We pray for comfort and peace for the afflicted. We pray for people to be awakened to the brevity and uncertainty of life and hear the call of Christ to come to him.

So make plans for this day of prayer and fasting. Decide what you and your family will do. Fasting for some of our members may not be wise due to health reasons such as diabetes. For others fasting may mean one meal instead of all day.

See this article in ByFaith for some resources. Also, I plan to make available some additional prayer resources from our own Church next week.