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Praying intermittently. Let your pangs
of hunger remind you to pray. When you first start fasting, you
will get twinges of hunger that remind you of your fast. Usually,
this is the time we either give in, or try to “grin and bear
it.” Use these times to remind yourself to pray for the cause
you are fasting instead of reminding yourself how “crazy”
you are to not be eating.
Also, you will experience “food temptations.” Food commercials
are more enticing than normal days. Someone if the office brought
in your favorite donuts. You can even day dream about food. When
these come, and it is normal for them to come, take this time to
pray for the cause for which you are fasting.
Praying the Lord’s Prayer. This does not
mean to merely recite the Lord’s Prayer from memory or as
a chant, but to pray the different areas of prayer the Lord’s
Prayer identifies. Those are to worship the Father, submit to his
will, ask for daily needs, confess sin, and pray for deliverance.
This is a good way to start off the day to lead into your quiet
time with the Lord in prayer and in his Word.
Praying through a prayer list. Some people love lists,
while others despise them. These are merely suggestions from my
own experience, however they are not meant to be rules or an exhaustive
list for how to pray when fasting, just suggestions. I have a list
of Scripture verses I use to pray through on the attributes of God,
the purpose of the Church, and deliverance. You might pick a topic
like love, faith, salvation, or any other thing and use these Scriptures
to guide your time in prayer. Also, a list might include your personal
needs, your marriage, your family, or work associates, school mates,
church needs, church leaders, government officials, unsaved loved
ones and friends, etc...
Lists can become routine and dry, however they can also be a useful
tool. Lists can help you to be more focused and intentional with
your prayer time. Also, it is a great way to mark answers to prayer
so that you can remember that God does indeed hear and answer prayer.
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