“Fasting is calculated to bring a note of urgency and importunity into our praying, and to give force to our pleading in the court of heaven. The man who prays with fasting is giving heaven notice that he is truly in earnest…Not only so, but he is expressing his earnestness in a divinely-appointed way. He is using a means that God has chosen to make his voice to be heard on high.”
Arthur Wallis (1922-1988) in God’s Chosen Fast (Ft. Washington: Christian Literature Crusade, 1968) 42.
Why pray in earnest by adding fasting during Lent? Wallis says it best: it is “the divinely-appointed way” to send a message to the Father. Thankfully Jesus gives us instructions on how to do it. He says, “When you pray…When you fast…” (cf. Matthew 6:5-17). Do we? Rewards await those who pray and fast. The best news is that we don’t have to stop this practice when Lent ends but can continue on “the divinely-appointed way” the rest of our lives.