Episode #43: Prayer And Fasting

Ready to trade noise for clarity and cravings for communion? We walk through a simple, scriptural path to start the year with prayer and fasting that actually changes things—inside and out. Drawing from Matthew 6 and Isaiah 58, we unpack what fasting is, what it is not, and why the heart behind it matters more than any public display. You’ll hear the stark contrast between performative piety and the fast God chooses: one that loosens bonds of wickedness, lifts heavy burdens, and breaks every yoke.

We get practical with a 21‑day sunrise‑to‑evening approach—no food from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., liquids allowed—paired with focused times in Scripture and intercession. Morning goes to the Word and personal surrender. Midday becomes an hour to pray for healing, freedom, and the people you love. Evening is a gentle break of the fast and a moment to reflect on what God is doing in your heart. Along the way, we point your attention outward, because true fasting also moves us to feed the hungry, shelter the vulnerable, and walk in mercy.

If you’re believing for healing, family salvation, or a fresh start with God, this conversation offers biblical confidence and a simple plan to begin today. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs to hear this message, and leave a review to tell us how this episode helped you. 

Transcript

Defining Biblical Fasting

Post‑Holiday Flesh Vs Spirit

Matthew 6: Heart Posture In Fasting

Isaiah 58: What Fasting Is Not

Isaiah 58: The Fast God Chooses

Practical 21‑Day Sunrise‑To‑Evening Fast

Encouragement, Calls To Pray, And Salvation

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hello, my name is Stephanie. Welcome to the All Is Well Podcast. My mission is to teach people the Word of God and emphasize its importance in their daily lives. I'm glad you decided to join me today. Let's get started. Welcome to episode 43. In this episode, we are going to discuss prayer and fasting. Let's get started. We are at the start of a new year, January 2026. So at the beginning of each year, it is important that we fast. Why is it important that we fast? We are setting apart our lives to God. We are putting God first. We are putting the word first. We are putting our prayer life first. We're letting Him know, God, I want your will in my life. What does it mean to fast? The Hebrew word for fasting means to close the mouth. It means to refrain from eating food. It does not mean to fast from electronics. It does not mean to fast from social media. Though you could do those things, that is not a part of prayer and fasting. Fasting involves not eating food. That's what you have to remember. Because when you're fasting, you're saying no to the flesh, you're putting the flesh under, and you're raising your spirit up. And you are reading the Bible and you're strengthening your spirit, man. That is what you're doing. Because when we're eating, especially coming from the holidays, we had Thanksgiving, Christmas, if there were birthdays, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Christmas Eve, family gatherings. And so we ate a lot, ate a lot of desserts, ate a lot of great food, and so did I. And if you think about it, every gathering that we had, there was food. Every single gathering. And if there wasn't, we always wanted to know what am I going to drink? What am I going to eat? What am I going to snack on? What am I going to have after I eat? It's so much about filling the body. What does the flesh want? But with the fast, it does the complete opposite. We're telling the body, I'm not listening to you right now. I'm going to feed my spirit. I want to do what God says. I want to put him first. I want to strengthen my spirit. And so that is something very important and very vital for us to do. So let's go and turn on over to our Bibles to Matthew chapter 6, verse 12. And let's see what God says about fasting. In verse 16, it reads, Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites with a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your father who is in the secret place, and your father who sees in secret will reward you openly. So with fasting, you need to have the right heart. It's not showing everybody, look at me, I'm fasting, I'm not eating, I'm better than you. It has nothing to do with that. He's saying you don't need to let anybody know this is between God and yourself. Don't look and don't appear to be weak. Wash your face, stand up straight, and do what you need to do for the month of January. Now let's look further into this. Let's go on over to Isaiah chapter 58. So in Isaiah chapter 58, it's titled The Fasting That Pleases God. I want to discuss what a fasting is not, and we'll read it here in the scripture. So I want to start at the very beginning in Isaiah 58, verse 1. Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, tell my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. And yet they seek me daily. This is what God is saying. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of me the ordinances of justice. They take delight in approaching God. Why have we fasted, they say, and you have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls? And you take no notice? Do you see how they approach God? The questions that they're asking him. They're not honoring God. Then God responds, In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, which means they were fulfilling their flesh. They wanted to do what they wanted to do. That's not what a fast is about. And exploit all your laborers. Indeed, you fast for strife and debate. God is not about strife. He's about peace, joy, harmony. But instead, they fasted for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. That has nothing to do with God. Wickedness has no place for God. Wickedness has no place when you're fasting. You will not fast as you do this day to make your voice heard on high. Is it a fast that I have chosen? God's asking them, a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bull rush and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, an acceptable day to the Lord? So God is telling them there, there is a right way to fast. And the way that you have been fasting is not the right way. Your heart has not been in it, you want to fulfill your flesh and do what you want to do. You want to strive, you want to fight, you want to argue. Those are things that are not of God. And when you're spending time in the word of God and you're praying, you're not going to be doing those things because you're filling your spirit with the word of God. But what is a fast? What takes place when we fast? Let's read verse 6. Is this not the fast that I have chosen? And now he's going to discuss and bring about the things that occur. To loose the bonds of wickedness. That's the complete opposite of what they were doing. They wanted to strike with wickedness. God is not about wickedness. He wants to loose the bonds of wickedness. What else does a fast do? To undo the heavy burdens. Is there a heavy burden that you're carrying? With fasting and praying, God removes that heavy burden. To let the oppressed go free and that you break every yoke. That is what a fast does. A yoke, what is a yoke? It is something that we're carrying that doesn't allow us to have peace and joy, something that is enslaving you. So think about it. What is it? What is something? What is a yoke that you have in your life? But God says when you do and you commit yourself to this prayer and fasting, He says that you will break every yoke when you fast. Verse 7, is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your home the poor who are cast out? When you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh. So these are the things that you're doing for other people. You're giving them food, giving them a home. And it says, and hide yourself from your own flesh. That's what you're doing with prayer and fasting. You're putting your flesh under and you're lifting up your spirit. You're not letting your flesh be boss, you're letting your spirit rise above that. Then in verse 8, then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily. So what will happen in prayer and fasting? If you have sickness in your body, the word of the Lord says, Your healing shall spring forth speedily. Not maybe, not in five years, not in ten years. But the word of God says that your healing, you will once you start that fast, once you begin that fast, and you spend time in the word of God, and you're pushing away the plate, your healing begins. And so there are a lot of benefits to prayer and fasting. There are things that we hold on to that don't belong to us, that we shouldn't hold on to. And I'm not talking about good things, but things that have nothing to do with God, things that God doesn't want us to carry, like the bonds of wickedness, heavy burdens, a yoke. Those are things that God wants to take away from us. And though we may have been praying for those to be removed, sometimes those things need prayer and fasting in order for them to move, in order for them to leave. And so remember when we're praying and fasting, it doesn't mean to just fast alone. And not just to pray alone, but when they work together, they are powerful. And as it explains here in the Bible, what I read and discussed in Isaiah 58, we see the effects of that. So after listening to this, and you would like to fast, I recommend that you fast in the month of January. There is a ministry that I listened to called Revival Today, and they're fasting for 21 days, and they started on January 5th. So with that ministry, and what I'm doing as well, we're fasting from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. So during that time period, no food except liquids during that time period. But we're also fulfilling that time with prayer. Praying in the morning, praying instead of eating during lunch, fulfilling that time with prayer, and then breaking that fast in the evening with food. A small minimal amount, if that's what you wish. But fasting, it opens the door to restoration, it opens the door to great things, it renews your spirit, it brings fulfillment, joy, and peace. It just takes you to another level. I know you have when you pray, you see results. When you have fasted alone, you've seen some results. But when you put those two together, it is explosive, it is powerful, it is divine, it is spiritual, it is something that the enemy does not want you to take hold of, but it's something that God wants you to take hold of. And when you take hold of it and you grasp it, you will see the effects of it. And it may be hard to not eat, but it's a mindset. Make a decision in your mind. I will not eat. I'm going to do this. I'm going to pray instead. Put your flesh under, let your flesh know you're not the boss. My spirit is. I'm going to fill it with the word of God. Make that strong and know what you're believing for. Believe for your healing. Fast for your healing. Fast for the salvation of your family members. I hope this message ministered to you. If you could please share it with a friend or family member. And thank you for tuning in. If you have not accepted Jesus into your life, say the salvation prayer with me. Heavenly Father, I admit that I have sinned. I repent. I believe in my heart you raised Jesus from the dead. I confess with my mouth, Jesus is Lord and my Savior. Right now, I receive forgiveness by the blood of Jesus. Come into my life. I am saved. In Jesus' name. Amen. I'm glad you prayed that salvation prayer. Make sure that you plug yourself into a spirit filled church and read the Word of God. Well, I hope you enjoy the message and thank you for tuning in.