Try praying—and fasting! 

Are you facing a problem that prayer alone hasn’t yet solved? Do you have a loved one who has been taken captive by drugs or alcohol or some other destructive power? Try praying—and fasting. Sometimes the spiritual battle you’re in is so intense that it calls for denying the legitimate needs of your body and building up your faith through prayer and fasting so that you are able to prevail. Jesus had told His disciples, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also” (John 14:12), yet when the disciples were confronted with a demon-possessed boy with self-destructive tendencies, they were disappointed because they prayed and nothing happened. And when they asked Jesus why, He said to them, “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” When the Jewish people were threatened with annihilation, only the king could save them. So Esther said, “Gather all the Jews…and fast for me…I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king” (Esther 4:16 NKJV). As a result, Haman, who had plotted their destruction, was hanged on his own gallows and the entire Jewish nation was saved. There are times in life when you must say no to your physical needs so that you can focus on your spiritual ones. Fasting sharpens your focus in prayer, fortifies your faith, prepares you to meet a challenge, and brings miraculous results. Fasting is about having single-mindedness in your search for God’s help—and it brings great results.