The thoughts, scriptures, quotations and articles on prayer and fasting, compiled on this page, are the result of several months of careful research on the subject, in preparation for a series I was asked to share at the Generation Youth Christ (GYC) in Phoenix, Arizona. In studying I prayerfully considered each of the more than fifty instances of prayer and fasting in the Scriptures to ascertain what motivated the fasting, what the fasting consisted of, and what was the outcome. I also looked at the people who were prayer and fasting. I also noticed that some these instances of prayer and fasting were intertwined with other fasting that had taken place many years before. I also did a comprehensive study of prayer and fasting in the writings of Mrs. Ellen G. White and compiled more than 170 pages of quotations on the subject. My life has been changed by what I learned about fasting, and I hope your life will be changed as well. Dan
Scriptures On Prayer And Fasting
Key Ellen White Articles On Prayer And Fasting
Seventh-day Adventist Authors On Prayer And Fasting
Michigan Camp Meeting 2023 Handouts on Prayer And Fasting
GYC 2022 Phoenix Handouts On Prayer And Fasting
Top Of Prayer And Fasting Page
On this page you will find more than 50 instances where fasting is specifically named, implied or actions described, that suggest fasting was going on.
On this page you will find a list of important sermons, chapters, manuscripts or letters of Ellen White on fasting. Each listing includes a short excerpt from the document to allow you to easily find it on the egwwritings.org site.
Confession is an important part of fasting. Click on the link to come to an important article on the subject.
On this page you will find some articles written by SDAs on fasting.
On this page you will find testimonies of people who gained God's blessings as a result of fasting.
Please consult with your own physician relative to fasting. Fasting can be dangerous from some conditions, particularly when certain medications are being used.
Mark, formerly the President of Uchee Pines, now operates the "New Paradigm Ministries" in Cabool, Missouri. The presentation was made at GYC in Phoenix, in 2022.
Gabriela is a dentist from Argentina who is a very active medical missionary. I first met her in Georgia where she was training a family to develop a home-based medical missionary program. She is certified in lifestyle medicine in the Latin Association. This is the powerpoint from a presentation made at Michigan Camp Meeting in 2023. Eventually the audio will be here as well.
These are the handouts that have been used in various fasting seminars. It is important to use the right set of handouts because my talks reference the line numbers found in the related set of handouts.
The individual handouts and resources are posted after the session is completed at camp meeting. You will find the audio that goes with these sessions at audio verse.com or my discipleheart.com website eventually.
In this booklet you will find a listing of all the instances of fasting in the Bible. This is a most valuable resource if you are studying about fasting. My motivation here was to make a case that fasting is needed in our day if it was so needed in Bible times.
In this handout you find a list of some of the elements that are sometimes found in the process of fasting. I am seeking to answer the question, "What is fasting?"
"Those who have not humbled their souls before God in acknowledging their guilt, have not yet fulfilled the first condition of acceptance. If we have not experienced that repentance not to be repented of, and have not confessed our sin with true humiliation of soul and brokenness of spirit, abhorring our iniquity, we have never sought truly for the forgiveness of sin; and if we have never sought, we have never found the peace of God." { ST March 16, 1888, par. 5}
"Try it in every church. Have special meetings when you can,—meetings of humiliation, of afflicting the soul,—meetings where the rubbish shall be cleared away from the door of the heart, that the blessed Saviour may enter." {RH December 16, 1884, par. 14}
This is a wonderful series of article that speak of Ezra's character and his efforts in bringing back captives to Jerusalem.
In this booklet I share modern examples of various kinds of fasting to encourage a broad spectrum of fasting.
There are many things that hinder success in fasting. You will read of them in this booklet.
In this booklet I list some of the false fasts that are written of in the Scriptures, as well as more recent ones such as the National Day of Fasting, called for during the civil war, that Ellen White says God would have no part of [the desire at that time was to maintain the status quo union between the north and the south instead of abolishing slavery].
This booklet consists of a testimony written by Ellen White, taken from the Testimonies, Volume 2, entitled "Doing For Christ." This testimony should be required reading for all Seventh-day Adventists.
In this article that includes my annotations you read of how Ellen White supported a camp meeting in Australia, including providing clothes, transporting, providing food, etc. for a camp meeting that went on for four weeks, to bring outsiders—eventually hundreds of them—to the camp meeting. I share this to give an example of how she made a difference for others.
In the few quotes here we notice the ongoing benevolence that was constantly going on in the White household. Here is a sample of what is found: "We wanted means to build a meetinghouse; but the people were poor, so we sent over to Michigan, telling them to sell all that we had; and there we invested our means, and a meetinghouse was built in San Francisco and [another in] Oakland."
I was asked to share the reference on this quote that speaks of not receiving the full blessings of camp meeting.
"I have been shown angels of God all ready to impart grace and power to those who feel their need of divine strength. But these heavenly messengers will not bestow blessings unless solicited. They have waited for the cry from souls hungering and thirsting for the blessing of God; often have they waited in vain. There were, indeed, casual prayers, but not the earnest supplication from humble, contrite hearts. Meeting after meeting has closed with but little manifestation of the Spirit and power of God. The people seemed to be satisfied to reach no higher; they seemed to expect no revival of the work of God; but with grief and disappointment angels turned from the scene of confusion where tents were being removed, and the people preparing to return to their homes without the blessing which Heaven was more than willing to give them. {RH, July 24, 1883 par. 21}
Those who would receive the blessing of the Lord, must themselves prepare the way, by confession of sin, by humiliation before God, with true penitence and with faith in the merits of the blood of Christ. The camp-meeting should be a place for all Christians to be brought into working order. If they have never labored to bring souls to Jesus and the truth, it is time for them to begin now. God requires it of them, and if they would not be finally denounced as unfaithful servants, they must engage heartily in this work." {RH, July 24, 1883 par. 21}
The following study guides were developed to go with my presentations on fasting at the GYC 2022 Phoenix.
In the series I sought to answer five questions: 1. Should we be fasting? 2. What does it mean to fast? 3. What situations call for fasting? 4. What hinders success when we fast? 5. What is the "True Fast" of Isaiah 58?
Some of these handouts were slightly updated. Using the updated GYC handout on fasting is preferred to using the one handed out at GYC.
In this presentation I looked to the Scriptures and the writings of Ellen White to establish the very real call for fasting in our day.
In this presentation I talked about what it means to fast.
In this presentation we look at the kinds of things that motivated fasting in the Bible.
In this presentation we look at the kinds of things that were motivating fasting.
This handout looks at fasts that were ignored— sometimes despised— by God.
This article by Ellen White on the "true fast" of Isaiah 58, read during our final session, is one of the best, and most sobering, documents I have ever read on Isaiah 58 and the "True Fast."
This handout includes quotations from a variety of sources on the practical fast of Isaiah 58. The reading on "Doing For Christ" was by far the most important one that I read on the subject.