Benefits of Prayer and fasting

source As Christians Jesus Christ instructed us to pray and fast. He Himself also prayed frequently despite the fact that He is the son of God. He showed us that no one is to big to fast and pray, and that prayer is the master key. Prayer brings us closer to our Father,its the communication between us and God.
There is no such thing as a fast without prayer. A fast without prayer is just going hungry and you’re accomplishing nothing at all,i call it the Hunger strike. While fasting is not necessary for salvation it is essential on your Christian walk of faith and highly recommended. In fact, Jesus expects us to fast.source

Fasting will help you have a more intimate relationship with Christ. It will help you to overcome sin, bad habits, and help open your eyes to things that are displeasing to God in your life. Fasting and prayer is a time to separate yourself from your regular patterns and from things of the world and come closer to the Lord.
This could mean depriving yourself of a whole lot of things apart from food,one could deprive himself from being intimate with their spouses, sleep, entertainment (television, radio, internet).and lots more. I call it a time for reflection and communication with the higher Being.

There are so many benefits and reasons for fasting and so many ways to do it. Find out the best way for you. Find out the reason for your fasting and how long you plan on doing it for.
Jesus fasted for 40days and 40 nights,you could go for a week or even less. You could chose dry fasting (which means you drink no waster at all) or wet fasting (permits you a few glasses of water during your fasting period). I do the wet fasting cause I get really dehydrated fast and could pass out, so figure out what works best for you.

I challenge you today to fast. Don’t do it to try to brag and appear spiritual. Make sure your motives are right and do it for the glory of God. Humble yourself before the Lord and commit to Him. Do not go around telling people you are fasting, or announcing it around. It is advisable to inform those around you who may question why you aren't eating, that you are going on a fast some days or a day to the fast, so they could have it in mind that you would be going on a fast and wouldn't pick offence when you reject foods or drinks from them. It's advisable to avoid any form of distractions, that is why most people go to mountains 🗻 and churches or a gathering of others with same interests as they.

There are several purpose of fasting and praying. Fasting doesn't just have spiritual purpose alone, it also has health benefits. Fasting has been recognized for its many health benefits dating back to Hippocrates. These benefits extend to everything from better weight management, improved cardiovascular health, healthier blood composition, and better cell recycling, among many others.

Although there is not an abundance of research on fasting in humans, a growing number of health experts believe that the results of fasting from animal studies hold great promise for human health and future research efforts.

There are many different types of fasts you can choose from, and they differ in their results and difficulty.One conclusion is steadfast, fasting remains one of the most effective means of detoxifying your body and resetting your system for better overall health,from weight loss, detoxification, reduction of blood sugar, better digestion, etc. Here are a few health benefits according to my research on fasting
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1. IMPROVES BODY COMPOSITION AND FITNESS:
   People fast for all kinds of reasons, and many are particularly interested in the effects fasting has on the body’s fat tissues and overall weight loss. Others fast or intermittently fast for better exercise results. Fasting contributes to a better body composition in several ways, primarily through its actions on hormones and fat metabolism. If fasting is combined with exercise you could lose an amazing amount of body fat and water.

2. PROMOTES GREAT SATIETY:
   Your fatty tissue acts as a kind of endocrine organ, producing several different hormones. One of these hormones, leptin, affects how full you feel. Fasting and weight loss significantly affect your hunger level and post-meal satisfaction through this hormone. With fasting, leptin levels drop initially, but as you lose weight, you decrease leptin resistance. Becoming more responsive to leptin signals increases how full you feel. Which means you tend to eat less and get satisfied with little meals. Less cravings for you.

3. BOOSTS YOUR METABOLISM:
   Leptin, though known primarily as the “satiety” hormone, also increases thyroid hormone production. Improved leptin sensitivity increases the rate of your metabolism. Your body starts to burn more fat than before, a little cardio could burn so much for you and you stay seeing better results before you know it.
   Leptin is the master hormone that regulates body weight. Leptin is a hormone that regulates body weight. Leptin is a hormone that is produced by the bodys fat cells. It is often referred to as the "satiety hormone". Leptins primary target is the brain, particularly an area called the hypothalamus. It's a cell-signalling hormone vital in the regulation of appetite, food intake and body weight.

OTHERS INCLUDE:
#.Encourages better insulin sensitivity.
#.Improves cardiovascular health.
#.Lowers blood pressure.
#.Decreases blood sugar.
#.Improves blood triglycerides.
#.Promotes hearth health.
#.Could slow down aging and enhance longevity.
#.Decrease inflammation.
#.Increase resistance to oxidative stress.
#.Improve cell recycling ♻.

There are a lot of benefits of fasting and prayer. Jesus was never recorded sick, He always fasted andHe definitely wants us to be in good health and fitness. There are a whole lot of Bible passages that supports fasting and prayer. A lot of people fasted and prayed in the Bible ,even kings and prophets and The Lord heard their cry and had mercy on them. We pray for several and different reasons, a few include;
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GODS INTERVENTION;
1.2samuel 12.16. King David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent days lying in sack cloth on the ground.
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REPENTANCE;

1. 1 Samuel 7:6 When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” Now Samuel was serving as leader of Israel at Mizpah.

2. Daniel 9:3-5 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: “Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.”

3. Joel 2:12-13 “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.

4. Jonah 3:5-9 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

GUIDIANCE;

6.Acts 14:23 Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.

1. Acts 13:2-4 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.

WORSHIPING;

1. Luke 2:37 Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer.

Strengthen prayers;

1. Matthew 17:20-21 And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

2. Ezra 8:23 So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer.

MOURNING;

1. 2 Samuel 1:12 They mourned and wept and fasted all day for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the LORD’s army and the nation of Israel, because they had died by the sword that day.

2. Nehemiah 1:4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.

3. Psalm 69:10 When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach.

Let's all try our very best to have better communication with our Father. Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.