Knowing how to fast and pray for a breakthrough is something every believer should get used to.
We should always engage in it as often as possible, not just because we want to request something from God, but to build and grow our spiritual life and our life in general.
We all want to advance in different areas of our lives, and we all want to operate on another level. That is why we don’t stop working, and we don’t stop persevering and striving with the hope of thriving.
Because, as humans, we all need daily breakthroughs in different areas of our lives; it is the improvement we make when we take steps to move forward and go beyond various barriers and challenges which entail the daily growth in our Christian living and life in general.
Suppose one is not experiencing a daily breakthrough in any area of life. In that case, such a person is not moving forward because a breakthrough is synonymous with going ahead and advancing in a different area of life.
When nothing seems to be going forward, your finances, your relationship, your marital life, your spiritual life, and every other area of your life, in such times as a Christian, you should engage in fasting and praying for a breakthrough.
On the other hand, prayer is one of the most vital parts of Christian living, fasting is a way we believers forsake food and worldly pleasures, and we come before God in humility to seek His face and ask that He will be done in our lives.
We should see how to fast and pray for a breakthrough beyond finance, relationship, and marriage.
One of the aims of why we should engage in fasting and praying for a breakthrough should be to build our spiritual muscles, continually grow, advance, and operate in a new level of spirituality.
Though the challenges may manifest physically in diverse manners, like finance, so we want how to fast and pray for a financial breakthrough or relationship.
In addition, we need to know how to fast and pray for a relationship breakthrough or marriage, and we also want how to fast and pray for a marriage breakthrough.
But it might be due to a spiritual defect in your life. So knowing how to fast and pray for a breakthrough is an act you should cultivate to build your spiritual muscles. Before we take it further, let us briefly discuss fasting and prayer.
What Is Fasting And Prayer?
The topic of fasting and praying is so widespread that non-Christians sometimes wonder “what is fasting and prayer?”
Fasting and prayer is a Christian practice that brings us to come in all humility to God, abstaining from food and other material pleasures of life, go into the throne room of the Almighty God to engage in communing with Him, and submit to His will.
Both in the secular and the religious setting, as well as in the Bible (OLD and New Testament included), fasting is often regarded as abstinence from food. This is because the Hebrew and Greek words used for fasting mean the same thing: not eat.
Fasting is also a voluntary act, a time to abstain from food and other life pleasures, involving one coming to God in humility.
Fasting is also the lifestyle of abstaining from excessive material pleasures, things that excite our canal nature and make it to desires to engage in sin, and food.
Prayer means going into the throne room of the Almighty God, the Supreme Sovereign ruler and creator of all in existence, to dialogue, commune, and present our petition and summiting to His will. Therefore, prayer is at the top of the believer’s crucial spiritual needs list.
At the place of prayer, we must always submit to God’s will and purpose. Hence prayer is not a means for us to get God to do what we want or desire but a place to submit our will to God’s will.
Read the benefits of fasting and prayer and things to avoid when fasting and praying using the link here for further understanding.
What Is A Breakthrough?
If you often find yourself wondering what is a breakthrough? and how will I know when I have a breakthrough? Read on.
A breakthrough means a significant occurrence that happened and created room for advancement and development beyond the usual barriers and circumstances that one has been stuck in and that have been holding or pulling one back.
It is a change that occurs in different areas of your life and pushes you to go forward in that you have an assurance that things will never return to be the same again. At this point, you operate on a new level of your life.
It is a military term that describes advancement through and beyond the opponent’s robust line of defense. This entails that it only happens through critical thinking and taking forceful action.
Breakthrough is always something significant, and when it happens in any area of one’s life, it brings about a new level of advancement in that area of your life.
It takes one to the next level in that area of life and makes you remain there. Breakthrough is needed daily in different areas of our lives because it is about advancement and growth.
It is about the next level and new phase everyone hopes and wants to operate in. Sometimes breakthroughs might be in the area of knowledge, like a spiritual insight into the word of God.
Like a revelation about God that helps you advance in your spiritual life. Or you get the knowledge that, when applied, allows you to grow in your financial or marital life.
So breakthroughs are more like advancement in life, going to greater heights, new growths, and moving forward. Now, let us look into how to fast and pray for a breakthrough.
15 Ways To Fast And Pray For A Breakthrough
1. Come To God In Humility, Admitting That You Need Help
One of the ways, and I’ll say the first step to take on how to fast and pray for a breakthrough, is to come to God in humility when fasting and praying—admitting that you cannot help yourself and you need God’s help.
Although fasting in itself is an act that expresses humility, having it at the back of your mind that you are coming in all humility and admitting that you need help and no one else can help you except God shows a sense of total submission and dependence on God.
The Bible says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you.” (James 4: 10 NIV). 2 Chronicles 7: 14 “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven…”
Humility before God is one of the ways to get a breakthrough in any area of our lives where we face challenges. So we should always come in all humility to seek help and breakthrough.
2. Confess Your Sins And Ask God To Forgive You
Though this is not sequentially arranged, I believe the next step after you have come to God in all humility is confessing your sins and asking God for forgiveness.
When you confess your sins and plead to God to forgive you, it shows humility because you admit that you are wrong and are willing to turn a new leaf.
And sometimes, confessing our sins, asking God for forgiveness, and turning to a new leaf might be all we need to pray about because our sins and the life we lead can sometimes hinder us from moving forward. Hence we fast and pray for a breakthrough.
According to Isaiah 59: 1 – 2 (NIV), “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear.”
So confession of sins and asking God for forgiveness should be one of the first steps or ways on how to fast and pray for a breakthrough.
3. Free Yourself By Forgiving Others Who Have Wronged You
Again, I don’t mean to arrange this in this sequence, but this should come next in line on how to fast and pray for a breakthrough.
Jesus illustrated this in a parable in Matthew 18: 21 – 35 about a servant whose debt of ten thousand bags of gold was forgiven and cleared, but he could not forgive someone else of an obligation of a hundred silver coins.
Jesus ended the parable by saying when the master heard that the man couldn’t forgive so his fellow servant, the master ordered that the man be jailed and tortured until he could pay off his debts.
When we want God to forgive us and give us a breakthrough, we, on our own, should also free our minds and forgive others who have wronged us, no matter how intense the wrong may have been.
You never can tell. This might be what you need to do to get a breakthrough. The Lord’s prayers also say, “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6: 12 NIV).
4. Let It Be Between You And God
In Matthew 6: 16 (NIV), Jesus said, “when you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, and they have received their reward in full.”
Christ warned us against making a show when fasting and praying; He said we shouldn’t do it to gain attention from men or to be commanded by men or else that commendation and attention become our reward.
This means fasting and praying for a breakthrough should be between you and God. So whenever we are fasting and praying for a breakthrough, it is to be done in secret, and according to the Bible in Matthew 6:18 (NIV), ‘…and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.’
5. Set Your Objective(s) Straight
Setting your objectives straight is one of the ways on how to fast and pray for a breakthrough.
This will help you know how to put your priorities in line and be more specific about what you need from God.
Setting your objective or objectives straight is focusing on what you need God to give you a breakthrough on. Those things have been hindrances you wish to surpass in your life and go beyond. So you bring them to God and try to know the mind of God concerning such.
6. Make Up And Prepare Your Mind
Before fasting and praying for a breakthrough, you should also make up and prepare your mind, which can be in two ways. First, you depend on the Holy Spirit to guide you.
So you don’t have to rush into breaking your fast and looking for what to eat, but you continue as the Spirit leads you no matter the length of time.
Then secondly, you make up your mind to say, I’m only going to fast and pray about this for x number of days, and that’s it. After that, you believe you have made your petition known to God.
Hence you move on and think answers will come at the right time. This step equally shows a level of faith and trust in God. However, whatever you choose, let it be as the Spirit leads you.
7. Prepare Yourself Physically
To prepare yourself physically before fasting and praying for breakthroughs is to settle or put away those things that will be a distraction to take your mind off what you are doing. These things can be your phone, your favorite meal, or even your partner for married people.
Even the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 7: 5 (NIV), “Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer…”
I know the spiritual controls the physical, but preparing yourself physically is one of the ways on how to fast and pray for a breakthrough. So, therefore, prepare yourself physically so that these things won’t distract you.
For more elaboration on this, check out the article on this blog titled things to avoid when fasting and praying.
8. Prepare Yourself Spiritually
Preparing yourself spiritually is more like preparing yourself physically, only that this entails doing things about the spirit. It is like a short prayer session before going into the entire prayer and fasting for a breakthrough.
In this short prayer session, you list out scriptures to study, confess and ask for forgiveness of sins, ask Holy Spirit to strengthen you, surrender your mind and totality to the Holy Spirit and ask the Holy Spirit to guide and see you through as you move into the main session.
9. Clear Your Mind Of Any Doubt, And Focus Only On God
Most times, doubts make us not focus when engaging in prayers, so one of the ways on how to fast and pray for a breakthrough is to clear your mind of any doubt and focus only on God.
To clear your mind of any doubt is to not listen to those voices in your head telling you God won’t listen or hear your prayers, but rather to focus on God and what is written in the scriptures.
Focus on God’s promises, and encourage and build yourself up with God’s words. This will result in effective fasting and prayer.
10. Be Persistent
If you read through Luke 11: 5 – 13, Jesus used a parable to illustrate persistence in prayer. This parable is about someone begging his neighbor for bread at midnight, and he was so persistent until his neighbor was so uncomfortable.
So his neighbor had to give him the bread to let him find rest. Jesus used this parable to encourage persistence in prayer, that we must be consistent when praying with passion and perseverance.
We are to keep asking because God is certainly near and can hear us and give us that breakthrough in our lives.
So being persistent when fasting and praying is one of the ways on how to fast and pray for a breakthrough.
11. Let Your Spirit Be In Tune With The Holy Spirit
Most times, whenever we want to engage in prayers, we get so carried away with frivolities, and we make these things the center of our prayers. This is because we think these are the things we need.
That’s why the Bible says in Romans 8: 26 (NIV), “in the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”
This means the Holy Spirit teaches us and helps us to pray right. So when we engage in fasting and prayers for a breakthrough, we should align with the Holy Spirit so that He will allow us to pray in the will of God.
12. When Fasting And Praying, Align Yourself With God’s Will
Prayer is all about God, and it is all about God’s will coming to manifestation in our lives.
And the definition of prayer is going into the throne room of the Almighty God, the Supreme Sovereign ruler and creator of all in existence, to dialogue, commune, and present our petition and summiting to His will.
Imagine going to a Governor or a king to make a request, you don’t force the one in authority to do what you demand.
Instead, you present your case, make your request known, and it must be in line with what the person in power wants, or it won’t be done.
So when we want to fast and pray for a breakthrough, we should know through God’s word His thought concerning our situation and align our will to His will; that way, our breakthrough is sure.
13. Engage In Meditating On God’s Word
We cannot align with God’s will when fasting and praying for a breakthrough if we do not know God’s will. And the only way to know God’s will is through the word of God.
So meditating on the word of God when fasting and praying for a breakthrough is imminent. No Christian can meditate in God’s word and not engage in prayers, and no Christian can pray properly without meditating in God’s word.
By meditating on God’s word, we can know God’s mind concerning what we need a breakthrough on and submit to it.
14. Remember Others In Your Prayers
As believers in Christ, no matter how pressing our needs or challenging our situation, we shouldn’t go to God selfishly. By this, I mean presenting our case and talking about our needs alone.
We should remember that God is our Father. It is a “we” thing, not an “I” thing. So when you are fasting and praying for your breakthrough, remember that others are facing similar or different challenges in your prayers.
Present their cases to God alongside yours, and God can answer all of them with just a snap of His finger. Doing this will also help build your spiritual life, and God will surely give you the breakthrough you need.
15. Expect Your Breakthrough To Come
I’m bringing this at the bottom because this might not seem in line, but believe me, it is in line. This is because when you pray and expect a breakthrough, you trust God and have faith that what He promised in His words will do it.
Remember, the Bible says that without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrew 11: 6), and if we want to seek God, we must come to believe that God exists (Hebrew 11: 6).
So, expecting your breakthrough is an act that expresses faith in God. Like little children, whenever they request anything from their dad, once their dad responds by saying okay, they start living expectant of it, believing every word from their dad.
As believers, we are much more assured, like little children, because God has promised always to answer us when we call upon Him, as long as we pray in His will (John 14: 14).
Can You Fast For A Breakthrough?
When you ask the question, can you fast for a breakthrough? the answer is not always clear to some people as answers are not always immediate.
However, the truth is you can fast and pray for a breakthrough. I believe in the power of fasting and prayers, I have read how people fasted and prayed in the scriptures, and God gave them a breakthrough, and I have practiced it, and it worked for me.
Daniel is an example. In Daniel 9: 2 – 3, the Jews fasted and prayed in Esther 4: 3, and God gave them a breakthrough by not letting them to been killed. Likewise, I have fasted and prayed for a breakthrough and seen God’s power manifest during this time.
So can you fast for a breakthrough? You can fast and pray for a breakthrough, and as a matter of fact, it is not, can you? Instead, it is, will you? It is not about having the ability to but about being willing to use the ability.
Every believer in Christ can fast and pray for a breakthrough. It is something that comes with being born again. The Bible says the death of Christ has given us the grace and privilege to come boldly, approaching God’s throne to obtain mercy and grace (Hebrews 4: 16).
Through Christ, we believers now have access to God’s throne room. So it is left for us to utilize this privilege by seeking God in the place of fasting and prayers to make our request known unto God.
How Do You Fast And Pray For A Spiritual Breakthrough?
Now that you understand that we can fast and pray for a breakthorugh, the next common question is “how do you fast and pray for a breakthrough?”
The most important step on how to fast and pray for a spiritual breakthrough is first to identify the spiritual problem. By spiritual problem, I mean that area of your life where you have personally noticed the fruit of the spirit is not manifesting.
The fruit of the spirit is love, which manifests in various ways; joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5: 22 – 23).
You have a spiritual problem when you notice that you do not manifest love in any of these areas. At this point, you can go to God in fasting and prayer, asking and pleading with God to give you a breakthrough in that area of your spiritual life.
Prayers For Fasting For A Breakthrough
1. Prayer Of Thanksgiving
You can begin by saying Abba Father, creator of the heavens and the earth, hallowed be thy name. Thank you for life and always helping me, and this present situation is only an opportunity for you to show yourself and make your name known.
You have always been a faithful and loving Father, though sometimes, as humans, I don’t get to appreciate you enough. Thank you for being who you are to me, be Thou exalted in Jesus’ name, amen.
2. Prayer Of Confession Of Sins And Asking For Forgiveness
Dear Lord, your word said we should come boldly, approach the throne of grace, and obtain mercy. So, Lord, I come before you as a wretched one, with a wicked heart and no good of my own.
I’ve come to you to obtain grace and mercy as I confess and ask for forgiveness. Have mercy on me, please God, forgive me of my sins, in Jesus’ name.
3. Prayer To Resist The Devil
It is written in the Bible, submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. So, I submit to you, Abba Father, and I cast every diabolical plan of the enemies in my life.
I stand right now in the name and authority of Jesus to resist every power of the devil and bring them all under subjection to the head of Christ.
I decree that every plan and activity of the devil concerning my life and this challenge I’m facing be eradicated. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
4. Prayer For The Leading Of The Holy Spirit
Abba Father, I acknowledge that my wisdom and knowledge are handicapped and inadequate. So I submit myself to your infinite knowledge and understanding. Let your sweet Holy Spirit guide me.
Your word says I should trust in you with all my heart and lean not upon my understanding, and in all my ways, I should acknowledge you, and you shall direct my path.
I acknowledge you as omniscient and your infinite wisdom as superior and Lord. Therefore, lead and guide me in this fasting and prayer. In Jesus’ Name. Amen!
Conclusion
Fasting and prayer are potent exercises we have as believers to resist the devil’s plans and powers holding us back in life and advance and operate at the level God wants us to operate. So this should be a regular practice amongst us believers.
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