A Disciple of Jesus … Prays and Fasts
Luke 2:36-38 - 36 Anna, a prophetess, was there at the Temple. She was from the family of Phanuel in the tribe of Asher. She was now very old. She had lived with her husband seven years 37 before he died and left her alone. She was now 84 years old. Anna was always at the Temple; she never left. She worshipped God, fasting and praying day and night. 38 Anna was there when Joseph and Mary came to the Temple. She praised God and talked about Jesus to all those who were waiting for God to free Jerusalem.
Anna was a remarkable woman of God. She only makes this one cameo appearance in the Bible, but her lifestyle is an example to all believers. As was customary in Israeli culture at the time, Anna probably married as a young teenager. However, her husband died after seven years. Thereafter, she felt called to a life of devotion to God, serving Him as a prophetess, speaking His words into people's lives, and spending every moment possible in the temple worshipping God with prayer and fasting.
As a prophetess, Anna may have had living quarters in the temple. In any case, she seems to have been there 24/7. I can imagine her praying for all the visitors to the temple, as well as for the priests who were serving there. She would probably pray for children who were brought to the temple to be dedicated. Whenever there was a serious outbreak of disease, illness or pestilence in Jerusalem, no doubt Anna would be one of the key intercessors, repenting on behalf of the city and asking God, in His mercy, to remove the plague.
She added weight to her prayerful devotion by practising a very regular discipline of fasting. Fasting, of course, is primarily concerned with depriving the body of food for a season, although we see that Anna also practised two other physical deprivations which are mentioned in scripture. She deprived herself of sleep (praying day and night), as Jesus often did (see Luke 6:1, where we see Jesus staying awake to pray through the night) and sometimes called His disciples to do (as in Mark 14:38, where Jesus urges His disciples to stay awake so they can pray in order to resist temptation). Anna also deprived herself of sex, as she remained celibate from the moment she became a widow. Paul suggests that married couples might employ this deprivation to facilitate seasons of prayer (1 Corinthians 7:5).
She continued her ministry in the temple very diligently for many decades. She was probably widowed in her early twenties and, as she was now 84, she had been praying and fasting for 60 years or more. Some translations say, not that she was 84, but that she had been widowed for 84 years, meaning that she was now over a hundred years of age and had been praying and fasting for 84 years! And we think 10 days is a challenge! Of course, the fasting would have been intermittent but, nevertheless, very frequent.
All those years of praying and fasting culminated in the day when Anna saw Jesus face to face. Jesus was about six weeks old when Mary and Joseph came to the temple to offer the required sacrifice 40 days after childbirth. Anna was drawn to them and, as a prophetess, God revealed to her that Jesus was the Messiah. Of course, she was overjoyed, gave thanks and praise to God, and shared the good news with everyone she knew in Jerusalem who was awaiting the Messiah.
Anna is an outstanding example to us of how prayer and fasting should feature in our lives as a regular rhythm. But why do we pray and fast? What's the point of it all? Here are some reasons:
Prayer is the primary means by which we communicate with God, so spending time in prayer will deepen our fellowship and intimacy with God. Adding fasting adds weight to this as we are denying ourselves in order to focus more on God.
Prayer and fasting help us to open our hearts and minds to hear God speaking to us. God sees our desire to press in closer to Him and He responds by revealing more of Himself to us and talking to us about what is on His heart.
Prayer and fasting can release the miraculous. God really does answer prayer, and, when we are deliberate, intentional and persistent in prayer and fasting, it shows that we mean business with God, and He will respond to our faith and perseverance. He rewards those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).
Prayer and fasting help us to develop humility and change our mindsets and attitudes away from self-reliance and towards depending on God.
Prayer and fasting weaken the flesh and strengthen the spirit.
Prayer
Jesus, would You teach us how to pray? We want to touch Your heart, bring heaven down, release Your power, see Your Kingdom come. We long to seek Your face. Please give us the strength and stamina to persevere in prayer - to keep seeking, to keep asking, to keep knocking. Please, Lord Jesus, teach us how to pray. Amen!
