Fasting is one of those things we would rather put out of our mind.  Food is just too good these days.  And who wants to suffer anyway.  But if you are serious about prayer, you really should think about it. 

The following is an excerpt from my ebook Basics of Prayer.

In the gospels there are two instances where Jesus taught fasting.  The first was in Matthew 6:16-18.  Here He taught fasting (along with giving and praying) as a presumed and necessary duty in the Christian life. In this passage, He did not say “if you want to fast,” or “if you feel like fasting,” He said, “when you fast.”  Therefore, Jesus taught Christians to fast (along with giving and praying) as a regular discipline and duty.              

What Jesus taught, basically, in this passage about fasting was that when we fast, just as with giving…