When we fast, the spirit is brought to the forefront and you may find you will hear God clearer and be led in the types of things to pray for.  It’s interesting to note that all of the great ancient philosophers fasted, men like Socrates and Plato. They established that when we fast our minds are sharper, more alert and can cut through the noise and exhaustion of life.  During a church corporate fast, we’ll be providing you with daily prayer prompts. However, below are some Biblical examples of things people would pray for during fasts.
Prayers of Repentance.  Repentance means to rearrange our entire way of thinking and feeling in order to turn from that which is wrong.  Biblically, to repent is to turn from your sin and to walk in the other direction.  In Joel 2:12 God says “repent sincerely and return to me with fasting and weeping and mourning.”  Fasting is a way to repent well, to invite the Spirit of God to help us confess and rearrange our thinking, feelings and actions.
Prayers for grieving. Fasting is a way to process our grief with God as we let him into our pain and heartache.  God’s people often fasted when grieving over their sin or loss.  2 Samuel 1:12 says ‘the Israelites wept and fasted the rest of the day, grieving the death of Saul and his son Jonathan, and also the army of God and the nation Israel, victims in a failed battle.’
Prayers for breakthrough. In Dunkirk in May 1940, over 300,000 Allied soldiers were trapped in the north of France with the German army closing in. This looked to be one of the greatest disasters in UK military history with the British army facing annihilation.  King George VI took the bold step of calling the entire nation to a day of prayer and fasting.
All around the country, people queued up outside churches to pray. People at home called out to God for their loved ones, pleading with Him to rescue them.  What happened next was staggering: the opposing German army made strategic mistakes, freak localised storms grounded enemy attack aircraft, while calm waters allowed for small British boats to join navy ships in reaching their forces. Fog cover kept them safe. In all, over 330,000 soldiers were evacuated, more than ten times the estimate.  God is a God of breakthrough and responds to our humility and desperation.
Prayers for clarity.
Fasting is an intentional choice to press into the depths of God’s heart, and when we do, our spirits are more finely tuned to hear His plans and move forward in our divine purposes.  The apostles modelled this in Acts 13: after fasting and praying, God spoke to them to send out Paul & Barnabas for work He had called them to do.
Prayers for protection from evil.
In Matthew 17, Jesus casts out a demon from a young boy.  Jesus explained that this kind of evil does not go out except by prayer & fasting.