A Man from Our Prayer Group

There was a man at Andrews University who frequently attended our evening prayer group which was held Sunday - Thursday in the basement of the Campus Center. I’ll call him Dwaine. One evening Dwaine appeared to be struggling physically and emotionally. As we talked with him he became increasingly agitated and mentioned something about a demon. Someone whispered, “Start praying.” As we prayed he stormed out of the room.

The group decided that we would fast for Dwaine for 24 hours. Several of us had never fasted before. Some decided we would eat fruit as part of our fast.

What I learned from that time of fasting was that each time I felt a hunger pang, it was a prompt for me to pray for Dwaine—that he would desire freedom from the sin that bound him. And I prayed for myself.

During that 24 hours, as I was making a supper trip through the food line to get some fruit, my tray looked pretty sparse. I heard a voice behind me saying, “What’s the matter with you, are you fasting or something?” I responded that, yes, I was fasting. He said, “Are you fasting for me?” It was Dwain. I said, “Yes, I’m fasting for you AND ME.

Dwain came to the group that evening and spoke of the downward journey he’d been on. He found freedom and stayed free as long as he refused to give the devil time to forge new chains.