The Doctrine of Fasting and Prayer, and Humiliation for Sin

Hildersham’s Fasting, Prayer, and Humiliation for Sin offers a portrait of eight sermons on Psalm 35:13 preached in 1625–1626. Yet, unlike a still picture, they exude a lively energy and intensity prompted by the seriousness of the occasion: an outbreak of plague. Throughout, Hildersham presents the reasons, need, method, and helps the Christian is to employ in taking up fasting and prayer as a serious duty, both for himself and for others, especially in the face of great judgment. His work encourages Christians to grow in repentance for sin by laying out its seriousness and the reality of its consequences, whether in this life or the next. His word then is timely now: “As the Lord Himself counsels you, ‘Prepare to meet thy God.’”