A human being has many desires and aspirations. When a person is hungry, he eats. When he is thirsty, he drinks water. When he is sleepy, he rests. These routine habits are interrupted during fasting. You have to not only leave food and other habits, your entire routine undergoes a change. Interruption of routine is a great issue indeed. From this perspective, I can say that fasting teaches desire management, or how to manage your desires. When desires arise within you, you should say: O God, You have given me these desires. I haven't created these desires on my own.

You have given me all of these desires. O God, I will observe fasting with respect to these desires. Let all my desires be fulfilled in the world Hereafter. When you fast, you experience a situation that inspires you to say true prayer. When the Prophet was being troubled a lot in Makkah, God sent an angel one day. In those days, there was neither adequate food nor means of rest.

The angel said: God has sent you a message. If you want, this entire area can be converted into a valley of gold. This place would be made into a golden mountain so that you have no more problems. The Prophet replied: لا. يا رب (No, my Lord!) I want: فإذا جعت تضرعت, I want to feel hungry so that I humble myself before You. And when I eat food and drink water, I want to thank You. (Musnad Ahmad 22190)

I reflected on this hadith. I realized that prayer is related to the situation a person finds himself in. If you drink a lot and eat very tasty food every day, you will never be able to say any moving prayer. You may say Alhamdulillah, but that would not have true and sincere feelings. The Prophet said when I feel extreme hunger, have no food to eat, I would then humble myself before God and plead Him. We are not exceptions in this matter. If we pray without facing different situations, we won't be able to have true spirit in our prayer.