What Is Fasting?
Food is one of God's good gifts. He giveth us richly all things to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17), and a Christian can sit down to a meal with a thankful heart. But good things can become idols. Fasting is one way a believer tells his stomach, and his own heart, that God comes first.
Eating sparingly or going without food altogether, from necessity or desire. Spiritual fasting reduces our food and replaces it with prayer and attention to spiritual things.
By itself, going without food is neither Christian nor spiritual. People do it before a blood test or for their health. Skipping lunch brings no one closer to God. What makes a fast spiritual is what fills the empty place: prayer, the Word, and a longing for the Lord.
Biblical fasting always deals with food. The Greek word translated fast describes one who has not eaten, one who is empty and hungry. Setting aside your phone or a favorite show for a month may be wise, especially if it has its hooks in you. It simply is not what the Bible calls fasting.
Not everyone can fast from food in every season. If you have diabetes, take medicine with meals, are pregnant or nursing, are frail or elderly, or have any medical condition, talk with your doctor first. Children should not be asked to fast. If you have ever struggled with an eating disorder, do not use this practice at all without your doctor's guidance, and tell your pastor what you are facing. God will not love you less. Your body is His, and He asks you to care for it (1 Corinthians 6:19–20).
Many Christians have never tried fasting. Some connect it with Lent or with a harsh kind of piety. Others have heard it sold as a diet or a way to force God's hand. This study keeps to what Scripture says.
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For Deeper Study
- Fasting for Spiritual BreakthroughAmazon Elmer L. TownsA practical guide to nine kinds of biblical fasts by a Baptist author and a co-founder of Liberty University.
- A Hunger for GodAmazon John PiperA warm study of fasting as longing for Christ, from a Reformed Baptist. We differ on election.
- God's Chosen FastAmazon Arthur WallisAn older classic on the practice of fasting. Wallis was a leader among British charismatics, and we differ on the gifts.
- Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian LifeAmazon Donald S. WhitneyIncludes a clear chapter on fasting. Whitney is a Calvinistic Baptist, and we differ on election.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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How to Pray
Prayer is intentionally communicating your heart to God: coming to the Father, in the name of Jesus, by the help of the Holy Spirit, with faith in His goodness and surrender to His will.
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