Man is a hungry being, and he is keen for more than food. We long for not only meaningful things like companionship, accomplishment, and financial security but also simple things like short checkout lines at the grocery store or a comfy bed at the end of a long day. Our desires are no different than others’ longings over the centuries, but what has changed is how easily we can satisfy them. Consider the fact that, thanks to advances in logistics and distribution, a package can be at your doorstep hours after you order it.
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At the same time, many denominations have moved away from practices such as fasting. Maybe you’ve fasted for a special occasion or decision, but few of us engage in the discipline on a regular basis. Yet fasting is one of the church’s most ancient tools for tending to our desires. The call to fast might seem quaint in this age, but it is a tried-and-true spiritual practice that can help us navigate a world increasingly defined by instant gratification—and more importantly, draw us closer to God.
In recent years, you might have heard people say they’re fasting from something other than food, like social media. Yes, abstaining from indulgences can help to show where our spiritual “pressure points” are and strengthen our resistance to some temptations to sin. However, that is a modern variation of fasting and, though legitimate, we’re going to focus on food and drink here, which is what Jesus mentions in Scripture. In this guide, we’ll review the basics of fasting—what it is, what it isn’t—and help you imagine what the practice could look like in your life. Our goal is to give you a starting point, should you decide to incorporate this discipline into your spiritual life to help you connect with your Father.
People in the Bible Fasted—But Should We?
Fasting isn’t some spiritual dieting program designed to combat excess. It can have that effect, but its primary purpose is to redirect the fasting person’s attention to God, to know Him as the source of everything we need.
Fasting means abstaining from food and/or drink for a period, so every person already fasts—while sleeping. That’s why the English word for the first meal of the day is break-fast—it’s the first meal after the night’s fast. But the Bible generally mentions fasting in terms of not eating during the day. We see several kinds of fasting in the Bible:
Total abstinence from food and water is rare in Scripture. This kind of fast seems to come about in extreme situations—as when Moses wrote the Ten Commandments (Ex. 34:27-28) and when Paul was converted (Acts 9:3-9).
Fasting from only food and not drink is more common. For example, Jesus fasts from all food during 40 days in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11).
The limited, or partial, fast is a careful curation of diet. You might think of it as “mindful eating” or “eating with care.” Daniel gives us two instances of these limited fasts: one when he and his friends eat only vegetables and drink only water (Dan. 1:1-21) and another when he avoids “tasty food” as well as meat and wine (Dan. 10:1-21).
So, people in the Bible fasted—but should we?
Jesus assumes citizens of the kingdom of heaven will fast (Matt. 6:17). He also tells the Pharisees that while His disciples may not fast when He is with them, they will do so when He is gone (Luke 5:33-35). There seems to be no question that He considers fasting a normal spiritual practice.
What’s the Spiritual Purpose of Fasting?
However, in that same Sermon on the Mount passage, Jesus explains that abstaining from food is only part of fasting. “When you fast,” He says, “anoint your head and wash your face, so that your fasting will not be noticed by people but by your Father who is in secret” (Matt. 6:17-18). In other words, fasting has a spiritual component that focuses one’s attention on God and what matters most to Him.
Understanding the spiritual purpose of fasting transforms the practice, much the way it does with Communion. Fasting’s spiritual purpose is not to eliminate desire—which is one of God’s gifts to us—but to reorient our desires toward the only One who can ever wholly fulfill them. The practice (and in a larger sense, abstinence of every kind) invites us to live without letting our appetites, not only for food but for every good thing, drive us.
After all, God made us with these appetites, as Scripture makes plain. Every good gift comes from above, James 1:17 says, and don’t forget that God declared everything He made “good” (Gen. 1:31). But when we make lesser things a substitute for God, we have missed the mark.
Fasting addresses other appetites, too. Think about time you spend planning meals, buying and preparing ingredients, cleaning up afterward, or ordering and driving to get take-out—those minutes add up. When you’re fasting, you can use that time to cultivate other appetites—like praying, studying, or serving someone else. What could you do for your spiritual well-being with another hour or so in your pocket? In addition, food has a financial cost. What could you do with the money you would have spent on groceries or at a restaurant? Consider donating the cost of the food or meal you skipped, and you’ll be joining a long line of Christians who’ve connected fasting to giving “alms,” gifts for the poor.
Ultimately, fasting is an attention discipline. It asks you to take notice of what you eat and how, as you continually think of passages like Jesus’ words in the wilderness: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).
How Do I Begin?
How, then, do we actually incorporate fasting into our life?
1. Decide your timeframe. While a spontaneous fast can have its uses, an appointed time is better for understanding the discipline of fasting. So choose a day of the week, or of the month if that’s a more comfortable place to start.
It's worth mentioning that an “appointed” fast allows you to practice communal fasting—that is, fasting at the same time as others. This togetherness can be a powerful antidote to the hyper-individualized approach to fasting that predominates the Western mindset, where fasting may be seen merely as helpful, or as a prayer (or dieting) hack. You might consider joining the historic church in fasting on Wednesdays or Fridays.
2. Choose what to abstain from. You don’t want to start with a very strict fast. Refrain from a particular food, food group, or meal instead. As you decide, consider these questions:
Do you have any medical or health conditions to keep in mind? Do not fast from a food if doing so will make you ill. Self-punishment has no place here.
How frequently do you consume the proposed food or food group? Fast from something you eat often enough that you’ll notice its absence but won’t jeopardize your health.
3. Focus on God’s provision. When you’re hungry or craving a specific food, use that feeling as a prompt to redirect your focus to God. Let it be an opportunity to talk to Him.
Meditate on Psalm 145:15-16: “The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in due time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.”
Consider using this prayer: Lord, thank You for nourishing my body, for sustaining me every day. You are the Giver of life. Help me honor my fast today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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4. Break your fast. When you’re finished, take a moment to enjoy the feeling of having honored a commitment, to enjoy your connection to God and His good gifts—the food you can now consume. Celebration is just another way to acknowledge God’s provision in your life.
5. Reflect. Think about your answers to one or more of the following questions (and if you can, refrain from judging your answers as “good” or “bad”):
What was the hardest part about your fast?
Would you do anything differently next time?
Did you gain new insight about your relationship with food, money, time, or attention?
Do you want fasting to become a regular discipline in your life?
Do you need to talk to God or ask Him for help in any area of your life (fasting or otherwise)?
If you complete your first fast and are feeling unsure about the discipline, that’s okay. Tell God what’s tripping you up and ask Him for wisdom. Then put a reminder on your calendar for the next fast, and when it’s time, you can trust the Holy Spirit to guide you.
Finally, if these steps feel overwhelming, consider “care-full” eating instead. What do you eat in a day (or week, or whatever time frame feels manageable to you)? Write down your meals, snacks, and drinks throughout the day. As you write, notice that it all comes from God. That’s it. “Care-full” eating is a way to increase your awareness of God’s grace and provision from meal to meal. (However, be careful not to use this as a nutritional or dietary exercise. If you notice yourself judging what you’ve eaten or feeling shame, you should stop. It’s about gratitude, not behavior correction.)
What If I Fail?
When it comes to fasting, you might think ending early or accidentally eating a certain food is failure, but it’s not. Any engagement with fasting is a win—whether it strengthens our self-restraint “muscle” or it doesn’t, whether we feel closer to God or we don’t, whether we gain new insight or not. All fasting experiences are acceptable and beneficial.
That being said, if things haven’t gone as you planned and you find yourself thinking any of the following thoughts, here’s what to do:
“I don’t feel well.” If you feel ill, stop fasting immediately. Risking your health is not a component of the discipline. Talk with your doctor before beginning a fasting practice, and pay attention to your body’s response during it.
“I ate something I shouldn’t have during my fast.” You poured a bowl of cereal out of habit, and you realized halfway through that you were planning to fast. You haven’t sinned. Speak honestly to the Lord about your desire and begin again.
“I fasted, but I didn’t feel anything.” Our feelings are oftentimes a poor spiritual metric. Instead, turn to the Lord. Use even the frustration or uncertainty to open your heart and mind to God’s leading.
“I decided not to fast after all.” It’s important to remember that you haven’t sinned in choosing to give up before your fast. Again, turn to the Lord. Ask Him to guide your reflection, and talk with a trusted friend about what’s on your mind.
Some Words of Encouragement
However you decide to abstain, keep the pursuit of virtue at the center of your fasting. As with any discipline, it’s not about what we do or don’t do—it’s about the condition of our heart.
Fast with faith. Our faith should be rightly directed toward God, the source of our spiritual and physical food. Like Jesus, we should look to be filled with “every word that comes out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). Fasting does not justify us before God, but we should see it as a tool of faith—one that helps train us to give God our complete trust and avoid being misled by our natural leanings and desires (Prov. 3:5)
Fast with love. Fasting might tempt us to see ourselves as being somehow more holy than others, much like the Pharisee who looked down on the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14). Fasting with love will preclude that misperception—as long as we remember love is not only the greatest virtue but also greater than any of our disciplines. Love, in other words, ought to govern our practice[GR1] .
Fast with hope. Fasting is not a rejection of food, but a deferral of some food for specific purposes. We should believe that God is using the tool of fasting to mold us into the image of His Son—even if we don’t see a direct correlation.
Fast with joy. Though abstention may accompany repentance and sorrow for sin, Jesus taught that we should maintain our fast with joy. “Do not make a gloomy face,” He says in Matthew 6:16-18. “Anoint your head and wash your face, so that your fasting will not be noticed by people but by your Father who is in secret.”
In a real sense, this is an invitation to see fasting as joy—joy that we can “suffer” for Christ (Acts 5:41). We might be tempted to regard our fast as a time for somber legalism, but we should resist. The practice should be taken seriously, but we also ought to remember that “the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17).
In the most basic ways, fasting in the 21st century looks like fasting in the 1st. It involves routinely setting aside our appetites to encourage our dependence on God. We stop consuming something for a time to curb our desire, to create a new habit, and in the end to reset both our relationship to the thing we’ve wanted and our relationship with God. The question really is not whether we should fast in the 21st century, but whether we can afford to miss an opportunity to connect with the One who provides “our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11).
You don’t have to “succeed” at fasting, and you don’t have to add it to an already long to-do list. Simply begin. Be curious and open to however it pans out, looking for God along the way. And recognize as you practice something new that His grace is real and that it extends to every way we seek to follow Him.
