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Fasting is one of the most powerful practices in the Christian faith. Willingly sacrificing food or other distractions for an extended period of time will not only draw you closer to God, but the process may bring you closer to understanding the true desires of your heart.
Yet, for some, fasting may seem daunting, difficult or even downright impossible. Thankfully, the Bible offers guidance on how to approach this willing sacrifice. Whether you’re new to fasting or looking to deepen your spiritual journey, there’s a way for every believer to take this essential step in nurturing a deeper relationship with God.
What is fasting?
Fasting is the practice of abstaining from eating or another activity for an extended period of time in order to focus your thoughts on God. Fasting allows Christians to humble ourselves before the Lord, removing our focus from food or other daily distractions to give God our full attention.
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Throughout both the Old and New Testament, prophets, disciples, believers, and even Jesus himself fasted regularly to draw closer to God and make the desires of their hearts known to Him. It’s more than just a period of physical or mental detox. Fasting is a practice Christians are expected to implement in our lives (Mark 2:18-22) and should be coupled with prayer and private time spent with God. It’s a time when we remove distractions from life and instead fill our time and our hearts with God.
What should I give up?
It’s common for most people to fast from food and/or drink for a set period of time. You can do a partial fast, such as the Daniel Fast, modeled after the prophet Daniel who reduced the amount of food he ate in a day and abstained from only “delicacies” (Daniel 10:3) like meat, alcohol, and heavily processed foods. A complete fast is one where you consume no solid, chewable food at all, like Paul did in Acts 9:1-19. Some fasters still drink water or sometimes juice to maintain their health and energy throughout the fasting period.
However, abstaining from food is not the only way to fast and for some believers, it’s not safe or medically advisable to stop eating for long periods of time. Some people choose to fast from television, online shopping, sex, cursing, or other behaviors or habits that feel compulsive or distracting from your faith walk. Before fasting, take time to pray and seek God’s guidance on what may be pulling your attention away from Him. That may be something to sacrifice in order to be in closer relationship with Christ.
What should I do while fasting?
Proper preparation is one of the keys to a successful fast. Whether you’re doing a complete or partial past from food, drink plenty of water throughout your fast and rest when needed. Consult a physician to determine what is healthiest for you and your body. Set a specific start and end time for your fast and limit physical activity. Pay attention to how your body feels during your fast. Some discomfort is to be expected, especially if you’re new to the process.
If you’re fasting from a different habit, plan ahead for what you’ll do when temptation strikes. Don’t just sit around and staring into space or sleeping away the time until the fasting period ends. The point of fasting is not to replace your distractions with another distraction nor should this time feel like impossible suffering. Rather, fasting gives us the opportunity to turn to God for peace of mind, body, and soul.
Set aside time throughout the day(s) for prayer, worship, and study during your fast. Communicate regularly with God, make your requests known to Him. If you slip up during your fast period, forgive yourself, start anew, and seek His forgiveness for all the ways you may have fallen short of His will for your life. Open your heart to hear how He may speak to you during your time when you turn down the distractions of the outside world and instead turn your focus to God.
There are also things you should absolutely not do while in a fasting period. In Matthew 6 verses 16-18, Jesus warns His disciples not to fast for spiritual clout, trying to appear like devout Christians to the outside world. Fasting is not showing off how long we can abstain from food or other worldly pleasures. Fasting is about private focus and communion with God.
We should not boast or fast to boost our own sense of self. Nor should we fast to lose weight or save money or make some other lifestyle change. A deeper relationship with God should always be at the center of our choice to fast.
How long should I fast?
Throughout the Bible, believers fasted for a variety of reasons for varying lengths of time, from one night (Daniel 6) to forty days (Matthew 4:2) and sometimes longer.
If you’re new to fasting, you can ease yourself into the practice. The more moderately you start, the more likely it is that you will complete the fast and you can progress more down the road. You don’t have to go all in for an all-day, no solid food fast right away! Start by giving up one meal a day, then progress to fasting for a whole day once a month or once a week. Some followers fast from sunrise to sunset.
Breaking a fast properly is just as important as starting a fast. Don’t dive head first into the snacks and sodas once your food fasting period has ended, ease yourself into solid foods by drinking juices, smoothies, shakes or other foods that are easily digestible to protect your body from any indigestion or pain. If you’ve abstained from something other than food during your fast, take time to reflect on how your heart and mind feels after making your sacrifice before returning to life as usual.
Why do I have to fast?
For followers of Christ, fasting is not merely a suggestion. Jesus expected His followers to pray and fast regularly to stay in communion with God. Fasting allows us to silence the outside noise and hear the voice of God.
Fasting also allows us to humble ourselves before the Lord and yield to His will for our lives. Fasting is not an act of our own personal strength and willpower, but a sign of weakness and submission to God’s power and glory. When the body is broken, the Holy Spirit can reveal your true self, showing hidden areas of sin in our lives and allowing us to shift focus away from things that may harm us while bringing us closer to God and increasing our confidence in Him.
The purpose of fasting is to earnestly seek God in prayer, spending time feeding our souls rather than (in some cases, literally) feeding our flesh. We fast not just to stop doing something, it’s to start developing a deeper relationship with God and truly hear His voice in our lives.
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