How to Fast Biblically: Why We Fast, How to Pray, and What to Avoid
Biblical fasting is choosing to go without food, or something else you depend on, for a season so you can give yourself more fully to God in prayer. It isn't a diet and it isn't a way to earn God's favor. It is a way of saying with your whole life, "I want You more than anything else." When we fast, we make room for the Holy Spirit to strengthen us from within.
Jesus didn't say "if you fast." He said "when."
“Moreover when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face; so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:16-18, World English Bible
Why We Fast: Spirit, Soul and Body
God made us as spirit, soul and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The Holy Spirit lives in the spirit of every believer, and we were made to live from that inner place, with our spirit leading and our soul and body following. Most of the time it runs the other way. Appetites and moods take the lead.
Fasting is one of the ways God strengthens the inner person. Paul prayed for believers to be "strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man" (Ephesians 3:16). When we tell the body "not now" and turn that hunger toward God, the spirit grows stronger and the river Jesus promised in John 7:38 flows more freely.
Two Pitfalls to Avoid
1. Legalism. Jesus told a story about a Pharisee who reminded God, "I fast twice a week," and a tax collector who could only say, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." It was the tax collector who went home justified (Luke 18:9-14).
We don't earn anything by fasting. We position ourselves to experience what is already ours in Jesus. God does not love you more on day twenty-one than on day one. The cross has already given you His favor.
for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;
Romans 3:23-24, World English Bible
2. Condemnation. Many people stop fasting because they tried and "failed." But God is pleased with our efforts in weakness. Condemnation pushes us away from God and drains our hope that He can change us. If you break a fast early, receive grace and begin again.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:1, World English Bible
Three Benefits of Fasting
1. It expresses longing for intimacy with Jesus. When people asked why His disciples didn't fast, Jesus answered with a picture of a wedding. While the bridegroom is present, no one fasts. "But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast" (Matthew 9:15). Fasting is a love response. It is the ache of the bride for the Bridegroom.
2. It is a way of submitting to God. Before Jesus began His ministry, the Spirit led Him into the wilderness, where He fasted forty days and resisted every temptation. He went in "full of the Holy Spirit" and came out "in the power of the Spirit" (Luke 4:1-2, 14). Fasting trains us to say yes to God and no to the enemy (James 4:7).
3. It builds faith to do God's work. When the disciples brought food to Jesus at the well in Samaria, He said, "I have food to eat that you don't know about" (John 4:32). Doing the Father's will fed Him more than lunch. Then He told them to lift up their eyes, because the fields were ready for harvest. When the disciples couldn't help a boy in torment, Jesus said, "This kind can come out by nothing, except by prayer and fasting" (Mark 9:29). Some of the oldest manuscripts say only "prayer," but the call to seek God with our whole being is clear. Fasting sharpens our hunger for what God wants to do through us.
How to Fast and Pray
Start with why. Ask the Holy Spirit what this fast is for. It might be seeking God's face, a decision you need wisdom for, someone you are carrying in prayer, or breakthrough in your city.
Choose a fast you can keep. Scripture shows many kinds. Some skip one meal a day. Some fast from sunrise to sunset. Daniel ate no rich food, meat or wine for three weeks (Daniel 10:3). Others go without food entirely for a short time while drinking water. You can also fast from things like social media or entertainment, though giving up food has a unique way of humbling us. Begin small and build over time.
Replace, don't just remove. Use the time and the hunger to pray. When your stomach growls, let it be a reminder to turn your heart to God. Read Scripture, worship and pray the prayers of the Bible. A fast with no prayer is just being hungry.
Keep it humble. Jesus said to wash your face and not make a show of it (Matthew 6:17-18). Share it with those who need to know and leave the rest between you and your Father.
Fast with others. Some of the greatest moments in Scripture came when God's people fasted together. "Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the people" (Joel 2:15-16). Fasting with your church, small group or family brings encouragement and agreement in prayer.
Be wise with your body. If you are pregnant or nursing, have diabetes or another medical condition, take medication, or have struggled with eating, talk with your doctor before fasting from food, and choose a different kind of fast if you need to. God looks at the heart, not the number of meals.
What God Is After
In Isaiah 58, God says the fast He chooses doesn't stop at an empty stomach. It loosens chains, feeds the hungry and lifts burdens. A real fast makes us more like Jesus. It empties us of lesser things so we can be filled with Him and become a blessing to others.
“Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light will break out as the morning, and your healing will appear quickly; then your righteousness shall go before you; and Yahweh’s glory will be your rear guard.
Isaiah 58:6-8, World English Bible
If you want to build a steady hunger for God, start the free Culture of Hunger Bible plan, an eight-day journey on seeking His presence and pressing in for breakthrough. You can also watch the Culture of Hunger series. For a longer reset, the 21-day Detox plan and the book Detox walk you toward a holy and healthy life.
Go deeper. Read How to Pray and How to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit, or start the free Preparing for Outpouring plan.
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (public domain).
