What is fasting and should Christians do it?

Fasting is one of those spiritual disciplines that most Christians know is in the Bible but very few practice — and the reasons for that gap are worth examining.

Fasting is the voluntary abstention from food (and sometimes drink) for a spiritual purpose. It is not a diet or a cleanse. The physical self-denial is the point — using the hunger of the body to drive you toward the hunger of the soul, to press into God in prayer with an intensity that ordinary routine does not produce.

The Bible treats fasting as a normal part of spiritual life, not an extraordinary measure. Moses fasted forty days on Sinai (Exodus 34:28). Elijah fasted forty days (1 Kings 19:8). Daniel fasted and prayed repeatedly (Daniel 9:3, 10:3). Nehemiah fasted when he heard Jerusalem's walls were broken down (Nehemiah 1:4). The early church fasted before sending out Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:2-3) and when appointing elders (Acts 14:23).

Jesus assumed His disciples would fast. In Matthew 6:16 He said "when you fast" — not "if you fast." He gave instructions about doing it without public display, not permission to skip it. In Matthew 9:15 He suggested His disciples would fast after He returned to heaven: "The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast."

What should you fast for? The purposes in Scripture include: intensifying prayer in a crisis (Esther 4:16), seeking guidance (Acts 13:2), repentance and humility before God (Joel 2:12), and spiritual breakthrough in warfare (Matthew 17:21 in some manuscripts). Fasting is not a way of twisting God's arm — it is a way of expressing to God that you are serious, that this matters, and that you want Him more than you want food.

Should Christians do it? Yes. Not as a legalistic requirement but as a genuine spiritual tool that Jesus expected His disciples to use. Start small — skip one meal and spend that time in prayer. Let the physical hunger remind you of your spiritual hunger.