Prayer and Fasting

A Neglected Discipline

Fasting — voluntarily abstaining from food for a period of time for spiritual purposes — is one of the most neglected disciplines in contemporary Christianity. Yet it is assumed throughout Scripture, practised by the greatest figures of both Testaments, and commended by Jesus Himself.

When Jesus taught on fasting in the Sermon on the Mount, He did not say "if you fast" — He said "when you fast." (Matthew 6:16). He assumed His followers would fast.

What Fasting Is and Is Not

Fasting is not a hunger strike against God — a way of twisting His arm or demonstrating the seriousness of our request. It is not a way to earn merit or make prayer more effective by adding suffering to it.

Biblical fasting is an expression of humility and urgency before God. It is the deliberate setting aside of a normal and good thing — food — in order to seek God more intensely. When the body cries out for food and we pray instead, we are declaring with our whole being that we hunger for God more than we hunger for physical sustenance.

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? — Isaiah 58:6

Fasting in the Bible

Fasting appears throughout both Testaments in moments of crisis, repentance, seeking God's direction, and spiritual warfare:

• Moses fasted forty days on Mount Sinai when receiving the law (Exodus 34:28)
• David fasted and prayed when his child was gravely ill (2 Samuel 12:16)
• Esther called a three-day fast before approaching the king (Esther 4:16)
• Nehemiah fasted and prayed before approaching the king about Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1:4)
• Jesus fasted forty days before beginning His public ministry (Matthew 4:2)
• The early church fasted before commissioning missionaries and appointing elders (Acts 13:3, 14:23)

Fasting and Prayer Together

Fasting and prayer are linked throughout Scripture because they reinforce each other. Fasting weakens the body's insistence on its own comfort and redirects that energy toward prayer. It is a physical act that expresses spiritual priority.

When the disciples could not cast out a particular demon, Jesus indicated that "this kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting." (Mark 9:29 ESV footnote). Some spiritual battles require an intensity of seeking God that fasting helps to foster.

Practical Guidance

Start with a single meal fast rather than a full-day fast if you are new to it. Use the time you would have spent eating to pray instead. Focus your fasting on a specific purpose — a decision, a burden, a person — and bring that before God throughout the day.