Years ago, I used to have a somewhat regular practice of fasting, and then I got married, and since then it’s been an ongoing struggle to try to maintain any kind of lifestyle that involves regular fasting. I should clarify before going further that it isn’t my wife’s fault.  One of the things about marriage is that it changes your life in a lot of different ways, both big and small.  You start developing new habits, live in new places, and now you aren’t just doing “you” anymore, but “you-and-spouse.”  At any rate, I recently began a practice of fasting regularly again.  There are a lot of questions people have about this subject, so I will answer the questions “What is fasting and how does it work?” in this two-part blog series.  There are other common questions, which I will tackle in the future.

What is Fasting?

Fasting is the practice of abstaining from something for a pre-set period of time. Usually, at least in scripture, fasting involves abstaining from food, but it also vaguely references abstinence from sex in 1 Corinthians 7:5. Fasting can be done as a practice for physical health, and can be very beneficial for physical health, but in Scripture, fasting is done primarily for spiritual reasons.  When I fast, I naturally get the health benefits that come with it, so it seems like a waste to fast for physical reasons only and not include a spiritual component.  Thus, it is rare to see me fast without doing so.

The most commonly referenced scripture passage about fasting is Isaiah 58. Almost the entire chapter refers to fasting, but verses 6-12 speak most clearly about the spiritual benefits.  We can identify a number of spiritual benefits of fasting in this passage, which says:

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?  Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them,   and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?  Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.  Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.  If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.  The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.  Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”

Fasting can destroy injustice, bondage, and oppression. And if you combine it with actions, it causes spiritual light to be released, and it releases healing, power, and God’s glory.  It makes it easier to get prayers answered and hear God’s voice, brings spiritual guidance, physical health and vitality, and brings provision into your life.  It also releases spiritual protection and fixes problems.  According to Isaiah 58, all of this can happen when we fast.

In scripture, this practice is very closely linked with prayer. The way I understand it, if we are going to spend time in fasting, we should also spend some of our time in prayer.  If we fast and don’t pray, I almost don’t see the point.  While not always possible, depending on one’s life situation, a “best practice” during a fast would be to spend the time we would normally spend eating in prayer instead.

There are lots of different opinions about fasting—whether we should fast, what we should fast, how long to fast, how to manage the fast, and how to break the fast. I plan to answer these questions in a future article, but for now let’s keep it simple:  consider that we should generally fast from food for a predetermined time that we prayerfully decide (1-3 days is common), and spend our time in more prayer than normal during the fast.

In the second part of this article, we will discuss how fasting works and what it accomplishes on a spiritual level.  Stay tuned!