It’s one of those special nights talking about real life with great friends. It’s 11pm. My body needs sleep, but my soul is on fire. I’ll remember this convo for a long time.
Over the last hour, my friends have recounted miracle after miracle. Breakthroughs. Supernatural insights that they gleaned. Specific & bold prayers that were answered that could only be attributed to a loving God who is intimately and tangibly involved in our lives. There’s no way that God is that real, is it? It can’t be.
It is.
One of the primary ways this reality was unveiled? They fasted.
My friend said something that night that I can’t shake: “Why are we trying to solve spiritual problems with physical solutions?”
Inspired by their stories, this last year, I started a rhythm of prayer and fasting that has totally wrecked my life. I’ve now seen it in my own life. Specific prayers answered in unexpected ways. Something that I was sure was “stuck” forever getting unstuck.
So, what is the purpose of fasting?
In ancient times, we see a lot of examples of fasting in the bible to:
- Seek God’s favor, intervention, protection, blessings
- Mourn loss and sin
- Express repentance
- Prepare for something big
- Express devotion to God
(read more verses at the bottom of this post)
These days, a lot of people fast regularly in a lot of different ways for a lot of reasons. For me, fasting is intentionally forgoing food/drink for a time to focus on God. Fasting creates dedicated, intentional space in my life to seek God. It’s me saying to God — and reminding myself — I want and need more God in my life. It’s also to seek answers to prayer. His blessings. To gain insights. To say no to the flesh, and yes to His Spirit. Fasting is about knowing God more deeply.
A word on what fasting isn’t
Fasting isn’t a way to “prove” our commitment or righteousness to God. We don’t and can’t earn God’s approval or good graces. We don’t beat our body and say to God, “look at how committed we are!” The shocking truth of our God is that we can’t earn our way to Him. We can’t rely on good works to reach God. We can only rely on what God has done for us in Jesus.
In the same way, fasting isn’t a way for us to “show off” our spirituality to others. Matthew 6 is pretty clear — if you fast or pray to be seen doing so, then that’s the only “reward” you’ll get from it — to be seen by others.
Fasting also isn’t some secret key to unlock blessing, as if there’s a secret way to fast to put in just the right tokens into the spiritual vending machine of the sky, and out pops our miracle. Though… as we seek Him, we draw closer to Him and His desires, and we end up getting blessed more than we can imagine.
And fasting isn’t God. We don’t trust in fasting. We trust in God. Fasting is merely a practice, a discipline, a tool. Let’s use the tool for what it’s designed for — to seek God.
This is what I’ve learned while fasting.
Fasting reminds me of the reality of a spiritual realm. Ephesians 6 says “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Do you believe it? Is it possible that the most significant battles we face in this life aren’t fought with physical tools against physical enemies?
There are just too many biblical instances — the parting of the Red Sea, turning water to wine, the 10 plagues with Pharoah, Esther’s whole life story, how Peter and Cornelius meet via complementary dreams, God speaking to a lot of folks via dreams — that point to a spiritual realm. In our modern times, I’ve seen too many miracles of healing, spiritual insight (e.g. seeing a word or a name in a dream), divine appointments, and specific prayers answered in ways that only God could.
There is a spiritual realm where critical things in our lives are being decided, moved on, shifted, transformed, unlocked, and getting unstuck (or further stuck). And we — especially in the West — are often too distracted to consider its existence. What if some of the problems we face won’t be solved by working harder or smarter? Some solutions aren’t based on the natural laws of our universe. Sometimes, it’s not logical, but fundamentally spiritual. Supernatural. In the heavenly places. The unseen, except through trained spiritual eyes.
What’s your sense of the reality of a spiritual realm?
Fasting declutters my spiritual home. When you’ve got clutter collecting in your home, experts say that once you’ve seen it seven times, you don’t even see it anymore. It just fades into the background and becomes part of the environment, unnoticed. With fasting, God helps me see the “clutter” in my spiritual house. It’s too easy to become complacent, which leads me to ignore the sinful and foolish items taking up space in my spiritual home. This is especially true with patterns that are hard to spot on my own: pride and greed.
I’m not proud of this, but especially for those of us who feel that we sacrificed a lot for God, a dangerous thought pattern is that we “did all this for God, and we deserve….” “We gave [] up for God, don’t we deserve [].” Too many have fallen for this spiritual trap and become bitter, prideful, and struggle with secret sins. God convicted me of this selfish thought. Time to throw away this clutter into the trash. This feeling of entitlement turned into repentance. And then gratitude. Thank You, Lord — everything good in my life, even the breath of my lungs, is from Your generous hand. When was the last time your spiritual home had a big spring cleaning and decluttering?
Fasting quiets the constant chatter in my mind. Okay, this is a little embarrassing, but I actually spend a lot of time thinking about food ;). When eating isn’t an option, I suddenly have so much space and energy to focus elsewhere! With all that extra time, it’s painfully obvious: I spend soooo many everyday moments looking sideways — instead of inward. And upward.
I realize that I am often focused on silly things, and the silliness can turn into a playlist on repeat.
I worry about things I can’t control and then my prayers are to try to do things in my own strength. Lord, give me the strength to do something (that isn’t mine to do!). The chatter keeps escalating, “Lord, what about if I did it this way? Or I asked this person? Oh no, Lord, if this doesn’t happen, then these other things will happen! Don’t You care?” I can easily enter an anxiety loop here.
As I fast and release this control, my prayers become more towards, “Lord, You’ve got this, not me. Is there something else You want me to do here? Lord, make this happen, but if not, I know You’ve still got me!”
They say we have 60,000 thoughts a day, but most are on repeat, and many are negative. Fasting melts away the familiar repetitive thoughts so that I can focus on true / excellent / raw / noble thoughts. And as I get physically hangry, I become aware of how spiritually hungry I’ve been for too long. The velocity of thoughts slows down. Are there any thoughts that keep looping endlessly in your mind? That feels stuck? Is this something God is trying to break through for you?
Fasting makes my prayers more effective. I love/hate those verses in the bible that basically say you’ll get whatever you ask for, and then I wonder why that doesn’t happen for me. John 15:7 says “if we abide in Him, and He abides in us, ask whatever you wish and it will be done.” Psalm 37 says “delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of Your heart.” In short, fasting gets me closer to living out the first half of those passages – delighting and abiding in God. As my heart overlaps more with God’s heart, my prayers begin to overlap more with what He already wants for me. And so naturally, as I start asking for those things, is it not a surprise that God would answer them?
During my first 3-day fast, I remember praying on day 1 for one of my relatives in high school to be elected student council vice president. After three days of fasting and drawing closer to God (and delighting in God?), the prayer changed. Lord, actually I don’t want that at all. What I truly want is for him to have an opportunity to grow spiritually. As soon as I prayed it, I knew it would happen. Little did I know that a month later, my relative would go through one of the hardest seasons in his life. It was brutal. I had a lot of sleepless nights during that season. Through those challenges, he decided to join a Saturday night bible study and youth group — all on his own. Now, he’s on fire for God. God changed my heart… and my prayer — and answered it in an unexpected way. I often wonder: did God answer my prayer because I finally wanted what God already wanted?
Most importantly, Fasting draws me nearer to God. Inevitably, spending more time praying to God, being more open to listening to Him — draws me closer to Him. I love how much time I get to spend with Him during fasting — it makes me wonder why I don’t spend more time with Him regularly.
The Logistics
A lot of people ask me about the specifics – how do I do it, how long, what to eat / not eat, what to do. While these things are all secondary, let me share a few words on practicalities.
A couple of disclaimers: (1) Consult your doctor if you have questions regarding your health and whether you can do this. (2) I think the when/how long/what foods questions are less important than your heart posture. What you put in your heart matters more than what you put in your stomach.
Scheduling
- Just start! There is no “right” way to do it. Most people could start with a 24-hour fast — once a week or month. I started with once a month.
- Set aside time in your schedule to read the word and spend extended time in prayer/journaling. Maybe it’s during the time you would normally be eating.
- Add a block of time to listen to a sermon. Marinating our souls with truth tends to lead to richer flavors!
- With fasts longer than a few days, if I need to schedule a lunch meeting, I’ll just eat lunch that particular day.
Tips
- One fun way to start a fast: with a dedicated period of silence — “Lord, here I am. I’m listening. I want to hear you.” And then just listen and walk.
- God’s creation is inspiring! Consider setting aside a time to go for a longer walk in nature. Getting away from your normal surroundings may help you hear the quieter whispers.
- When I break fast, I try to ease my body in by eating lighter / easier-to-digest foods. We have homemade frozen bone broth, so I’ll start with that and rice. Fruit. Oats. Yogurt is also good for the gut.
- After longer fasts, my digestive track changes, but usually after a few days, it gets back to normal.
- Sometimes fasting makes me more attuned to the bible. I’ll read a familiar story but it will hit me totally differently and more deeply. I don’t just “get it” mentally, but also “get it” spiritually and emotionally. Or I’ll find that God will use every day things I didn’t notice before to speak to me.
- Don’t get discouraged if nothing “spectacular” happens. This walk with God is so often about the little moments of communion and the quiet faithfulness to keep walking. Keep at it!
Longer fasts and special situations
- During longer fasts, I work out a lot less, since my body is already being stressed. My metabolism slows down and I think I lose muscle mass. But I see the loss of physical muscle as a small price to pay for the chance to gain spiritual muscle.
- During longer fasts, don’t be surprised if you have more vivid dreams. The spiritual realm is active.
- A CHALLENGE: Have you ever thought about fasting during Ramadan? That might sound weird, but I believe that during the 30 days of Ramadan in Feb/March — when there are almost 2 billion people fasting — this period is unusually active in the spiritual realm. While I fast for different reasons than them, I fast during the same stretch to be “in the arena” spiritually and to stay spiritually vigilant. While Muslims eat and drink only when the sun is down (early morning and late in the evening), I did an intermittent fast, eating between 3-9pm every day and still drank water (and my beloved black coffee).
TO SUM IT ALL UP
Fasting: I don’t recommend it at all. Don’t do it, it’s gonna wreck your life, too ;).
Fasting has drawn me closer to God, made my heart’s desires closer to God’s desires, helped me address negative, easy-to-ignore patterns areas of my life, put me into the arena of spiritual battle, and awakened me to where the action really is. Fasting has inspired me with the truth that God is real. God is active. God is moving. He works in both our physical world as well as the spiritual world.
The reality that hits me the hardest in fasting? Wow, God loves me so.
The specifics on what to fast from is probably less important than: (1) Fast to seek our amazing God; (2) forgo enough food for long enough to feel it, so you can break through the normal physical rhythms; (3) for a spiritual “energy boost,” take big shots of truth to marinade your spirit.
Why not start this coming Monday?
Tell me your fasting story: tony [at] sharedshards.com
The Scriptures (in ESV)
There are some biblical templates that people have used in the bible — for example:
A lot of folks fasted for a day or two.
Daniel fast – Daniel and his friends fasted on at least 2 different occasions. Both times, they didn’t eat some foods (royal/rich foods, animal products, wine), and only ate vegetables. One was for 10 days. Another was for 21 days.
Esther fast — Esther, during a time of great peril for her and her people, called for a 3-day, 3 night fast abstaining from food and water. The purpose was to seek divine intervention and to prepare Esther to go before the king, to plead for the lives of her people. Personally, I haven’t tried this exactly. I’ve tried water-only for 3 days, and I just get too dizzy / faint-headed by the 3rd day.
Jesus, Moses, and Elijah all fasted at some point for 40 days and 40 nights. I don’t know how in the world they did that!
Based on the biblical accounts, the primary purposes of fasting can be summarized as follows:
Seeking God’s Guidance and Favor:
Many individuals and groups fasted when facing difficult decisions or circumstances, seeking divine intervention and direction. (Ezra 8:21-23; 2 Chronicles 20:3)
Repentance and Humility:
Fasting was often used as a way to express remorse for sins and to humble oneself before God. (1 Samuel 7:6; Joel 2:12; Daniel 9:3)
Mourning and Grief:
Fasting was a common practice during periods of mourning or grief, demonstrating sorrow and dependence on God. (2 Samuel 1:12; 2 Samuel 12:16)
Prayer and Supplication:
Fasting was frequently combined with prayer, intensifying the act of seeking God’s presence and intercession. (Nehemiah 1:4; Acts 13:2-3)
Spiritual Preparation:
Individuals fasted to prepare themselves for significant spiritual encounters or ministries. (Matthew 4:1-2; Acts 14:23)
Deliverance and Protection:
Fasting was used to seek divine deliverance from enemies or dangerous situations. (Esther 4:16)
Demonstrating Sincere Devotion:
Fasting can be a way to show God that one is serious about their relationship with him. (Matthew 6:16-18)
Other Key Verses
And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. -Matthew 6:16-18
So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty. -Ezra 8:23
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
Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; -Joel 2:12
“I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks.” -Daniel 10:3
Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.” -Acts 13:3
And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.” -Luke 4:1-2
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” -Acts 13:2
“And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. -Acts 14:23
Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish. -Esther 4:16
Other Resources
The Purpose of Fasting, John Piper
What is Biblical Fasting and how does it work? Cru
