Christian fasting is a spiritual discipline found throughout the Bible. It involves abstaining from food or certain types of food for a set period to focus on prayer, repentance, and seeking God’s guidance. Below are key biblical references and insights into fasting as described in Scripture:
### 1. **Fasting as a Means of Seeking God**
Fasting is often tied to a deep desire to draw near to God or seek His will in challenging circumstances.
– **Joel 2:12-13**: *”‘Even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.’”*
– **Ezra 8:23**: *”So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.”*
### 2. **Fasting for Repentance and Humility**
Fasting is a way for believers to demonstrate repentance and humility before God.
– **Psalm 35:13**: *”Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting. When my prayers returned to me unanswered…”*
– **Jonah 3:5-10**: When Jonah warned the people of Nineveh about God’s coming judgment, they believed his message, declared a fast, and repented. *”The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.”*
### 3. **Fasting in Times of Crisis**
Fasting was often practiced during times of crisis or when seeking divine intervention.
– **2 Chronicles 20:3-4**: *”Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.”*
– **Esther 4:16**: Esther and the Jews fasted before she approached the king to plead for their people. *”Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do.”*
### 4. **Fasting as an Act of Worship and Service**
Fasting can also be part of worship, serving as a way of dedicating oneself more fully to God.
– **Luke 2:37**: Anna the prophetess worshipped with fasting and prayer regularly: *”She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.”*
– **Acts 13:2-3**: The early church fasted and prayed before sending out Saul (Paul) and Barnabas on their missionary journeys. *”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.’ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.”*
### 5. **Fasting with the Right Heart**
Jesus emphasized the importance of fasting with the right motives, warning against fasting for show or to impress others.
– **Matthew 6:16-18**: *”When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”*
### 6. **Fasting with Prayer for Guidance**
Fasting is often combined with prayer to seek God’s guidance before making decisions.
– **Acts 14:23**: *”Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.”*
### 7. **Fasting in the Example of Jesus**
Jesus Himself fasted, setting an example for His followers.
– **Matthew 4:1-2**: *”Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”*
### 8. **True Fasting and Justice**
God often calls people to fast in ways that align with His heart for justice, righteousness, and love.
– **Isaiah 58:6-7**: *”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?”*
In summary, biblical fasting is less about mere abstinence from food and more about humbling oneself before God, seeking His presence, and aligning one’s heart with His will. Whatever the reason for fasting—be it repentance, worship, or decision-making—it must always be done with sincerity and a desire for deeper communion with God.