- FAST
fast verb. Go without food [for God]. - 2. noun. A period of going without food [for God].
Whenever I talk to people about fasting, their knee-jerk reaction is “No food? No food? No FOOD? You’re outa your
This is why so many Christians are quick to redefine the word “fast.” My church, fr’instance, frequently does this 21-day “Daniel fast.”
Fasting, actual fasting, is a hardcore Christian practice. The only things which go into our mouths are air and water. In an “absolute fast” you even skip the water. Now, we need food and water. If we don’t eat, we die. And that’s the point: Push this practice too far and we die. But God is more important than our lives. That’s the declaration we make when we fast: Our lives aren’t as important as God.
Why do we do such a thing? For the same reason Jesus did it, when he went to the desert
We reject our culture, which teaches us we shouldn’t deprive ourselves of anything. We recognize God, not food, is our source of life. Our minds get better attuned to God’s will. We hear him better, because our bodies physically feel our need for him. We detect spiritual things faster. We
Yeah, fasting does all that. That is, when we’re praying as well as fasting. If you’re fasting but not praying, it’s time wasted.
Don’t get me wrong. Other forms of self-deprivation do it too. Dieting for God, or going without certain beloved things and hobbies, because God’s more important than our desires, will also achieve the same things fasting can. Just not as quickly; not as intensely. The stakes just aren’t as high. Fasting is hardcore, remember? Going without bacon, as hard as that might be for you personally, isn’t life-threatening. (In fact it’s better for your health.) But though a small thing, it’s still a sacrifice, and part of the proper mindset: “God is more important than my palate.”
But do we gotta?
Still, talking to people about depriving themselves of anything will make them balk. And a quick search of the bible will show ’em fasting isn’t commanded, so they’ll immediately say, “Hey, God never commanded anyone to fast, so I don’t have to!”
(Yeah, I say “quick search of the bible” like they’re gonna search the bible. More likely they’ll search Google. Or ask knowledgeable Christians like me, “Does the bible say we have to fast?” and take our words for it—depending on how much they like our word. If not, they can always find someone else to tell them what they want to hear.)
Hey look, it’s Charles Stanley talking about fasting! In Touch Ministries.
No, fasting isn’t mandatory. God commands no one to fast. The one time he appears to order it, he was actually telling people the sort of “fast” he wanted: To actually obey his commands, instead of practicing rituals in their place.
Since we don’t have to fast, many don’t. When their churches call for a time of prayer and fasting, they might do the praying, but they’ll pass on the fasting. Or they’ll “fast” in as minor a way as they can. Hey, they tend to skip breakfast anyway, so there y’go: “I’ll fast breakfast.” Won’t even miss it.
(Well actually: If you commit yourself to going without breakfast during an actual fast period, you’re gonna discover yourself inexplicably so tempted to have breakfast most mornings. You think the devil’s gonna pass up this fun opportunity to mess with your head? Get you to feel rotten about yourself because you can’t achieve such a small thing for God? Oh, you bet it’ll try to get you to slip this one up. Bacon and doughnuts everywhere.)
Thing is, Jesus presumed we will fast. Otherwise he wouldn’t have said
In Jesus’s culture,
And
I know; you might object, “Fasting is voluntary, and what business does any church have in turning voluntary things into mandatory things?
I don’t blame you for not wanting to fast. It’s no fun, and I like food too. But when a church calls for a fast, it’s because the leadership is seeking God, and wants your help. If you’re not gonna help, go find a different church. One which doesn’t expect or want your help.
Nope, fasting isn’t mandatory. No good works are;
How to fast.
Our only rule about fasting? Jesus’s ordered us to not show off.
Matthew 6.16-18 NRSV - 16 “And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
We need to avoid fasting in circumstances where our practice will be obvious.
So this means
Don’t fast on days, or during meals, when you’re typically expected to eat with others, like a business lunch, family brunch, birthday party, dinner date, wrap party, or just dining with friends. Don’t figure you’ll just drink water and enjoy their company. For no matter how much you try to draw attention away from it, you not eating is gonna stick out like a bright red zit on your nose.
The point of fasting is to forego calories and draw closer to God. So why’re you going to any of these social functions anyway? Pray. Visit family and friends once you’re done fasting.
That said, any other fasting guidelines I have to offer are based on the purpose of fasting: Prayer, and growing closer to God.
Certain churches don’t declare a fast for that reason. They do it because they want to discipline the congregation: They feel you’ve been sinning, or aren’t repentant enough, or need to otherwise feel bad. You’re horrible sinners; you need to suffer. That sort of thing. And that’s not at all what fasting is about. Never was. Not even in the Old Testament, when people fasted in repentance. Then as now, they wanted to hear God. If fasting is used as punishment, or to exert the leaders’ authority, that’s abuse, and that church is a cult. Get out of there.
The leaders of any church should know fasts are voluntary, and that sometimes people are gonna skip a certain fast. Sometimes for valid reasons: They have low blood sugar, or they need to take their medications with food, or there’s a wedding coming up, or it’s Christmas. If fasting is gonna violate your health or your conscience, they should know better than to press the issue. And you shouldn’t violate theirs either: If they want to fast twice a week, let them. All of you should encourage the right spirit behind fasting: Seek living religion, and its emphasis on an interactive relationship between God and us. Not the brainless ritual of dead religion.
“Partial fasts.”
Like I said, self-deprivation can be good, and there’s nothing wrong with doing it for God. But Christians insist on calling these acts of self-deprivation “fasts,” or “partial fasts.” They’re awfully popular among American Protestants.
We go without one category in our diets—meat, dairy, bread, dessert, what have you. Or we give up a meal, like breakfast, brunch, lunch, teatime, dinner, or late-night snack. (And then we overcompensate in our next meal, like Muslims during Ramadan.) We may give up some calories for God, but that’s more dumb luck than intention.
A very popular “partial fast,” the one my church regularly practices, is called the
But Christians don’t care about
But again: If we’re doing the self-depravation for God’s sake, if we’re praying and seeking him and listening to him, he’s usually gonna answer whether we’re full-on fasting, sticking to a “Daniel fast,” or even just giving up doughnuts for a week. They’re not necessarily gonna be scary-but-hopeful End Times visions. (In fact, if God instructs you to give up the doughnuts permanently, that might be even scarier.) But don’t be surprised when he tells you stuff.
Well. Various Christians wanna duplicate Daniel’s “fast,” but none of their Daniel-fast menus come from the bible. They’re all someone’s idea of a tougher-than-usual diet… one they can live with. ’Cause that’s how all “partial fasts” work. They’re fasts we can live with. They’re custom-designed by and for us. You can swap ’em for something harder, like an “Ezekiel fast” where you eat nothing but bean bread cooked over cow feces.
But no matter what we label it, self-deprivation isn’t a fast. It’s a diet. Our “meat fasts,” or “video game fasts,” or “coffee fasts,” or “Netflix fasts”—they’re attempts to sound more extreme or devout than we really are. To be blunt, calling something a fast when it’s not
