Christian Fasting

A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to a podcast, on my bike, about fasting for miracles. This particular speaker is a part of a church in the USA where members regularly fast for 21 days in January. As I was listening I was drawn to the idea of fasting as a congregation, not in January which doesn’t work at all in Australia, but through Lent.

I have spoken to a few people who think, as I do, that the Lord is calling the church to do this project together. It is interesting that at the time that the Holy Spirit was talking to me about it, He was also talking to other people.

Fasting is not a big part of the Western church in our times. The idea of voluntarily abstaining from food for even just 1 day fills many of us with anxiety. I think because we are so used to having food of almost any sort, whenever we feel like it, we can’t imagine not eating when we are hungry.

I confess that I have not been a big practitioner of fasting at any time in my life, except for brief times. Yet this was a big part of living for followers of the Lord in the Old Testament and for followers of Jesus. The early church, and right through to modern times, extolled the value of fasting as a spiritual discipline.

If you search for “Fasting” on Amazon, there are literally thousands of titles on fasting for health, intermittent fasting, and so on. The number of christian titles on fasting is much smaller.

 There are two things, I want to emphasise in this short article.

Firstly, Christian fasting is linked to prayer. It is not about just doing without food, but setting apart a time period when we seek the Lord with such intensity and passion, that you are willing to do without food for a period of time. There are many testimonies of people being saved, healed, receiving miracles, breakthrough prayers being answered because people fasted and prayed. Fasting turbo charges your prayer life by reminding you that you are dedicating this period to the Lord. Every time your stomach growls is a call to prayer.

Secondly, Christian fasting is about your relationship with God. In the Old Testament, various people are described as humbling themselves before the Lord, and usually in connection with fasting. Fasting reminds us very powerfully that we are totally dependent on the Lord for everything we need for life.

We fast for spiritual reasons, but there are health benefits. I have a tendency to snack almost constantly. When I fast it resets the bad habit of picking up food and mindlessly eating. Often people experience a detox process as their bodies take the opportunity to process and eliminate the bad stuff in their bodies. It gives your digestive system a rest and renews its strength.

So what does a Lenten Fast look like? How long do you have to keep it up for? What can I expect?

We will explore these topics and much more as we get closer to Lent.