Why Do Christians Fast?
THE PURPOSE OF FASTING
The goal of fasting is to draw nearer to God. Biblical fasting always has to do with eliminating distractions for a spiritual purpose; it hits the reset button of our soul and renews us from the inside out. It also enables us to celebrate the goodness and mercy of God and prepares our hearts for all the good things God desires to bring into our lives.
Remember, our personal fast should present a level of challenge, but it is very important to know our body, our options, and most importantly to seek God in prayer and follow what the Holy Spirit leads us to do.
BIBLICAL REASONS FOR FASTING
To be humbled before God
(1 Kings 21:27-29)
To seek God’s guidance
(Judges 20:26-28)
To seek deliverance & protection
(Ezra 8:21-23)
To repent to God
(Jonah 3; Joel 2:12)
To express love & worship for God
(Luke 2:36-38)
To show grief before God
(Nehemiah 1:1-4)
To overcome temptation
(Matthew 4:1-11)
To see justice & freedom
(Isaiah 58:6)
TYPES OF FASTS
COMPLETE FAST
In this type of fast, you drink only liquids, typically water with light juices as an option. Selective Fast - This type of fast involves removing certain elements from your diet. One example of a selective fast is the Daniel Fast, during which you remove meat, sweets, and bread from your diet and consume water and juice for fluids and fruits and vegetables for food.
PARTIAL FAST
This fast is sometimes called the “Jewish Fast” and involves abstaining from eating any type of food in the morning and afternoon. This can either correlate to specific times of the day, such as 6:00 am to 3:00 pm, or from sunup to sundown.
SOUL FAST
This fast is a great option if you do not have much experience fasting food, have health issues that prevent you from fasting food, or if you wish to refocus certain areas of your life that are out of balance. For example, you might choose to stop using social media or watching television for the duration of the fast and then carefully bring that element back into your life in healthy doses at the conclusion of the fast.
CREATING A LIFESTYLE OF PRAYER
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.” -Mark 1:35
Prayer is most effective when it isn’t something we do every now and then, but when it’s a lifestyle we cultivate. To understand how to have a lifestyle of prayer, we can look at the example Jesus gave during His life on earth.
HAVE A CERTAIN TIME
Jesus got up early in the morning to spend time with His Heavenly Father. Make a daily appointment with God —whether it’s first thing in the morning, at lunch, or in the evening — and faithfully keep it.
HAVE A CERTAIN PLACE
Jesus had a specific place He went to pray. Having a designated place to pray helps us remove distractions and frees us to worship and pray out loud.
HAVE A CERTAIN PLAN
When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, He gave them a prayer outline in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. We call it “The Lord’s Prayer.” As we pray every day, our plans for our prayer time can vary, maybe including worship music, Bible reading, and quiet time to listen to God. It doesn’t always have to look the same; it just helps when we have a plan for connecting regularly with God!