The Discipline of Fasting

Fasting is the practice of voluntarily giving up something in order to dedicate that time or resource to growing in your walk with God.

I must confess I have mixed emotions about my experiences with fasting. In college, I would occasionally join a group of students who would fast for 24 hours for the purpose of learning how to sympathize with those who are hungry in our world. I don’t think our experience was very helpful as a spiritual discipline, because we would always wait until 12:00 midnight and then order a pizza in order to celebrate the fact that we went an entire day without food. However, I have had other occasions when fasting has been helpful. I have intentionally decided to skip a meal or two in order to spend time in prayer. This has been particularly helpful when I have been facing a difficult decision, and wanted to spend time in prayer for wisdom.

If you practice fasting, make sure the focus of your fast is growing closer to God. There is nothing wrong with attempting to lose weight, save money, or developing a new hobby, but if this is the point of your fast, you should not consider it a spiritual discipline.


Ideas for Fasting:

1. Giving up food
This is the classic kind of fast. If you are going to fast from food, please make sure that you are in good health. Pregnant women and people who have struggles with blood sugar levels would want to talk to a doctor before fasting from food. I have heard of people fasting for periods of time that last over a week. Many will allow themselves fluids during their fast. If you want to fast from food, set a period of time that you want to fast. You might want to fast by skipping breakfast and lunch for a period of 1-3 days. Take your normal meal times for a devotional activity. Fasting can be especially helpful when you are seeking wisdom for a decision, or when you are praying for a specific circumstance.

2. Turn off the TV
In the United States, most homes have more than 1 television set, and many of those television sets are on for more than 8 hours a day. All of this noise can drown out our ability to focus on God. You can fast by turning off the TV. This can be anything from limiting your time watching television, to getting rid of the television in your home. If you are going to fast from television, I suggest starting with a period of time (at least one day) when you do not turn on the TV in your home. After that, make sure that you only sit down in front of the TV when there is a specific program that you want to watch, and turn the TV off when that show is over. You can also help yourself in this endeavor by putting the TV in a room that is not the center of the home, or putting your television set behind closed doors, so that you do not see it when it is turned off. By the way, this fast from media input can also be applied to the internet, magazines, radio, etc.

3. Financial Fast
Take a solid week when you do not spend any money. This will take planning, but you will be surprised by the results.

4. Sabbath Keeping
Make Sunday a day of rest, not only from your job, but also from normal weekly routines.