Ideas have great power and often take on a life of their own. An example of this phenomenon is the contemporary Christian folklore about fasting. We’re told that fasting doesn’t have to be about regular meals. We can fast from candy or from the Internet or from watching football. I’ve even heard about fasting from Facebook.
So a plea for a return to some sanity about fasting. First of all, it’s not fasting to refrain from doing something you shouldn’t be doing at all. Giving up two hours a day of posting trivia on Facebook is called a step toward spiritual maturity, not fasting. Cutting back on chocolate for a while is a great diet plan, but it’s not fasting.
Biblical teaching, not popular acceptance, should be our rule regarding fasting. When we examine Scripture we discover that:
• Fasting is always related to not eating food, and most often involves not eating any of it. Perhaps this is because physical discomfort is necessary to heighten one’s focus on God.
• Fasting focuses on spiritual disciplines such as:
√ Petition – 2 Samuel 12:16; 2 Chronicles 20:3; Nehemiah 1:4; Daniel 9:3; Luke 2:37
√ Worship – Judges 20:26; Psalm 35:13
√ Mourning – 1 Samuel 31:4; Esther 4:3; Nehemiah 8:21
√ Confession – 1 Samuel 7:6; 1 Kings 21;27; Nehemiah 9:1; John 3:5
• Fasting is not only for the purpose of inward devotion, but should always include acts of outward obedience – Isaiah 58:5-6
Of course, the New Testament doesn’t prescribe fasting as a necessary part of Christian living. However, Jesus did remark that after He left the earth, His followers would fast (Matthew 9:14). And we can observe instances of the early church practicing fasting (Acts 13:2; 14:23). To my knowledge the only clear instruction about fasting in the New Testament is that when we do it, we should make every effort to disguise it from those around us (Matthew 6:16-18). So if anyone we know is fasting obediently, we’ll never know it.
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* Two exceptions are Daniel 10:3 where he abstained from certain foods, and an instance of a food and water fast (Acts 9:9)
