Fasting in the Bible
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ~ Matthew 6:16-18
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning ~ Joel 2:12
When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach. ~ Psalm 69:10
I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks. ~ Daniel 10:3
And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. ~ Acts 14:23
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? ~ Isaiah 58:6
As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. ~ Nehemiah 1:4
But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ~ Matthew 4:4
So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty. ~ Ezra 8:23
Is Fasting For Christians Today?
Read a transcript of David Murray from the video above:
Fasting can become very legalistic, and I feel that's how most people look upon it. If I don't do X, Y, Z, then God will give me A, B, C. And that is certainly not the way the Bible presents fasting. The Bible presents fasting as a way of getting time and space to commune with God. That is the ultimate aim of it. It's not to build up credit. It's not to be a lever, right? God, I've done this now you deliver the goods.
But it's a way of a Christian saying, "I need more time with my Savior. I need more time with my Bible. What can I cut out of my life at the moment to give me that opportunity?"
And so, yes, in the past, in Bible times, it was food because that was the big-time consumer. It was you had to go out and hunt it, or you had to go down to the market and buy it. And then you had to bring it back home and prepare it. And so for a basic meal, you're talking about quite a few hours of preparation from all these basic ingredients. You ask me to fast from food. I don't gain much time now because, well, I can microwave a meal in 30 seconds. So what do I gain by fasting from food? Nothing.
So what do I need to fast from? What in my day, in my life is consuming time that I could do without, or do with less of, in order to release time for my relationship with God? And I think the big one is media in most people's lives today, whether it's television or computer games, or technology. It may be friendships. It may be a hobby.
Does it have to hurt to work? Again, I think that's a misconception about fasting. If it ain't hurting, it ain't working. However, if we are really trying to grab time and make time, we're going to have to do without some things that we enjoy and love. And so there's going to be an element of pain in it. But again, it's not that that pain gains us merit with God. It's just, that it's a side effect. So to keep the focus on how can I get time to pray, time to read my Bible, time to commune with God, what would I cut out of my life to give me that? That's fasting today.
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