IN HIS CLASSIC BOOK ON THE SPIRITUAL LIFE, Richard Foster says that, “God intends the discipline of the spiritual life to be for ordinary human beings: people who have jobs, who care for children, who must wash dishes and mow lawns. In fact, the disciplines are best exercised in the midst of our normal daily activities… The spiritual disciplines are intended for our good. They are meant to bring the abundance of God into our lives.”
If holy habits make up the rhythms of the normal Christian life, how does fasting fit into the picture? If anything, it seems like fasting is the opposite of abundance!
Fasting is mentioned over 70 times in the Bible, yet it’s commanded only one time. On their most sacred day, the Day of Atonement, Israel was commanded by God to fast and pray as the high priest offered an annual sacrifice for the nation’s sins (Leviticus 23:27). However, individual and corporate fasts were a frequent part of Israel’s spiritual life.
By the time of Jesus, Jewish rabbis took the devotional practice of fasting and turned it into law. They taught that righteousness required fasting twice per week. The Pharisees chose Mondays and Thursdays because they were market days and more people could see them. Fasting had become part of the religious show.
As expected, Jesus was down on a fasting that exalts self. But what did Jesus teach about fasting? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says:
When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do…
But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:16-18)
“When you fast,” not “if you fast.” Jesus assumes that His followers will fast. In fact, He ties fasting to two other rhythms—giving and praying. Fasting is just as normal as giving and praying. But He emphasizes why we fast. We don’t fast to posture ourselves as more spiritual than others. Instead, we fast as a posture of our heart before God. This motive for fasting is highlighted a few chapters later when Jesus was asked a direct question about fasting:
Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. (Matthew 9:14-15)
Jesus answers a plain question with a cryptic answer. Why didn’t Jesus’ disciples fast? Jesus answers: because fasting is not appropriate when He is present, but
it is appropriate when He’s absent. So Jesus believes the rhythm of spiritual life includes both feasting and fasting. While disciples are face to face with God the Son, fasting is not needed. They are feasting on His close, personal presence. But when the Son ascends back to Father, Jesus’ disciples will fast. Why? Because they miss His presence.
That tells us something huge about the purpose of fasting. Fasting is a rhythm we practice for the purpose of intimacy with Jesus. Fasting is an aid in our communion with Jesus. Fasting is an abstaining from something essential for the benefit of something spiritual. Fasting is a purposeful emptying for the purpose of filling.
I get it; in a land of plenty, fasting sounds absurd. Even when we do hear about fasting, it’s often for purely physical health benefits. But that’s not what we’re talking about here, because that’s not what Jesus emphasizes. What makes fasting a uniquely spiritual rhythm is when we choose to unplug from food, so that we can engage God.
Let’s be clear about what fasting does not do. Fasting does not make us more righteous! Only the Cross and the Holy Spirit can do that. And fasting does not make God hear us more. God’s ear is already tuned to you. Fasting doesn’t make that happen; His love does. But fasting can tune our ears to God. How does it do that?
First, fasting acknowledges our dependence on the Lord. In the Bible, fasting most often occurs when God’s people are desperate or have to make decisions. Fasting is an outward sign of an inner dependence. We fast because our souls are as dependent upon God as our bodies are upon food.
Second, fasting creates space to hear the Lord’s voice. Fasting must be accompanied with prayer. Otherwise we’re just going hungry. Fasting is coupled with prayer to create space to hear God better. Do you ever wish you could be reminded to turn to God in prayer more often during the day? The beauty of fasting is that every hunger pain is an internal alarm that buzzes to remind us to pray!
Third, fasting reveals our false dependencies. The spiritual rhythms are both a window and a mirror. Holy habits open a window to see more of God. But they also hold up a mirror to show us more of our true self. Do you want to know your false dependencies? Go without something for period of time and see what bubbles up. The anxiety, anger, or restlessness you feel may be telling you that you’ve been filling your life with food, or drink, or social media, or Netflix, or… The fast didn’t creating those feelings; it merely shows our dependencies.
If you’re not in the rhythm of fasting, how do you take the next step? Start small and grow into the rhythm. This week, take one meal, or one day, to fast and seek Lord in more focused prayer.
Most often, fasting involves food. But some of us have made other things essential in our lives—Diet Coke, Facebook or Instagram, Netflix, coffee, chocolate… A fast from media or a delicacy for a certain period of time may be more effective for you than a fast from a meal!
Remember, fasting is abstaining from something essential for spiritual benefits. It’s a purposeful emptying, for the purpose of filling.
Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline
We cover up what is inside us with food and other good things, but in fasting these things surface… Our human cravings and desires are like rivers that tend to overflow their banks; fasting helps keep them in their proper channels.
Majorie Thompson, Soul Feast
Food is necessary to life, but we have made it more necessary than God… Fasting brings us face to face with how we put the material world ahead of its spiritual Source.
Here are some additional thoughts and resources that will help you go even deeper this week:
PROCESS:
Here is a Scripture devotional and a key quote or two to help you consider the spiritual rhythm of the Word this week, individually and with others.
Read Matthew 4:1-11.
– What do you notice about yourself when you get hungry?
– How might God use those insights as opportunities for growth?
– What is the significance of Satan’s attack coming when Jesus was most hungry?
– What stands out about Satan’s temptations and Jesus’ responses?
– What would it look like for you to take another step to follow Jesus’ example of fasting, ready to be filled by and empowered to fight using God’s Word?
PRACTICE:
Here is a daily Scripture reading plan with some practical suggestions to help you get started in your next step of growth in spiritual rhythms. Consider this Scripture reading plan and suggestions this week.\
- Matthew 4:1- 11 – Reflect on Jesus’ experience of fasting.
- 1Deuteronomy 8 – Notice the grace of hunger and the danger of plenty.
- Matthew 6:16-18 – Choose to fast today noticing God’s blessings.
- John 6 – Reflect on your fast and how Jesus saves and sustains.
- Isaiah 58 – Let your fast lead you in love toward someone in need.
Consider these resources for further study.
- Introductory: Simplicity & Fasting by Jan Johnson and God’s Chosen Fast by Arthur Wallis
- Intermediate: Fasting: Spiritual Freedom Beyond Our Appetites by Lynne M. Baab
- Advanced: A Hunger for God by John Piper
PROGRESS:
Remember! The goal is that all of us would choose one or two holy habits to take a step of growth. Progress is the goal, and all of us can take another step forward together.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.