How to: Fast
by Mary Lou Carney, Chesterton, Indiana

Fasting had been the topic of our pastor's morning massage, and as I was putting Sunday dinner on the table, I pondered over his text. He quoted from the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus says, "And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites . . ." (Matthew 6:16-17).* Not "should you fast" or "if you fast," but "when you fast." I was surprised to discover that Jesus assumed all His listeners fasted.

As a child, I was taught to thank God for the abundance of food in our farm home—dumplings, whipped potatoes, platters of fried chicken, coleslaw with red cabbage, deviled eggs, baskets of fluffy biscuits. And yet, had my own gratitude taken on shades of gluttony? Had I started to see those blessings as necessities rather than gifts? Was fasting an aspect of faith I had avoided somehow?

My own acquaintance with hunger was limited to diets. So I began to look into the biblical record of fasting. And gradually I found deeper, more spiritual motives for fasting.

1. For a new beginning. Jesus fasted alone in the wilderness for 40 days after His baptism—a period we commemorate as Lent Moses fasted when he went up to Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. Paul fasted after seeing his vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus. Later he and Barnabas fasted and prayed before they set off on their ministry (Acts 13:3).

Fasting prepares us for a new spiritual beginning. Paul's life was completely turned around on the road to Damascus, and for three days he went without food or drink. By fasting Moses consecrated himself to receive God's law. And only after those 40 days of hunger did Jesus start to preach, heal and teach, He needed that time of solitude and fasting to begin to fulfill God's plan.

2. To be open to God's vision. All her life the prophetess Anna had waited for the Messiah, and she was "of great age" when Jesus was presented at the Temple. But having worshiped "with fasting and prayer night and day," she recognized Him even as a baby (Luke 2:36-38). In the early church, Christians linked worshiping and fasting to hearing the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:2). The prophet Daniel fasted for wisdom and understanding in interpreting dreams. And when the apostle Paul received the angel's message during the storm at sea, it was after he had gone many days without food (Acts 27:21-23).

In all these cases, fasting helped believers discover God's purpose (or in Anna's case, to recognize God Himself). As they let go of the visible, they could better concentrate on the invisible. They opened themselves up to the Spirit.

3. In penance. "I afflicted myself with fasting," David said in the Psalms (35:13). He did penance for his wrongs by fasting. At the same time, we're promised that it offers a return to God's favor. As the Lord told Joel, "Return to me with all your heart, with fasting" (2:12).

4. For God's mercy. This is closely connected with penance, for God hears those who seek His mercy with prayer and fasting, in biblical times the Lord promised to destroy the evil city of Nineveh until the citizens repented and fasted, "from the greatest of them to the least of them" (Jonah 3:5). God was so impressed that He changed His mind. King Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast for all of Judah when his kingdom was threatened by invading forces (II Chronicles 20:3).

In more recent times, John Wesley described a national day of prayer and fasting in 1756 when Britain was threatened by a French invasion. As he added in a footnote in his diary, "Humility was turned into national rejoicing, for the threatened invasion by the French was averted."

5. For greater self-control. "I humbled my soul with fasting," David writes (Psalm 69:10). Pride, greed, jealousy, they can be easy to camouflage during times of plenty, but during a fast they reveal themselves for what they are. "I pommel my body and subdue it," said Paul (I Corinthians 9:27). That is the work of fasting. Controlling one desire, rather than being controlled by it, makes it easier to control all others. As Thomas à Kempis wrote, "Refrain from gluttony and thou shall the more easily restrain all the inclinations of the flesh." Believers over the centuries have found freedom, not restraint, in that discipline.

6. Not for yourself, but for God. In the New Testament's first statement about fasting, the one my pastor quoted, Jesus says, "And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men" (Matthew 6:16). A fast is meant for God alone. "But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret" (Matthew 6:17-18). Outwardly there was to be no difference between a fast day and a normal day. Inwardly, though, the Lord promises His rewards.

Fasting is not for everyone, nor does Jesus make it a biblical law or command. It is not recommended for expectant mothers, diabetes patients or those suffering from undernourishment or emotional exhaustion. It is not a diet, not a bribe, not a health fad.

I don't enjoy being hungry. But fasting is an investment in sincerity, a plea for deeper faith. It is embracing a physical emptiness in order to "be filled with all the fulness of God" (Ephesians 3:19).

This article originally appeared in Guideposts magazine. Visit the recently updated guideposts.com today.