What is fasting? Nésteuó is the Greek word in the New Testament meaning “to fast/abstain from food.” It’s brought up several times in the gospels, so let’s talk about why it matters!

What does fasting do for us? Is it even about us? Does it have to be food that we abstain from? 

Before we jump into all of that, let’s talk about a couple of examples of fasting in the Bible, not just in the New Testament.

In Exodus 34:28 we see Moses with the Lord for forty days and forty nights; he did not eat food or drink water. I don’t know about you guys, but DAYS AND NIGHTS?? But, during this time, he wrote the Ten Commandments, the words of the covenant, on the tablets. That’s a big deal!

Moses was with our LITERAL GOD, and fasted. He focused solely on God! 

Another one, in Daniel chapter 1, Daniel doesn’t completely fast, but he does the famous “Daniel Fast” relying completely on God as he proves a point to the Babylonians. He refuses to give up their law/their covenant to God, just because this king demanded it. God kept him healthy during this time, and he was able to prove their point!

You can’t read 1 Samuel without reading about Hannah, who is heartbroken praying desperately for a child. She sought out God in prayer and by fasting. This led to the birth of Samuel, the final Judge from the era of Judges!

While Ezra made the trek back to Israel with all of the material given by the Persian king so that they could restore the temple to worship God in, Ezra announces that they should pray and fast so that they may ask God for protection from bandits and other dangers on the way there. And they got there with no issues!!! This is in Ezra 8:23.

Now, while something wonderful did happen during each of these fasts, that isn’t their main goal, as it shouldn’t be ours either. We fast so that we can feel closer to God, to pursue our relationship with Him with such a renewed fire, that it takes over the time where we would be eating. We aren’t using this as a means to bribe God, but instead to show Him that He is more important than the things that we need to survive. How powerful of a pledge is that! 

But again, this isn’t bribery. “God, I’m going to fast so that you give me that job promotion” or “God, I’ll fast if you make me rich.”

This is “God, I need You to get through this, please let me lean on You. Please let me feel closer to You.” This is our attempt to align to His will. We can request, we can even beg, so long as we remember who we’re talking to. We always joke that David, especially in his psalms, is constantly like “God, kill them all! Don’t let them treat me like this! Help me! But, obviously, only if it’s Your will, Lord.”

We have to remember to be like that, except maybe without all the death? Remembering that God knows perfectly what will happen, and as much as we want something else, His plan is always perfect.

I am currently in a situation where I know how I want God to deal with the situation. We always have an opinion on what we want in life, right? And it’s so hard to tell God honestly that we’re content with His will, and will be okay if we don’t get our way. But that’s the thing, our idea of what’s right is so short sighted.

I have a story for this! I went to a kid friendly mardi gras parade with my grandfather a million years ago, and he BEELINED it to a specific spot. Like, little me’s legs were NOT keeping up with him. I remember thinking, what are you doing?? The beginning of the parade is over there!

As we found our spot, definitely not at the front, I was upset! We have to wait SO LONG now to get to see the parade! But, then the parade went around, and I realized that he put us in the perfect place. The parade looped on either side of us before heading to the exit. We got double the beads of any one else, and actually had to start handing out our extras as we headed to the parking lot.

I think of that story a lot when I think of God’s will.

He knows the route of not just my story, but everyone else’s. He knows what’s best for me, even if it’s not what I realize at the moment. I don’t know what life will entail in ten days, let alone ten years, but God does! So we need to rely on him solely. 

When we fast, we need to accept that His will is perfect, and so much better than our will ever could be.

So, the last question: Does it have to be food that we fast from?

Per the Bible, the word fast means to abstain from food. So, no, fasting from social media, or any of the other fad fasts aren’t the same thing. The intention is to be closer to God and align to His will, and we can absolutely do that by doing any sort of fast, and this is not us saying that you shouldn’t choose to do one.

I choose to abstain from social media and read through 1 John whenever life seems like too much. This helps me prioritize my life again, pulling away from the addiction that social media can be. While this isn’t food, it does help me feel closer to God, and focus on Him rather than the world around me.

While this isn’t the same as fasting from food, it can still be so so helpful! But, it’s important to notate that it isn’t the same as what is talked about in the Bible. You, as well as I, have to pray about what fasting needs to look like in our lives.

So, how do we fast? First, you pray about it. From there, you decide how long, and what you’ll be doing during the fast. Whether it’s reading through certain scriptures, praying for longer intervals, or doing a specific study through the Bible. 

But, an important note is that this isn’t something to brag about. Matthew 6:16-18 tells us that we shouldn’t try to make it obvious so others will notice. We don’t fast for others, only to be closer to God. Isn’t that a common theme? Not for others but for God only.

The importance of fasting comes from realizing our need to be close to God, and seeing this as a tool to do that. Even Jesus fasted after His baptism, to be closer to God for those 40 days before His ministry truly started (Matthew 4:2). Let us know below if you make a regular practice of fasting, or if you want to start!