What Does Fasting Have To Do With God?

By Amitabh Singh

The phrase “fasting to lose weight” yields 47,400,000 results on Google. This blog is about fasting. However, I am not speaking of a weight loss program.

For thousands of years, people have fasted for spiritual reasons. Fasting was common when the Bible was written. Fasting is when you deprive yourself of food and water for a period of time.

In the course of our daily lives, we deny spiritual food, the Word of God, and immerse ourselves in the physical, digital or metaverse (a virtual-reality space). Fasting is a humble act in which we deny ourselves so that we can spend time with God.

The Bible gives us many examples of people who fasted. Here is what the people of Nineveh did in Jonah 3:6-10 (NLT):

“When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes. Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city:

No one, not even then animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all. People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.

When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.”

The goal of biblical fasting is to please God and not to lose weight. Fasting can become corrupted and that is why Jesus says in Matthew 6:16 (NLT):

“And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get.”

A biblical fast anticipates the presence of God. This is how John Piper puts it in his book, “Hunger for God”:

“Christian fasting, at its root, is the hunger of a homesickness for God. Christian fasting is not only the spontaneous effect of superior satisfaction in God, it is also a chosen weapon against every force in the world that would take that satisfaction away.”

In this season, I encourage you to consider Biblical fasting as you seek God.

“May the Lord bless you
and protect you.
May the Lord smile on you
and be gracious to you
May the Lord show you his favor
and give you peace.”

Numbers 6:24-26 (NLT)