What Fasting Is (and Isn’t)

Of every practice we’ve covered, this one probably makes people the most nervous. It sounds extreme, a little dramatic, maybe even unhealthy. So let’s clear up what it actually is before we talk about doing it.

Not a Diet, Not a Hunger Strike

Fasting isn’t about weight loss, and it isn’t a stunt to prove your willpower to God or anyone else. At its core, fasting is voluntarily giving up something you’d normally rely on — usually food — to make space and create hunger for something you need more: God himself. It’s a physical action that preaches a spiritual sermon to your own body: you are not ultimately sustained by food. You’re sustained by God.

Jesus Assumed You Would

Notice how Jesus phrases this instruction in the Sermon on the Mount:

And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others.

— Matthew 6:16

He says “when,” not “if.” Fasting was assumed to be a normal, ongoing part of a healthy spiritual life for his followers — not a rare, extreme measure reserved for crises.

What It Reveals

The first time you skip a meal on purpose, something uncomfortable usually surfaces — irritability, anxiety, a surprising emotional intensity over something as small as missing lunch. That’s not a flaw in the practice. That’s the practice working. Fasting has a way of exposing exactly how much of your composure and control has been quietly propped up by comfort rather than by God. You can’t fix what you can’t see, and fasting makes the invisible visible.

A Word of Caution

One honest note before we go further: fasting isn’t for everyone in every season. If you have a medical condition, are pregnant or nursing, or have a history of disordered eating, this isn’t the practice for you right now, and there’s no shame in that — there are other disciplines on this list that will do the same inner work. Talk to your doctor if you’re unsure, and never let fasting become another way to control your body rather than surrender it.