What God Showed Me About Fasting
A few weeks ago, I heard God calling me to fast. I’m 26 years old, have been a believer my entire life, and I’ve never fasted. I mean I tried it once, barely made it two full days before caving into a bagel, aha! I don’t know many people who have ever fasted, either. Let me first explain what fasting is, as I know we do a poor job of even speaking about it today. Fasting is a biblical practice of abstaining from food and drink for some time to draw near to God.
The prompting for me started when my sister began her journey on an extended water fast. My sister is a missionary with YWAM, so my first thought was, “Oh, I could never do that.” (My excuse) That followed with me saying, “I could never fast because I would just do it to lose weight.” (My insecurity) And that followed with, “She’s a missionary and lives a pretty radical life. I could never do it with a normal 9-5 job.” (My comparison and doubt) But a couple of weeks later, I was at this place in my faith where I felt like I had so many questions, and I didn’t feel like I was hearing the Lord on any of them.
One morning, I woke up and felt so much frustration and hopelessness about the questions, and I felt the prompting to fast again. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but that morning, I said, “I’m gonna do this!” And I immediately felt so much peace. I didn’t know how long or what it would look like for me, but I knew in my spirit that God was calling me to this.
Like many times when we feel clarity or a breakthrough, that peace is immediately followed by a flood of doubt. I got to work that morning, and fear after fear entered my thoughts: I’m just doing this to lose weight. I don’t even know how to do this. I don’t even think I am capable of doing this. Is this even healthy for me? What about all the things I will miss out on because I won’t be eating? What will people think of me? Am I just doing this because my sister is?
So, I wrote down every single thought. I wrote down every single fear that came into my head. And when I saw them all on that piece of paper, I realized – these thoughts aren’t from God. These are lies. I am capable. I can do this. God actually could be asking me to do something that He asked my sister to do also – in fact, maybe that means it’s something even bigger I’m participating in. God can sustain my body throughout this. He can even tell me to stop if I need to!
So I fasted. And you want to know the craziest thing? Every time I told someone I was fasting, people had the same reaction I did. Everyone first said, “Oh, I could never do that because [you name it].” Ladies, the biggest lie the enemy tells women to keep us from fasting is that we would do it to lose weight. Aside from believing that lie for so long, I had at least five women make that exact comment. Can I debunk that lie quickly? Extended fasting is a horrible way to lose weight. When you start eating again, your body goes into storage mode, and you regain what you lost. It’s not sustainable. (I do want to say that for women who have struggled with eating disorders – fasting may look differently for you, or it may be something that God isn’t calling you to in this season.) But aside from being a horrible way to lose weight, what if we trusted God was BIGGER than that? What if fasting could bring us freedom from our self-hatred, from our insecurities, from the criticism of our bodies? Honestly, I think the main reason the enemy whispers that same lie to so many of us women is because he never wants us to get freedom from hating our bodies. And if we took the time to fast and drew close to the Lord, we would hear what God has to say about us.
I also think that we are so quick to give an excuse when we hear someone else is fasting because deep in our spirit, we know it’s something we are supposed to do, but our flesh is quick to say, “No!” But what if we asked God if He wants us to fast? Or what if we were willing to hear Him say that He IS calling us to fast?
It’s hard to sum up everything God spoke to me during this time. There was a lot of personal stuff that He pointed out to me, building heavily on the journey I’ve been on with Him this year. But I wanted to share four of the other things God spoke to me during this time as well:
- Fasting is Biblical
We read of several scenarios in the Bible where people fasted: David, Esther, and Daniel in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament. But even more than the examples we read about, we read scripture after scripture of God calling His people to “fast and pray.” You would never hear a Christian say, “Oh, I could never pray because…” but time and time again, we DO say, “Oh, I could never fast because…”
And doesn’t it make sense? With so many distractions and our never-ending busy schedules, we HAVE to give something else up if we want to prioritize spending time with God.
2. We can trust God with our bodies.
My sister and I heard it – so many people are concerned about our health. This was the biggest struggle for my husband with me fasting. Ryan works in the medical field. He studies and learns the science behind our bodies every day. But God is the one who designed our bodies, and the truth is, He is so much bigger than science. Watching Ryan release this to the Lord was beautiful, and, with every struggle, choosing to believe God was in control.
3. God is who He says He is.
You guys, either God is who He says He is – or He isn’t. Either God is the same God we encounter in the Bible – or He isn’t. With the Israelites, He made food fall out of the sky. I mean, come on!! We have to wake up to the grandeur and capability of God.
4. The enemy would love nothing more than to keep us from fasting.
One of the scriptures God gave me during my fast was Isaiah 58. Many of us have heard it. It’s a familiar chapter, but what dawned on me when I read it this time was that it’s about fasting!!!
“Is this not the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?…Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.”
God gave us fasting to bring us freedom. To get us into greater intimacy with Him. To break strongholds. To bring healing. And the enemy wants to keep us from this powerful tool that God has given us. He wants us to continue to believe that we can’t do it. Or that we would do it to lose weight. Or that it’s unhealthy for us. He always wants to keep us from freedom – and especially from Jesus.
Honestly, I’m not saying all this because I’m thinking, “Oh look at me, I’ve fasted now. I’m such a good Christian!” When fasting, I wanted to tell as few people as possible. But to be honest, for 26 years, I never even considered fasting, and when I finally did, I doubted that it was for me. And God took someone like me – who doubted and feared and made excuses, and He showed me this powerful (and neglected) tool He has given us.
Fasting isn’t just for that one person we think is spiritual – it’s for all of us, just like prayer is for all of us, just like hearing God speak is for all of us. Just like reading His Word is for all of us. Just like worship is for all of us. Just like being part of His church is for all of us. Just like freedom and redemption is for all of us. It may look different from person to person. I had good days and bad days. Days where I felt so close to the Lord and saw His goodness so clearly I could have cried all day. And days when I was so weak and tired. Days where those same fears at the beginning came rushing back. And even in the challenging moments, I still heard God asking me, “Will you choose Me even when it’s not easy?”
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
Fasting is all about sacrificing something in our daily lives to give time to seek God. And when we do, we discover that we don’t have to live out of fear or turn to food for comfort. We experience that God is the One who satisfies us and will always sustain us.
“The absence of fasting is the measure of our contentment with the absence of Christ. If we don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because we have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Our soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great.” – John Piper
If you want to read more about fasting, here’s a great place to start.