Fasting Part 1 | Equipping

Biblical Definition of Fasting:

the voluntary abstaining of food (and sometimes drink)

Types of Fasting:

1. Normal Fast – No food, water still consumed. Example: Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:2: “After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”)

2. Absolute Fast (Dry Fast) – No food or water. Used rarely due to its severity. Example: Esther’s fast before approaching the king (Esther 4:16); Paul after his conversion (Acts 9:9).

3. Partial Fast – Restricted diet, not total abstinence. Example: Daniel’s fast — no choice foods, meat, or wine (Daniel 10:2–3).

4. Corporate/Group Fast – Done by a community or nation. Example: The people of Nineveh fasted together in response to Jonah’s message (Jonah 3:5–10). Also: Israel fasting for national repentance or protection (2 Chronicles 20:3–4).

5. Private/Personal Fast – Done individually. Jesus encouraged private fasting without showing off (Matthew 6:16–18).

6. Supernatural Fast – Enabled by God, beyond natural limits. Example: Moses fasted 40 days without food or water when receiving the law (Exodus 34:28).

Reasons for Fasting in the Bible

Fasting in the Bible appears to be a response to a serious event which could be either a very sacred moment, a sinful event, or a tragic event.

“Fasting is a choice not to eat for a designated period of time because the moment is so sacred, so serious, that satisfying one’s most basic physical appetite would detract from its seriousness and profane its holy character. It’s a way of focusing attention on a serious moment or event, and avoiding the indulgence of food makes us remember our fragility and dependence on God.“

– Scot McKnight

Examples throughout the Bible:

There always seems to be a very serious event which has occurred to which the response is fasting.

Fasting in the Bible is in Response to one of three Serious Events:

A Sacred Moment

A Sinful Event

A Tragic Event

Examples above of sacred moments include Moses receiving the covenant tablets and Jesus being baptised, hearing the Father’s voice and the Spirit descending on Him like a Dove. The response to both these events is a forty day fast.

Other passages are related to sinful events of either a single person or a whole nation (their departure from God’s ways). The examples above are Jonah and Ninevites, Joel and Nehemiah and again the response to these serious sinful events is to fast.

Saul’s conversion is both a sacred moment and a sinful event. He has a profound realisation of his sin (persecuting Christians), and a moment of repentance. His response was to fast for 3 days.

There are many tragic events in the Bible. The example above is the death of King Saul and Jonathan, and we see that David responds by fasting and mourning. To not eat is a natural response to grief and tragedy.

“This way of looking at fasting has been a bit of an eye opener to me. I have never had any teaching on fasting in the past and had picked up the rather peculiar idea that it was a way we could persuade God to answer our prayers! In other words, I thought if I fasted, God would do this for me or for someone else.” – Judy

Reflect

We invite you to talk to God about fasting (and the other practices we have covered so far: prayer & sabbath) and see what He is saying to you about them and how He would have you use them both as individuals and as the part of the Church.

Questions to help you reflect on fasting: