The preachers quoted here define fasting as going without food by choice for a spiritual purpose. They say it is no way of forcing God's hand. They describe it as the outward sign of an inward burden and longing, a help against unbelief and the flesh, and something for extraordinary seasons.
To fast, in Scripture, is to go without food for a time for a spiritual reason. The Hebrew tsom and the Greek nesteia both mean abstinence from food.12 The law's one appointed fast was the Day of Atonement, when Israel was to "afflict your souls" (Leviticus 16:29).
Jesus assumed his disciples would fast. He said "when ye fast", not "if" (Matthew 6:16), and of the time after his departure, "then shall they fast" (9:15). He himself fasted forty days in the wilderness (4:2).
The Bible shows when God's people fasted. In repentance: "turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting" (Joel 2:12), as Nineveh did (Jonah 3:5). In grief and intercession, as Nehemiah and Daniel did (Nehemiah 1:4; Daniel 9:3). In danger, as Esther and Ezra did (Esther 4:16; Ezra 8:23). And when seeking direction: the church at Antioch fasted before sending out Barnabas and Saul (Acts 13:2-3).
Scripture is just as clear about fasting that God rejects. Israel fasted and quarrelled, and God answered, "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness ... to deal thy bread to the hungry" (Isaiah 58:6-7). Jesus condemned fasting done to be seen (Matthew 6:16), and the Pharisee's boast, "I fast twice in the week", did him no good (Luke 18:12).
The early church kept regular fast days; the Didache tells Christians, "let not your fasts be with the hypocrites, for they fast on the second and fifth day of the week."3 Calvin, citing Augustine, held "that fasting is to be estimated entirely by those ends", namely humbling, prayer and times of special need, and warned against treating it as merit.4
Fasting earns nothing from God. It is a way of humbling oneself, of giving weight to prayer, and of saying with the body that God is wanted more than food. "Man shall not live by bread alone" (Matthew 4:4).
- Strong's Hebrew 6685, tsôwm: "a fast".
- Strong's Greek 3521, nēsteía: "abstinence (from lack of food, or voluntary and religious); specially, the fast of the Day of Atonement".
- Church Fathers, The Didache: The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, "Chapters 6-10".
- John Calvin, The Institutes Of The Christian Religion, "Chapter 12. of the discipline of the church, and its principal use in...".
In their own words
Each line below is quoted exactly from a sermon on this site. Follow the link to hear or read it where it was said.
Fasting is a voluntary abstinence from food for a religious purpose.
Tony Sargent
in Neh No.4 Prayer and Fasting
Listen at 11:04
Fasting is when you could eat, but you deny yourself.
Derek Prince
in Prayer and Fasting - When You Fast
Listen at 34:40
Fasting is abstaining from anything that hinders prayer.
Andrew Bonar
in Andrew Bonar Quotes
Read in context
Fasting is not a means of manipulating deity.
Paul Washer
in Interview on Fasting
Listen at 3:28
Fasting is a physical expression of the measure of our longing for the coming of the bridegroom or the King.
John Piper
in Fasting for the King's Coming
Listen at 6:33
So fasting is a result of a burden for God's name to be glorified.
Zac Poonen
in New Covenant Fasting
Listen at 4:05
And fasting is an antidote to unbelief, and it gives me power with God that I otherwise may not have at all.
Bill McLeod
in Prayer and Fasting
Listen at 7:46
Fasting is absolutely essential if I would overcome the flesh.
Alan Redpath
in Fasting
Listen at 36:14
Fasting is not for ordinary purposes, but extra ordinary.
Richard Owen Roberts
in Fasting
Listen at 52:19
And fasting is just a sign of what's going on in the inside.
Shane Idleman
in This Does Not Go Out Except by Prayer & Fasting
Listen at 14:21
What Scripture says
- Matthew 6:16-18 when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites
- Isaiah 58:6-7 the fast that God has chosen
- Joel 2:12 turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting
- Acts 13:2-3 the church at Antioch fasted and prayed
- Matthew 9:15 the days will come when they shall fast
How this page is made: the quotes are taken word for word from sermons on SermonIndex and checked against them by program before the page is published. The transcripts of audio and video sermons are machine-made, so follow the link to hear the words as they were spoken. The answer above the quotes is an overview with its sources listed; it is not a statement of doctrine by SermonIndex.