Fasting: Seeking God with Our Whole Selves

Fasting is the voluntary setting aside of something good — most often food — for the sake of something greater. It is a bodily expression of a deeper spiritual hunger: a longing for God, for His presence, His voice and His work in our lives. 

Jesus made clear fasting was never to be about impressing others. It was not a performance but a private act of devotion, seen by God alone. Fasting like this is not commanded in the New Testament, yet it is assumed. Jesus did not say if you fast, but when. He expected His followers would do it, not as a duty, but as an expression of deep dependence and desire. 

Here are three key passages that reveal the meaning and heart of fasting -

The Secret Heart of Fasting (Matthew 6:16–18) 

"When you fast, do not look sombre like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; 

and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." 

Here, Jesus uncovers both the danger and the beauty of fasting. The danger is self-display. The beauty lies in secrecy — a private communion between you and your Father. Fasting, done right, has a radically Godward focus. It removes the crowd, the applause, the pretence. In many cases, only God knows you are doing it. That makes it a deeply personal act of faith — an unseen cry of the heart, witnessed by the One who sees in secret. 

A New Kind of Fasting (Matthew 9:14–17) 

Then John's disciples came and asked him, 

"How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?" 

Jesus answers, 

"How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast...
No one pours new wine into old wineskins...
No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." 

This passage gives fasting its new covenant shape. In the Old Testament, fasting was linked with mourning, repentance or national crisis. But Jesus reframes it. While He was on earth — the Bridegroom present — His disciples did not fast. But now that He has returned to the Father, they will. Fasting is marked by this already-but-not-yet tension. Christ has come. We have tasted His goodness. And yet — we hunger for more. We long for His return. We yearn for His kingdom to come in fullness. This is fasting that fits new wineskins: rooted not just in longing but in love already known. 

Fasting for Guidance and Breakthrough (Acts 13:1–3) 

"Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers...
While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.'
So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off." 

This is a powerful moment in the early church — a time of worship, fasting and listening. These leaders were not fasting to twist God's arm, but to humble themselves before Him, seeking His will. And God spoke. 

The result? The launching of Paul's missionary journeys, taking the gospel across the Roman Empire. Fasting, in this case, was not an end in itself. It was the pathway to clarity, calling and divine commissioning. 

So, Why Do We Fast? 

Fasting is not a way to earn favour with God. It is not a test of willpower or a spiritual show. It is a declaration of dependence. 

I once heard someone call fasting the handmaid of faith. A way of saying, not just with our words but with our bodies, "Lord, I need You more than food. More than comfort. More than clarity. I trust You. I long for You." 

• We fast because we are hungry — for Christ.
• We fast because we know His presence and we want more.
• We fast because He has gone away and we ache for His return.
• We fast because the world is not as it should be and we are asking God to move.
• We fast because we believe He sees. He hears. He acts.