Christians have many different views about fasting, some of which have no foundation in scripture! In other words, they’ve come out of human tradition and from a number of different sources other than scripture. The main influence in the church over the years, outside of scripture, has been Platonism – the teaching of Plato, a student of Socrates, and a teacher of Aristotle.
The great mark of Plato's teaching, and of most of the Greek philosophers, was a very sharp distinction between (on the one hand) anything that was material, anything that was made of matter and stuff, and (on the other hand) what they called 'spirit', anything which was ghostly, or soulish, or purely spiritual, anything that was mind rather than matter, anything real but non-material.
They had this very sharp distinction between matter and spirit, and in Greek thinking matter was evil. They literally thought that anything material was wicked, in and of itself; they believed that matter, the very stuff of the universe, was inherently evil, and for anything to be good it had to be spirit. It had to be stuff which was non-material which did not consist of anything physical or touchable or tangible. This led to a very sharp distinction between body and soul, a contrast that started early in the history of Greek philosophy.
You see this Greek way of thinking if you look at Paul preaching on Mars Hill. He gets an invitation by the philosophers to share his message, and he begins to talk about Jesus. Then he gets to a certain point where he says “he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”[1]
At that point the Greek philosophers very largely lose interest. They are not interested in the resurrection of the body. That is the last thing in the world they want! They do not like their body! They do not want to have their body raised; they want to be spirits floating around in space forever and ever. They don’t want any resurrection. They want their souls to go on forever and ever, and that is the only thing they want. They laugh at Paul as soon as he gets to the point of mentioning the resurrection.
This kind of thing crept into the early church, and to a very large extent stayed there! It led to excessive asceticism, monasticism and was very evident in the Roman Catholic church. It eventually led to great hostility towards marriage! It came from the idea that marriage has got physical pleasure in it, and the tendency of Plato — and of Platonism in early Christian thinking - was always to think that anything that is physical is dirty. The early church couldn’t bear the idea that Mary could ever have children! And today, throughout the world, we find lots of religious but unspiritual people who love fasting? It has been evident in much of religion for centuries. Pharisees fast. Muslims fast. Roman Catholics fast. The worst religious extremists fast, a lot!
If you do a survey of the subject of Fasting in scripture you will find that there aren’t very many passages. And, some of those you will find are not authentic. The scribes of about the fourth century AD had a bad habit of adding the words 'and fasting' in Biblical manuscripts. For example, the passage in Mark 9:29 – in most of the English translations of the bible, reads: This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer[2], but some scribe somewhere felt he had to add 'and fasting'. It is not in the original manuscripts, and most of the English translations make reference to this. In the Old and new King James version, it says This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”[3].
Something similar is found in Acts chapter 10:30. In some other verses (notably Matthew 17:21 and 1 Corinthians 7:5) they were added by the scribes in later centuries. These scribes were so heavily influenced by the strict asceticism of this early platonic thinking, they felt sure that the words ‘and fasting’ had been mistakenly left out, and so it would be good to correct it!
With that bit of background, let’s have a look at this subject in scripture. What does the bible actually tell us about it? Let me start with saying that the New Testament doesn’t expressly tell us to fast. We are told to pray without ceasing (by Paul in a number of places), but we are not told to fast. I’m not sure if you realized that! In fact, there is very little teaching about it!
However, although scripture doesn’t say we must fast, it implies that Christians will fast.
In Matthew 6, when Jesus starts talking about the question of personal discipline in our spiritual lives, he is more concerned about not doing so, in order to be seen by other people! He didn’t want his followers to be hypocrites! The context of Matthew 6 is really about personal righteousness and so in this portion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses three of the disciplines – prayer, giving and fasting – all three of which were practised by the religious order of the day, in a very outward and pietistic way. The Pharisees wanted everyone to see how ‘righteous’ they were and so they would not pray, give or fast ‘in secret’, but so that everyone would know!
It is only when we get to verses 16 through 18 that Jesus raises the subject of fasting. There’s a very clear implication in that passage that personal discipline in one's spiritual life should include fasting. Jesus doesn’t say: “if you fast…”, he says “when you fast…” He simply assumes that it is going to happen in the life of a believer. He takes it for granted that sometimes we will put God's kingdom above our immediate physical needs.
Jesus did it himself! He fasted for forty days and forty nights when He was in the wilderness being tempted by the devil. It was something that was practiced by the apostles. When the church at Antioch sent out Paul and Barnabas, it was after a period of prayer and of fasting. In fact, on any important occasion, when faced with any vital decision, the early Church always seemed to give themselves to prayer and fasting.
At the same time, Jesus doesn’t go into great detail about fasting. He doesn’t tell us what form it should take, or how long it should last. Neither did Paul, Peter, James or John. But, we can see in scripture that the ‘discipline’ of fasting has the aim of enabling us to draw nearer too God – to seek Him.
In the Bible you will find that people normally fast for one day. They are so busy in the things of God they don’t bother to eat until the next day. Most of the references to fasting in the bible are for one day. When you have something to do for God which requires a lot of attention, you might give up eating for three days. When you are in distress, or maybe someone has died, you don’t feel like eating anyway, so you may be able to fast for a week. On one occasion in the Bible, Daniel fasts for three weeks, but it is partial fasting; he is eating lightly. Three men in the Bible fast for forty days, Moses, Elijah and Jesus. They all had the help of angels. Nobody in the Bible fasts for more than once per lifetime for 40 days. So, the question is this: if you don’t find this kind of extreme asceticism in scripture, why do people try to do it? It is mainly because of the pervasive influence of Platonism in the church.
And that’s not what we want for our church, in these days.
Let’s take Jesus’ words to heart here:
“But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. [4]
As we consider the days and the times that we’re going through, and as we are looking more and more for revival and reawakening, the question of fasting becomes more and more important. We want to cry out to God in these days, and the discipline of fasting will help us to draw nearer to him.
So, how can we go about this practically?
Firstly, I want you to see that Christian fasting is effectively a test to see what desires control you. You can think about this in your own time, but you’ll find that things like food, drink, exercise and leisure time will be the biggest influencers, in one way or another. Paul had an answer for this when he said “…I discipline my body and keep it under control[5]”
Secondly, I want you to think about the fact that there is an intimate relationship between our minds, bodies and spirits. How you treat one will have an effect on the other. We all know this! If I eat too much food, it makes me drowsy and sluggish. If I don’t exercise enough it affects my emotions and my body negatively. Fasting is a known way to fine-tune our bodies, minds and emotions. Intermittent fasting is currently encouraged as a way to better health. It is actually good for you, physically and emotionally, andit heightens your spiritual awareness. Fasting has never been an easy thing for me, but I can bear testimony to the fact that when I have done so, for the right reason, I have experienced much more clarity of thought and awareness of God’s presence. So, maybe we should make it part of our regular daily habits?
Thirdly, it includes abstinence from anything (but especially food, because many of us live to eat!) which would get in the way of our being able to draw closer to God in prayer and in meditation. Each of us is different, so each of you need to decide on how you’re going to approach this each day. For some, it may mean missing one meal. For others, it may mean not eating at all for a day or two. For still others, it may mean giving up any form of TV viewing and social media usage.
Fourthly, and most importantly, examine your motives for doing a fast. Remember what the Proverb says: All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit[6]. Don’t go into a fast unless you’re serious about it. That’s what Jesus meant when he said we should do it in secret. It’s not so much about doing it a little secret room somewhere, but about doing it for the right reasons and being serious about getting closer to God.
However and whichever way you approach this, you should do so in such a way that the time you used to devote to eating or drinking should be dedicated to time with the Lord.
Use common sense in your planning though.
Don’t try a 3-day no-food fast if you’ve never done it before! You’ll never find someone running a marathon until he’s trained a lot for it. Think about those activities in your life which gobble up your time. Choose one or more of them that you know you can set aside to get real with God! Personally, I can’t see that only drinking water or not eating red meat is going to enable you to do this! I mean, can you really focus on drawing near to God in prayer by not eating red meat? But, giving up watching your daily soapie on TV will work, because you can leave the couch, go into your ‘closet’ and spend that time with God!!
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ac 17:31). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. [2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mk 9:29). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. [3] The New King James Version. (1982). (Mk 9:29). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 6:17–18). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. [5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Co 9:27). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. [6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Pr 16:2). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.