Resources on Fasting

As we have been going through a mini-sermon series on fasting and prayer, I got to learn about fasting from the biblical, historical and practical perspective for the past couple of months. I am more convinced than ever that we are to fast and pray for many good reasons.

Jesus assumed that his disciples would fast along with his assumption about us praying and giving to the needy. He did not say, “if you fast,” but “when you fast.” There are dangers to fasting with wrong motives and direction, so he warned us not to become ‘sad hypocrites’ when we fast. And he also instructed us on how to fast. (Matthew 6:16-18).

Jesus expected that his disciples would fast. The key verse is in Matthew 9:15: “The day will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” The “bridegroom” is Jesus, and “them” is his disciples, and “the day” is the time between his ascension and second coming. During this time between the two ages of Jesus’s first coming and second coming—there is this longing, and even heartache, inside us that Jesus is not here as fully, intimately, powerfully and as gloriously as we want him to be. So we fast—as Christians—with the longing for Jesus to come. We draw near to him even now with our hunger and thirst after him. Again, when we fast, we are crying out, “This much, O God, I need you, and I want you!”

When we look at the Old and the New Testament and the church history, we are encouraged to fast and pray. Scott McKnight, in his book on fasting, comments the following:

“What we should perhaps ponder is where we are today in comparison with the generation who have gone before us. To be sure, there are dangers whenever religious disciplines are legislated or brought back into play simply because the church used to do it this way, but Christians receive scripture as God’s word—and the God of that Word is the one who legislated fasts for Israel. The church carried out that divine blueprint as it reshaped the church calendar into a new form that was entirely focused on the life of Jesus Christ. Who are we to neglect what God’s people have always done?”

Jesus himself fasted and taught us how to fast. The Bible and the church history are all for fasting! So who are we to neglect what God’s people have always done?

John Wesley observed in his own day that “Some have exalted religious fasting beyond all Scripture and reason; and others have utterly disregarded it.” Our tendency is to go to either extreme. In my observation we in our own day have sided more on the extreme side of “utterly disregarding fasting.” Many of us have never fasted until now. It’s about time to make some changes in our practice of faith personally and as a church family!

Arthur Wallis gives a helpful encouragement on fasting:

“Fasting is important—more important than many of us have supposed…. For all that, however, it is not a major biblical doctrine, a foundation stone of the faith, or a panacea for every spiritual ill. Nevertheless, when exercised with a pure heart and a right motive, fasting may provide us with a key to unlock doors where other keys have failed; a window opening up new horizons in the unseen world; a spiritual weapon of God’s providing, ‘mighty, to the pulling down of strongholds’”

Jesus, in Mark 9:29, to the disciples who feel helpless and powerless to heal, says, “This kind can only come by fasting and prayer.” Jesus’s power came out of his practice of fasting and prayer. I don’t want to miss out on the provision of God’s grace and power through fasting and prayer.

So I encourage us to fast and pray personally and together. I plan to include fasting as my weekly and monthly routine. Whether it’s one meal or one day fast, I plan to carve out my meal time to pray and to spend secret time with God. I also plan to fast and pray with leadership this year, so that we seek God’s face together as leaders. I encourage you to fast and pray together with your Life Group members at least once this year. We plan to have another day of fasting and prayer as a church family this year. You will hear more about it later.

For those of you who would like to tap into some resources on fasting, I recommend the following resources:

·      God’s Chosen Fast: A Spiritual and Practical Guide to Fasting by Arthur Wallis. I found it to be very readable, practical, biblical and comprehensive. You can start with this book if you want to just read one book on fasting.

·      Fasting by Scott McKnight. I found this book to be very helpful to understand fasting as a “response to a grievous sacred moment,” rather than “instrument to get something or gain something from the fast.”

·      A Hunger for God: Desiring God through Fasting and Prayer by John Piper. Piper breaks down the New Testament teachings on fasting with a gospel-centred motivation—to hunger for God through fasting. (You can download a PDF version for free).

·      John Mark Comer has a great teaching series on fasting on youtube and on his podcast (Practicing the Way). You can check them out as well.

I have some extra copies of the book God’s Chosen Fast by Arthur Wallis. If you want it, I will give it to you as a gift––under the condition that you will actually read it and practice fasting and prayer! Please let me know if you would like to grow in your walk with God through fasting and prayer. I would love to hear about how your practice and experience of fasting have helped you in your spiritual journey.

Let’s seek God’s face together through fasting and prayer.