What Fasting Is

What Fasting Is

Bible Blast: Read Matthew 6:16-17

When you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. Matthew 6:16

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is how Queen Esther saved the Jewish people by asking the king not to allow his soldiers to slaughter them as was planned. In presenting herself to the king, who was her husband, without a specific invitation, she was risking immediate death. Queen Esther asked the Jewish people to fast on her behalf because she had to risk her life to save her people. “Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ‘Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die’” (Esther 4:15-16).

Miraculously, the King did not punish her or kill her for coming to his throne room uninvited, and she won his heart with her wise approach. She asked that her people be spared, and her husband gave her what she asked.

When the Bible talks about “fasting,” it’s talking about not eating food in order to focus on prayer and worship. As you read the Scriptures, you’ll find many instances of people fasting in the Old and New Testament, both men and women, young and old, for short times and long times. Even Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights. Matthew 4:2 points out that “After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry” (NIV). Wow! I usually need a snack after forty minutes! I can’t imagine how Jesus felt after forty days!

Fasting helps us shift our focus off our own needs and get in touch with what God wants. You might not be ready to fast just yet. I was much older when I began, but maybe you and your mom could begin to talk about fasting and understand it for a future time when you feel God prompting you to fast for the first time.

Girl Gab: This is a great time to talk about biblical fasting with your mom. Do you think Christians fast as much now as they did in Bible times? Why or why not? Do you think fasting would be hard or easy? When someone gives up food for a time so she can pray, what do you think her actions tell God?