Fasting Guide

The Heart of Fasting

“Fasting is putting our stomach where our heart is to give added intensity and expressiveness to our ache for Jesus.”

– John Piper

“The goal of fasting is to draw nearer to God. Biblical fasting always has to do with eliminating distractions for a spiritual purpose; it hits the reset button of our soul and renews us from the inside out. It also enables us to celebrate the goodness and mercy of God and prepares our hearts for all the good things God desires to bring into our lives.”

– Bethel Church

Fasting is not a hunger strike – holding God hostage for answered prayers. Neither is it a diet! Fasting is spiritual and powerful. Here are a number of reasons of why we fast:

  • Silencing the Flesh. Fasting helps us to silence all fleshly voices in our lives so that the voice of God can be heard more clearly.

  • Expression of Our Spiritual Longings. Fasting is the physical expression of our spiritual longing. For example, the pain of hunger experienced during fasting symbolises the depth of our longing for our loved ones to be saved.

  • Increase Prayer Time. Fasting from food gives us more time and focus to pray as our meal times are now turned into times of prayer.

  • Re-Alignment. Fasting helps us to re-align our lives and desires towards God’s will as we are able to hear His voice more clearly.

  • Sign of Repentance. Fasting is also a physical demonstration of our repentance before God for the areas of our lives that are out of alignment to His will.

    It is critical to approach your fasting with the right heart and posture. Otherwise, it can become just a ritual you go through.

*You are free to fast however the Spirit leads you. Here are some options:

  • 1-Meal Fast. Sacrifice one full meal a day.

  • Partial Fast. Abstain from solid foods for an extended part of the day. Take only water. You may fast from sunrise to sundown or from breakfast to afternoon tea.

  • Total Fast. Abstain from solid foods and beverages for 24 hours. Take only water.

  • Beverage Fast. Abstain from solid foods for 24 hours. Take only water and liquid foods such as milk, milo or other health beverages.

  • Daniel Fast. Abstain from meats and other favourite delicacies. Take only small portions of fresh vegetables, fruit and juices. You may practise this as a 40 Day routine. Or as Daniel 1:12 suggests, make this a 10-day fast.

  • Esther Fast. Abstain from solid foods for 24 hours for 3 days. (Esther 4:16)

  • Craving Fast. Abstain from a craving for 21 days. For example, social media, TV, Bubble Tea, etc.

*Remember, your personal fast should present a level of challenge (eg. Don’t fast breakfast, when you don’t normally have breakfast!), but it is very important to know your body, your options, and, most importantly, to seek God in prayer and follow what the Holy Spirit leads you to do.

  • Set aside time each day to seek God in prayer and fasting. It may be half an hour or one hour or more.

  • Adopt an attitude of prayer as you go about your daily duties at home, at work or at school.

  • Scale down your normal activities. Avoid rigorous exercise such as rock-climbing, cycling or jogging.

  • Be alert. Besides fasting from food, fast from things that distract, such as TV, social media, cybergames, or things that destroy such as coarse jesting or careless words.

  • Break your fast gradually and wisely. For health reasons, you should consume small portions as you break fast, avoiding chilli or acidic foods as much as possible.

*The above two sections are partially adapted from Love Singapore 40.Day 2019