Why is fasting spiritual?

Fasting has both physical and spiritual benefits. I have already shared some of the physical benefits in another post and there are ample articles by much more qualified people to read up about that. But why is fasting spiritual? It is universally practiced in all major religions. But what makes it so spiritual?

Here is one perspective from my own experience. Food is my ultimate and go-to comforter. As in, when I feel upset, sad, disappointed, moody, or frustrated, I eat. Eating covers up these feelings and I am able to cope and move on with my day. This is normal. As I become more aware of my emotions and spend time in prayer, scripture, and journaling, I notice these moods and can begin to process them. But without fasting I only get so far.

Some attitudes are so deep that they take more significant hunger to uncover. When I am fasting and I notice a poor attitude, sadness, or mean spirit I cannot comfort it with food. I have to confront it. Of course I could choose to shove it down but it makes fasting really miserable. I try to always set aside a little extra time in my day of fasting (especially toward the end) to review my day, my inner spirit, and bring it before the Lord. I ask him what is underneath any distressing feelings. He often shows me and I can respond faithfully. 

Feeling hungry or at least empty is really helpful in noticing these deeper, more subtle attitudes. Because I have been fasting for a couple years now, I have become more used to how it feels and I find I have to fast longer to get that really empty feeling. Hunger actually goes away, but the emptiness does not. It’s not a negative emptiness though, it is actually a relief. It is an emptiness that feels receptive to the Holy Spirit. 

So why is fasting spiritual? It is not because you are resisting food but rather because you make space to fully experience your emotions and attitudes and to bring them before God without quickly comforting them or shoving them down with food. What a gift to bring even more of myself to God. What a gift to have more space in my heart to receive all he has for me.

Benefits of fasting

I have been fasting in various forms for 2 years now. Here are some of the benefits I have experienced.

1. I no longer get hangry. I used to get so hangry all the time. I would blame my mood on my food or my lack of sleep regularly. I would plan my day around meal times and worry if I couldn’t fit in a meal close to a meal time. Once I started fasting I no longer needed my life to revolve around meal times and I learned that I can miss meals without losing my mind or my heart. After all, as a follower of Jesus, He should be in control of my attitudes and not my stomach. This has been really freeing. I love that even when I am really hungry I can be growing in love, in patience, in joy, and in all the other fruit of the spirit. 

2. I have more time. Without needing plan, prep, eat, and cleanup as many meals each week, I have a measurable addition of time to my life. I can use this time to accomplish tasks or extra time for prayer, Bible study, or time with friends. Most of my fasting is only for breakfast and lunch and since I have teenagers they are capable to do it themselves. This might not be true with others with little ones who are more dependent on them. 

3. I am healthier. Fasting allows your body a break from the constant work of digestion. After about 12 hours without food, you have finally depleted the energy in your blood and your body is able to start autophagy, basically a cleaning out system. Your body begins to get rid of cells that don’t belong there, including fat cells that are transferred into energy. The longer your fast, the more complete the cleaning out. Studies also suggest that it cleans out damaged cells and precancerous cells – preventing cancer! I’m not a scientist or a doctor so I’m trusting other authorities on this. But I can confirm that I feel healthier and my scale agrees. Like all good things, there are also risks so proceed wisely. Make sure to do your own research to understand the benefits and risks.

4. Prayer has increased. The physical discomfort of fasting reminds me to pray frequently. I’m not always fasting and praying for something specific (thought it is very Biblical to do so) but I am generally praying for revival, renewal, and a closer walk with Jesus. I pray this for me, my church community, and the world wide church. This is motivated by 2 Chronicles 7:14: if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

5. Greater control and discipline in other areas as well. Fasting takes a good amount of self-discipline. I find that self-discipline in one area often benefits other areas as well. Even when I am not fasting I find I have more control over what I put in my mouth. 

I feel like I could say more but this is a good list to start with. If you have fasted, what other benefits have you experienced that I haven’t mentioned?

Why did I start fasting?

I tried fasting as a spiritual discipline when I was a young adult. I spent a few months skipping lunch on Wednesdays and I came to hate Wednesdays. True story. I gave up when I decided it was actually negatively affecting my relationship with Jesus as I blamed him for my negative attitude and dread of Wednesdays. 

Fast forward 15 years….

I was in the middle of a really hard season of life. I was discouraged and frustrated and everything felt hard and heavy. I knew I needed God to intervene. I was desperate for him to feel close, to witness and experience his power. I was praying alot. I was processing life with my spiritual director (more about that in a future post). I felt so lonely, God felt far away.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6

I felt this hunger spiritually speaking. I felt a sense that I wanted to fast but I thought about how much I hated fasting and since I was already so miserable I didn’t try it. Then one day a friend told me she was intermittent fasting for weight loss and was loving it. She told me how she ate only one large meal a day. She told me she was never hungry and able to make it easily through the day. I thought this was CRAZY! I actually thought that it might be really unhealthy and that maybe it was bad for her and she didn’t realize it. So I checked out a book from the library about intermittent fasting and read the whole thing in a couple days. I learned about the science of fasting and how good it is for your body! I learned why fasting just one meal (lunch – as I did as a young adult) isn’t a good way to fast and why I was so miserable. 

I began intermittent fasting by eating only between 10 am and 6 pm daily. Soon It was 12 pm – 6 pm daily. I would get hungry, but the physical hunger I felt matched my spiritual hunger. On days I felt hungry I felt like my inner life and physical life aligned and felt I could bring my pain and hurt to Jesus and find strength. The more I fasted the longer I needed to go to continue to feel hunger. I routinely fast 24 hrs now and only sometimes experience hunger. But when I do I am thankful because it leads to heartfelt prayer. But I’m also thankful when I don’t …for obvious reasons.

I am no longer in such a hard season of life. My family is healthy, my community is strong, I regularly experience God’s comforting presence and see his hand at work around and through me. Yet fasting still helps me connect to the spiritual hunger that is still real in me. I continue to practice a weekly pattern for fasting but I also am starting longer fasts (more than 24 hrs). When I am fasting I spend extra time intentionally in prayer but I also fast for health reasons. I have never changed my fasting pattern or approached long fasts without carefully researching what is healthy and safe for my body. I have been so surprised to learn how powerfully healthy fasting is for our bodies. It’s sort of like our creator knew what was good for us when he implied regular fasting: “When you fast….” (Matthew 6:16).

So what about you? Do you want to fast? I would encourage you to start by skipping breakfast and spending extra time in the morning in prayer. You can drink plain black coffee, plain black tea or water only. Drinking lots of water will curb the hunger pains. Once that becomes easy you can add skipping lunch too. Do not begin a fasting plan without consulting a health professional if you have any health concerns or medications that require food. Don’t count it out completely though – you may find that hugely positive effects on your health!

A final note about fasting. Sometimes people talk about fasting from technology or fasting from only certain foods. I am referring to a full food fast throughout this blog. Other forms of fasting may be helpful and useful but they aren’t fasting as the Bible refers to. When referring to fasting, the Bible is always referring to food.