Fasting

Session 6 • November 8, 2026

Most spiritual disciplines encourage us to do something. Fasting invites us to do without food so we can seek God intentionally.

Resistance

What most often keeps you from fasting?

☐ I have never understood its purpose.
☐ I hesitate to give up comfort.
☐ I assume fasting is only for unusually spiritual people.
☐ I have intended to fast but never made a plan.
☐ Health concerns make food fasting difficult.

Fasting is the voluntary denial of physical food for spiritual purposes.

Revelation

Matthew 6:16–18

Jesus says “whenever you fast,” placing fasting alongside giving and prayer as an expected practice of his followers.

• Examine your motive. Fasting seeks our Father’s attention rather than the approval of others.
• Continue ordinary life. Avoid making your discomfort a public display.
• Trust your Father. He sees what others cannot and knows why you are seeking him.

Isaiah 58:6–10

God rejects fasting disconnected from obedience. Seeking him should lead us to confront injustice, share food with the hungry, and care for others.

Acts 14:21–23

Paul and Barnabas strengthened disciples, appointed elders, and prayed with fasting. They entrusted the churches to God, expressing dependence on him amid significant responsibilities.

Fasting expresses our desire for God’s will above our comfort.

Result

Fasting provides an opportunity to:

• Seek God through focused prayer (Ezra 8:21–23).
• Humble ourselves and repent (Joel 2:12–13).
• Entrust decisions and people to God (Acts 14:23).
• Express love and worship (Luke 2:37).
• Turn concern into practical generosity (Isa. 58:6–10).

Fasting does not guarantee a particular answer or experience. God changes us as we seek him in faith and obedience.

Response

Plan a Purposeful Fast

• Choose your purpose. Identify a burden, decision, need for repentance, or person you will bring before God.
• Choose your approach. A normal fast involves abstaining from food while drinking water. Begin modestly, such as with one meal. Biblical accounts of extraordinary fasts are not beginner instructions.
• Prepare your time. Decide when you will begin and end. Use the mealtime for Scripture and prayer.
• Return to prayer. Let ordinary hunger remind you of your purpose and dependence on God.
• Respond in obedience. Consider how your fast can lead to generosity, reconciliation, or another faithful action.

If health conditions, medications, pregnancy, or an eating-disorder history make food fasting unsuitable, seek medical guidance. Abstaining from another activity can create space to seek God, though it differs from biblical food fasting.

This Week

Plan one modest fast, if medically appropriate, and devote that time to prayer.

• My prayer focus: _________________________________
• My planned time and approach: _____________________
• How I will respond in obedience: ___________________

Fasting prioritizes feasting on God over feasting on food.