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Topics · Prayer, fasting and worship

Fasting

Why this matters for following Jesus

Jesus fasted for forty days and said "when you fast", not "if", so fasting is part of his pattern for his followers. Isaiah 58 and Hermas keep it honest: a fast that does not turn toward God and toward the poor is empty. Done humbly, it trains us to depend on the Father, and Acts 13 shows the church fasting and praying before it sent out its first missionaries.

Study path

  1. 1Fasting in Israel: atonement and crisisKnow

    Why did God's people fast, and what did God do?

    Lev 16:29-312 Chr 20:1-4Ezra 8:21-23Esth 4:16Neh 9:1

  2. 2The fast God choosesFollow

    Is my fasting turned toward God and my neighbour?

    Isa 58:1-12Joel 2:12-17Zech 7:1-7

  3. 3Jesus and fastingKnow

    Why did Jesus fast, and what does he ask of his disciples?

    Matt 4:1-4Matt 6:16-18Mark 2:18-22

  4. 4Prayer, fasting and sendingFollowWitness

    How does fasting go with prayer and guidance?

    Acts 13:1-314:231 Cor 7:5Mark 9:29 (with the textual variant)

  5. 5A wise, free and safe practiceFollow

    What does a humble, safe, other-centred fast look like?

    Matt 6:16-18Isa 58Rom 14Col 2:16-23

Living it out

Choose one meal or one day, in secret, with a clear aim (prayer for a person, a decision, or the poor) and turn the saved money or food toward someone in need; skip food fasts if medically advised (see review).

Telling others

Fasting and praying for a friend's openness to Christ, as the Antioch church did before sending Barnabas and Saul (Acts 13:1-3), is a quiet form of witness.

Read for yourself

Classic writing on this topic, free to read. Older English can read differently from today’s, and each author writes from his own tradition, so read widely and test everything against Scripture.

Viewpoints from different traditions and profiles of the leading teachers on this topic are added after scholars review them. Suggest a topic or a correction.