Have We Forgotten About Fasting?
Summer 2023
“A special day of prayer and fasting was held in Ravenhill at the conclusion of which the way of God was plain as day and the brethren knew that God had called them to tread where the saints had trod outside the camp and then by the way of the cross, to the upperlands of God.”
So read The Revivalist as it recounted that pivotal event in 1951 which paved the path for the formation of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster.
To link fasting with prayer seems an almost fascinating concept today. Prayer is still perceived as a current necessity; but just how frequently is it coupled with fasting?
Identification
The Principle
In the Old Testament, the main Hebrew word that is used for fasting is tsom, which means “to abstain from food.” In the New Testament, the corresponding Greek term is nesteuo, which means “to abstain from eating.” In both Testaments, fasting is simply going without food in order to seek God for some special reason.
The Partnership
Biblically understood, fasting partners an intensification of prayer. It is the decision to set aside a period of time to focus in intercession for a particular issue before God.
The Purpose
It is removing every distraction, including the necessary pleasures of eating and drinking, to seek the face of God with a specific petition. Fasting is for focusing on God. It is a mindset of persistence that Jesus commends (Luke 18:1-8). Fasting coupled with prayer desires to see the purposes of God come to pass (cf. Matthew 6:9-18).
Evidently our Lord expected that His followers would fast (Matthew 9:14-15) and said that if they did so with proper motives, God would see and reward them (Matthew 6:16-18; cf. 6:5-6).
Intensity
While it may seem ridiculous to many that anyone would want to go without food, the basic truth is that we are weak and needy people and life is sometimes extremely difficult—fasting is God’s appointed way for us to cry out to Him in situations of special need. If, as many have suggested, Jesus’ exhortation to “ask, seek and knock” when we pray (Matthew 7:7) indicates an ascending scale of urgency, we may view prayer with fasting as knocking loudly on the gates of heaven. Fasting is a response of faith to God’s promise, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13): we engage in it out of a deep sense of our weakness and need in order to seek God in a more urgent, earnest, and heartfelt manner for something of great importance to us or to His kingdom.
Illustrations
(a) Examples in the Bible
Examples of fasting are not scarce in either Old or New Testaments. Bible people fasted for a range of reasons, including to subdue the flesh and humble ourselves before God as we draw near to Him (Psalm 69:10; 35:13); for protection of the nation in times of emergency or disaster (Esther 4:16; 2 Chronicles 20:3); for national repentance and mercy when God’s judgment of sin is at hand (Jonah 3); as part of a life of worship and devotion to God (Luke 2:37); to express sorrow and repentance for our sins and ask God’s help in breaking their power in our life (Leviticus 23:27-28); for help in sickness or difficult situations (1 Samuel 1:1-20); for power to resist evil temptation and attack (Matthew 4:1-11); for the Holy Spirit’s vision, guidance, and empowerment in ministry (Ezra 8:21-23; Nehemiah 1:1-2:8; Acts 13:1-4); to focus on God when we feel far from Him (Matthew 9:14-16); for the purpose of receiving divine revelation (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 9:9-10:10; Daniel 10; Acts 9:1-19); to seek the revival of God’s church (2 Chronicles 7:14); to assist in our mission to evangelize the lost and establish churches to the glory of God (Acts 13:1-2; 14:23).
(b) Examples in Church History
Church history provides many instances of fasting. Even in the second century, Tertullian, an early church father, wrote the first Christian book on fasting, simply called “On Fasting.” Augustine was another prominent proponent of the benefits of fasting; however, with the rise of the Roman Emperor Constantine and the end of persecution of the church in the fourth century, a watershed was reached for the practice of fasting. The rapid increase of worldliness and institutionalism meant that, with an emphasis on form, ritual, and liturgy, fasting for many became more legalistic and works oriented.
During the Middle Ages, many additional obligatory fast days were added that further damaged this holy practice. Though a godly remnant continued to advocate for the proper use of fasting, it was left to the Protestant Reformers to reject obligatory Catholic fast days while cautiously retaining fasting as a valuable practice. Martin Luther and John Calvin praised its value and encouraged its proper use. Jonathan Edwards and John Wesley strongly commended it to everyone, especially to those in ministry. In England in 1756, Wesley praised God’s remarkable response to the king’s proclamation for a national fast that averted an imminent invasion by the French. In his survey of church history, Princeton theologian Charles Hodge summarized the story of fasting in these words: “All eminently pious persons have been more or less addicted to [i.e., often practised] this mode of spiritual culture.”
Impediments
Common spiritual dangers in fasting have been identified as: developing spiritual pride, which makes us imagine that we are better or more spiritual than those who do not fast; formalism, which turns fasting into a routine stripped of its true meaning and purpose; and hypocrisy, in which we try to impress others with our fasting—a constant problem that our Lord specifically warned against (Matthew 6:16-18). Another common danger is legalism, which encourages us to view fasting as a means of earning a better standing before God. John Wesley cautioned against the false notion that fasting was a meritorious work before God, to atone for our sins and obtain grace: “Let us beware of fancying that we merit anything of God by our fasting. We cannot be too often warned of this; inasmuch as a desire to establish our own righteousness, to procure salvation of debt and not of grace is too deeply rooted in all our hearts.” The rather excellent Irish Articles of Religion (1615), penned by James Ussher, open Article #51 by reminding us that it is not fasting, but Christ, who gets us to heaven: “We must not fast with this persuasion of mind, that our fasting can bring us to heaven, or ascribe holiness to the outward work wrought.” The same article proceeds to emphasize the value of the discipline: “It is therefore requisite that first before all things we cleanse our hearts from sin, and then direct our fast to such ends as God will allow to be good: that the flesh may thereby be chastised, the spirit may be more fervent in prayer, and that our fasting may be a testimony of our humble submission to God’s majesty, when we acknowledge our sins unto him, and are inwardly touched with sorrowfulness of heart, bewailing the same in the affliction of our bodies.”
Implementation
In 1792, Christmas Evans received “a providential intimation” that he should leave the scene of his then current labors and move to the island of Anglesey. He arrived on Anglesey on a frozen, snowy Christmas Day to take up lodgings in a dilapidated old cottage. The ten congregations he was to serve were in exceptionally poor state—divided and demoralized. Evans called for a day of prayer and fasting and the Lord began to bless the work. Many were converted, and in two years the ten congregations had become twenty.
Questions that pursue our conscience are: Do I respond with a heavy heart in a way that would take away my appetite when I look within and see the abominations within my own breast? Or do I detect a reason to fast when I gaze around on the dark deeds that swamp our modern world—abortion, perversion, and a hundred other ills. Would it be a good practice to deny ourselves some food (for a meal or for a day) so that we could devote a little time to pleading with God to purge our vices, and to preserve the human race’s smallest, most defenseless, voiceless members who are the victims of life-ending violence?
When confronted with a spirit from the kingdom of darkness, our Lord declared, “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29). Perhaps this is one reason why there is so much anemia in our spiritual lives: we are not prepared to die to self in any radical way; we have set aside this sacred art and discipline of fasting and prayer? For us today, as for our founding forefathers in 1951, “a special day of prayer and fasting” may be long overdue, to take us “by the way of the cross, to the upperlands of God.”
Rev. Ian Brown | Minister of Martyrs’ Memorial FPC, Belfast, N. Ireland