Why Add a Fast for Lent (or Anytime)?
There are plenty of reasons people fast from certain things. There are medical, dietary, and religious fasts (Ramadan is an annual Muslim fast seeking to earn favor). Why would or should Christians fast?
Before I share why we should fast, let me address one misplaced motive. We should not fast to get something from God. Several Christians seem to add fasting to their regular disciplines to convince God of the sincerity of their desire for Him to do something they want Him to do. Prayer is our means of asking God to work according to His will. If we add a fast to that prayer to make it more likely that we get the answer we want, that isn’t an act of adoration, worship, or faith. Instead, it is manipulation.
If our motive for fasting is getting rewards from God or getting God to accomplish our will, we’ve missed the point of fasting altogether. So, why should Christians fast?
The Triumph of Hunger for God (Excerpt from A Hunger for God “by John Piper)
“And what then was fasting for Jesus? It was both test and triumph. It was the test of his deepest appetite and the triumph of his hunger for God above all things. And therefore it was also a triumph over Satan. The Calvary Road was the way to his own death and the defeat of the devil. At the cross Jesus’ disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him’ (Colossians 2:15). The road that led to this defeat started with a forty-day fast. And in that fast Jesus demonstrated the power that enabled him to bruise the serpent’s head at Golgotha. It was the power of faith, that is, the power of a superior satisfaction in God above all things, even the miraculous gifts of God. This deep confidence and contentment in God sustained Christ all the way to the end. “[Christ] ... who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews12:2).
Fasting is a periodic—and sometimes decisive—declaration that we would rather feast at God’s table in the kingdom of heaven than feed on the finest delicacies of this world. Jesus knew what he had left in heaven. And he knew what he was returning to. This was his great hope and joy. He once said to his disciples. “If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). To return to the Father with “the fruit of the travail of his soul”—the church—(Isaiah 53:11 RSV) was Jesus’ great desire. On this his soul feasted, and this is what sustained him in fasting and dying”
Fasting Is To Be Done For A Purpose (Excerpt from Spiritual Disciplines by “Donald Whitney)
“Without a clear biblical purpose, fasting becomes an end in itself. Every hunger pang only makes you calculate the time remaining until you can eat. Such thinking disconnects the experience in your mind and heart from the gospel and descends into the deception that perhaps your suffering will earn God’s favor.
Scripture sets forth many purposes for fasting. I’ve condensed them into ten major categories. Notice that none of the purposes is to earn God’s favor.
Before I share why we should fast, let me address one misplaced motive. We should not fast to get something from God. Several Christians seem to add fasting to their regular disciplines to convince God of the sincerity of their desire for Him to do something they want Him to do. Prayer is our means of asking God to work according to His will. If we add a fast to that prayer to make it more likely that we get the answer we want, that isn’t an act of adoration, worship, or faith. Instead, it is manipulation.
If our motive for fasting is getting rewards from God or getting God to accomplish our will, we’ve missed the point of fasting altogether. So, why should Christians fast?
The Triumph of Hunger for God (Excerpt from A Hunger for God “by John Piper)
“And what then was fasting for Jesus? It was both test and triumph. It was the test of his deepest appetite and the triumph of his hunger for God above all things. And therefore it was also a triumph over Satan. The Calvary Road was the way to his own death and the defeat of the devil. At the cross Jesus’ disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him’ (Colossians 2:15). The road that led to this defeat started with a forty-day fast. And in that fast Jesus demonstrated the power that enabled him to bruise the serpent’s head at Golgotha. It was the power of faith, that is, the power of a superior satisfaction in God above all things, even the miraculous gifts of God. This deep confidence and contentment in God sustained Christ all the way to the end. “[Christ] ... who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews12:2).
Fasting is a periodic—and sometimes decisive—declaration that we would rather feast at God’s table in the kingdom of heaven than feed on the finest delicacies of this world. Jesus knew what he had left in heaven. And he knew what he was returning to. This was his great hope and joy. He once said to his disciples. “If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). To return to the Father with “the fruit of the travail of his soul”—the church—(Isaiah 53:11 RSV) was Jesus’ great desire. On this his soul feasted, and this is what sustained him in fasting and dying”
Fasting Is To Be Done For A Purpose (Excerpt from Spiritual Disciplines by “Donald Whitney)
“Without a clear biblical purpose, fasting becomes an end in itself. Every hunger pang only makes you calculate the time remaining until you can eat. Such thinking disconnects the experience in your mind and heart from the gospel and descends into the deception that perhaps your suffering will earn God’s favor.
Scripture sets forth many purposes for fasting. I’ve condensed them into ten major categories. Notice that none of the purposes is to earn God’s favor.
- Strengthening prayer (Ezra 8:23; Joel 2:13; AcGod’s:3)
- Seeking God’s guidance (Judg. 20:26; Acts 14:23)
- Expressing grief (1 Sam. 31:13; 2 Sam. 1:11–12)
- Seeking deliverance or protection (2 Chron. 20:3–4; Ezra 8:21–23)
- Expressing repentance and returning to God (1 Sam. 7:6; Jonah 3:5–8)
- Humbling oneself before God (1 Kings 21:27–29; Ps. 35:13)
- Expressing concern for the work of God (Neh. 1:3–4; Dan. 9:3)
- Ministering to the needs of others (Isa. 58:3–7)
- Overcoming temptation and dedicating yourself to God (Matt. 4:1–11)
- Expressing love and worship to God (Luke 2:37)”