theChapel – Fasting Q&A

Fasting makes room for God and releases His power in our lives.

Biblical fasting is about removing distractions for a spiritual purpose—it resets the soul, renews us from the inside out, and makes room for God’s power to work in us. Fasting helps us focus, hear more clearly, and walk in the strength and direction the Spirit provides. It also allows us to celebrate God’s goodness and prepares our hearts for all He wants to do. Your personal fast should be a challenge, but it’s important to know your body, your options, and most of all, to seek God in prayer and follow the lead of the Holy Spirit.

Scripture References About Fasting

Matthew 6:16-18

Matthew 9:14-15

Luke 18:9-14

Acts 27:33-37

Nehemiah 9:1-3

Types of Fasts

• Partial Fast

This fast is sometimes called the “Jewish Fast” and involves abstaining from eating any type of food in the morning and afternoon. This can either correlate to specific times of the day, such as 6:00 am to 3:00 pm, or from sunrise to sunset.

• Complete Fast

In this type of fast, you drink only liquids - typically water, with light juices as an option.

• Soul Fast

This fast is a great option if you do not have much experience fasting food, have health issues that prevent you from fasting food, or if you wish to refocus certain areas of your life that are out of balance. For example, you might choose to stop using social media or watching television for the duration of the fast and then carefully bring that element back into your life in healthy doses at the conclusion of the fast.

• Selective Fast

This type of fast involves removing certain elements from your diet. One example of a selective fast is the Daniel Fast, during which you remove meat, sweets, and bread from your diet and consume water and juice for fluids and fruits and vegetables for food. If you are new to fasting, a great place to start is to select certain drinks to abstain from such as caffeinated drinks, sugar drinks or abstaining from certain foods like chicken or beef.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are you wondering how to fast, what to fast, or how you can just get started? Here are answers to some FAQ's to help you jumpstart your fast.

Fasting is like hitting a reset button, both physically and spiritually. As we go about our daily lives, there are things that can build up over time and we can start to lose our spiritual focus. Fasting is like a deep cleaning both spiritually and physically that helps us take our minds off the things of this world and instead gives us a fresh spiritual focus. It’s all about drawing closer to God.

There is not a specific food, drink, or activity that you have to fast. Some choose to go without all solid food. Others do a partial fast such as the Daniel Fast eating only natural foods. For still others it’s an activity. Whatever you choose, a key is to deny your body something that it craves. Fasting is about one thing – it is about seeking God and asking the Holy Spirit to show you how you can set things aside so that you can position yourself to honor, seek, and hear from God. Before you begin your fast spend some time in prayer and ask God to show you what he would like you to fast. His answers might be different for each and every person. The point is to listen and obey him. He is a gracious and loving God and he will show you the way.

It’s important to choose ahead of time what type of fast you will participate in. Not only will this help you prepare, but when you commit to your plan ahead of time, you’ll set yourself up to finish strong. Choosing your fasting plan is a very personal decision. We are all at different places in our relationship with God and we shouldn’t compare our fasting plans to other people. Pray and ask God to show you what He wants you to do, and then commit to your plan.

Remember, fasting is a tool used to get closer to God, and it actually should keep us from being preoccupied with food. If your method of fasting is going to cause you to obsess about what you eat in any way, you will need to either change your approach or mind-set. Either way, remember this situation is primarily a battle of the mind you can win through Christ. (Phil 4:13)

If giving up food is a stumbling block to you, then consider fasting from television, reading (other than the Bible, of course), social media, or shopping. There are too many distractions and ways that we use to stay in control that we could eliminate from our daily routine. We do these things to distract ourselves from the real issues hurting us. If you can identify other things, maybe you can give those up instead of food.

If you “mess up” during your fast, don’t get discouraged. Just get right back on track and keep going. God’s mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). He wants you to finish, and He will give you the grace and strength to do it.

Here are two additional great tips that can also help to keep you on track:

1.) Keep your fridge and pantry stocked with the items you need. Being unprepared to fast sets you up to give into temptation.

2.) Make it a priority to attend church each week during your 21 day fast. Being around other believers will encourage you to keep on going when fasting gets difficult.

Learn More About Fasting

7 steps to successful prayer & fasting