What Is Fasting Actually For?

Fasting is for hunger for God, not for applause, control, or spiritual earning.

What Jesus says

In Matthew 6:16-18, Jesus assumes his people will fast, but he corrects the motive: don’t fast to be seen, and don’t turn it into a performance. The Father “who sees what is done in secret” is the audience, and his reward is the point.

What fasting does

Biblically, fasting is a way to humble yourself before God, sharpen prayer, and express earnest dependence.

• It says, “I need God more than I need this comfort.”
• It can accompany repentance and grief, like the people of Nineveh in Jonah 3:5-10.
• It can accompany seeking guidance and ministry, as in Acts 13:2-3.
• It can train desire, teaching the body that God is better than immediate satisfaction.

What fasting is not for

Fasting is not:

• a way to impress people
• a way to manipulate God
• a substitute for obedience and mercy
• a spiritual merit badge

Isaiah 58:3-7 makes this plain: God rejects fasting that keeps injustice in place and calls his people instead to loose bonds, feed the hungry, and care for the afflicted.

The heart of it

Fasting is an embodied prayer.

It is one way of saying: “Lord, I am hungry for you, and I want your will more than my own comfort.”

Used rightly, fasting is not about empty stomachs first. It is about a full-hearted return to God.