‘More than a mere discipline, fasting is an invitation to an embodied spirituality, a practice that acknowledges our faith is not just spiritual or intellectual, but deeply lived in our bodies,’ says Jamie Phear.
I want to emphasise that fasting is an invitation, not a command. If you have experienced an eating disorder or have a complex relationship with food or your body, know that God meets you exactly where you are. If fasting is not good or healthy for you in this season, please know that God can speak powerfully to you through all the practices of Jesus.
For thousands of years, fasting was central to Christian life, with early believers fasting twice weekly. Only in the last few centuries did Christians in the west abandon this practice, likely around the Enlightenment, when focus shifted from the body to the intellect.
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Over time, disregarding fasting suited Western Christians quite well as it sits in stark opposition to our desire for comfort, convenience, and instant gratification. Prayer and worship are lovely but fasting? Fasting is hard. Fasting requires us to experience physical discomfort, to delay gratification, to confront our worldly desires. Fasting is a huge inconvenience.
And yet, Jesus practiced fasting.
And yet, Jesus practiced fasting. In fact, he tells his disciples there are some breakthroughs which only come through fasting and prayer (Matthew 17:21). If fasting was essential for Jesus - how much more important could it be for us?
More than a mere discipline, fasting is an invitation to an embodied spirituality, a practice that acknowledges our faith is not just spiritual or intellectual, but deeply lived in our bodies. Just as Jesus fasted in the wilderness before beginning public ministry, we, too, fast to be strengthened, humbled, and purified. In surrendering our physical appetites, we make room for deeper communion with God.
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In this view, fasting is not about deprivation but transformation. When Paul calls us to be a living sacrifice in Romans 12:1, it’s a call to draw near to God, die to self, surrender disordered desires, and live fully for God. Fasting is just that – a drawing near to God, creating space to align our will with his. As we empty ourselves, yes our physical dependence on food is revealed, but so too are deeper dependencies—false narratives, longings, worries and desires. Ultimately, we realise our deepest and most pure dependency is on God so we ask for the true bread of life that satisfies (John 6:32-33).
Fasting cultivates space within us to quiet the noise and tune into God’s voice to discern “his good, pleasing and perfect will” for our lives (Romans 12:2).
The reality is as humans we’re prone to disordered desires, constantly pulled by the counterfeit gods of our age – money, power, influence, comfort, the list goes on. Fasting cultivates space within us to quiet the noise and tune into God’s voice to discern “his good, pleasing and perfect will” for our lives (Romans 12:2). Fasting is not a means of forcing God’s hand or engaging in some divine transaction. It’s an invitation to draw near to God, emptying ourselves to be filled with his presence and walk in his will.
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Through fasting we offer our whole selves to God in prayer. We pray not only with our hearts and minds, but we pray with our bodies. We sit in the discomfort of hunger temporarily, emptying ourselves before God, because we hunger more for him than anything the world can offer. As we empty ourselves, our prayers become more potent, not because we earn God’s response, but because fasting shifts our hearts to hear him more clearly. And our seeking God above all else moves the heart of the Father and ignites powerful intercession in the Heavens.
Ultimately, this is the path of the faithful - the call to seek God above all else. As we grow in intimacy with him, we become vessels prepared for the awakening he is stirring in our time. There is always an invitation waiting from God for you to experience more of him. And there is always more of him to discover.
During Lent, we journey with Jesus from the wilderness to the cross. Let us draw near to him as we fix our eyes on God above all else. Firmly rooted in our identity as beloved children, let us bring our whole selves to him in worship.
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