The New Testament Teachings About Fasting

He is Coming This blog is about Christianity and the Second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ

The teachings of Jesus touch on the form of manner of fasting as well as the appropriate time. Without giving the details of how fast was done, the book of Acts gives several examples of fasting and praying by the early church members. The teacher’s goal is to help the new believer to discover for herself when and how to fast accordance with the teachings of Jesus.

Summary: According to Bible, fasting can be done for several different reasons. All have the same common factor of drawing closer to God. There are no guidelines given in the Bible as to how often, how long, when or in what circumstances a person should fast. Jesus did give specific instructions regarding the behavior of the person during a fast. There is evidence that the New Testament church fasted to seek divine guidance for certain task. Fasting for the Christian, therefore, would be a personal decision done for a specific purpose and time should follow the guidelines given by Jesus.

Biblical fasting is always combined with meditation and prayer. Fasting is an appropriate spiritual exercise when used in combination with meditation and prayer for the purpose of focusing the individual’s total attention on God and His will. It should not become a ritual or a ceremony or be seen as way of forcing God to take certain actions which would turn fasting into a form of magic. The challenge for the former Muslim who has experienced the Ramadan fast as a cultural/religious event will be to find an appropriate Christian way to participate with her family and friends in a cultural event. To fast or not to fast is a personal decision based on the individual’s current desired relationship with God.

While most of Jesus’ teachings seems to indicate that fasting a personal and private experience, examples of large group fasting are found in the New Testament. This would seem to indicate that fasting to show solidarity with the poor or a day of fasting and prayer for a group of people are also appropriate. Church leaders may call a period of fasting and prayer for a specific purpose but it would always be the individual’s personal decision to participate or not to participate.

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