Go Deeper · Spiritual Formation

On Fasting

Jesus assumed his disciples would fast. The question evangelicals debate is whether that assumption carries the weight of expectation — and how fasting relates to grace.

Curated by Christian Curator · Updated regularly

Last updated: April 17, 2026

TL;DR

Fasting is both a neglected discipline and an easily misunderstood practice. Most evangelicals agree the Bible presents fasting as spiritually valuable, yet many churches rarely teach or practice it. The challenge lies in recovering biblical fasting—focused on God rather than legalism or self-achievement—while avoiding misuse.

Fasting is one of the most consistently practiced disciplines in the history of the church — and one of the most consistently neglected in contemporary evangelical life. Jesus said "when you fast," not "if you fast" (Matthew 6), yet most evangelicals rarely fast, and many churches never teach it. The reasons for neglect are varied: a Protestant concern about works-righteousness, a suspicion of bodily asceticism, and simple comfort. Yet the witness of Scripture, the church fathers, the Reformers, and evangelical spiritual writers consistently returns to fasting as a means of grace with real spiritual power.

What fasting actually accomplishes is where the conversation gets interesting. Is it a way of intensifying prayer, as the biblical examples suggest? A form of self-denial that breaks the grip of physical appetite and disciplines desire? A corporate act of lament and repentance before God? Or all three — and more? The evangelical conversation on fasting moves across these questions, and the answers shape how people practice it, how churches teach it, and what they expect it to produce.

Key Questions This Topic Addresses

Did Jesus command fasting, or merely commend it? What does Matthew 6 require?
What is the relationship between fasting and prayer — do they belong together?
Is fasting primarily individual, or does it have a corporate and liturgical dimension?
What does fasting accomplish spiritually? What should someone expect from it?
How should evangelicals think about fasting in relation to health, eating disorders, and physical limitation?

The Evangelical Debate

Three Positions on Fasting in Christian Practice

Evangelicals agree that fasting is biblical and valuable. They disagree on whether it is normative Christian practice, an optional discipline, or primarily a corporate and liturgical act. Here are the three main positions shaping the conversation.

Position One

Fasting as Normative Christian Practice

John Piper · Don Whitney · Dallas Willard · Andrew Murray

Jesus's "when you fast" in Matthew 6 carries the weight of expectation — fasting is normal Christian practice, not an optional discipline for the especially devout. Piper and others argue that fasting intensifies prayer, expresses dependency on God, and attunes the soul to spiritual reality in ways that ordinary life dulls. When the bridegroom is absent, his disciples fast (Mark 2:20). This position calls the contemporary church back to a practice that the New Testament church and all of church history took for granted as part of Christian discipleship.

Key Reads

Fasting = Homesickness for God (Crossway) A Hunger for God (Desiring God)

Position Two

Fasting as Voluntary and Spirit-Led

D.A. Carson · Wayne Grudem · Tim Keller

Fasting is a genuine spiritual discipline but not a binding obligation for all Christians at all times. The New Testament does not legislate fasting with the same directness as prayer or giving. This position argues that fasting, while practiced by Jesus and the apostles and commended for believers, should not be turned into a new law that burdens Christians with guilt. It belongs in the realm of wisdom and Spirit-led conviction rather than universal mandate. The emphasis should be on the heart orientation that fasting cultivates, not the practice itself.

Key Reads

What's the Point of Fasting? (TGC) Fasting Isn't for the Spiritually Elite (TGC)

Position Three

Corporate and Liturgical Fasting

Kevin DeYoung · Tish Harrison Warren · Reformed tradition

Fasting in the Bible is overwhelmingly corporate and liturgical — the community fasting together in seasons of repentance, crisis, or seeking God's direction. The church calendar has historically included fasting seasons (Lent, Advent fasts) as corporate practices that shape Christian communities together. This position recovers the communal and ecclesial dimension of fasting that evangelical individualism has obscured, arguing that fasting is often most powerful when practiced together, as a congregation, in patterns that mark the church's life through the year.

Key Reads

Except by Prayer and Fasting (Mere Orthodoxy) Fasting for Feasting (Mere Orthodoxy)

What the Conversation Adds Up To

What unites these three positions, despite their differences, is a strong conviction that fasting is not optional accidental to Christian life but integral to it — whether practiced individually, communally, or both. All three acknowledge that fasting appears throughout Scripture as a genuine means of grace, that the evangelical church's near-total abandonment of it represents a real loss, and that recovery of the practice matters. None of these positions argues that fasting is irrelevant or merely cultural.

The deeper agreement is also about the Spirit's role: authentic fasting cannot be mechanized or turned into a works-righteousness checklist. Fasting that is merely physical, undertaken for self-improvement or status, accomplishes nothing spiritually. Real fasting is always an act of seeking — seeking God's presence, direction, or intervention. It is the body joining the heart's cry. The theological logic of fasting is rooted in the gospel's insistence that in Christ, we have everything we need in God, and fasting is one way we practice that truth by temporarily laying aside even good gifts (food) to affirm that we hunger for Jesus more than anything else. The evangelical question is not whether to fast but how to recover it faithfully — and the answers vary according to whether your primary concern is individual spiritual intensity, pastoral wisdom about different believers' circumstances, or restoring the corporate rhythms that historically shaped Christian formation.

The Evangelical Conversation, Curated

Fasting = Homesickness for God

John Piper · Crossway

Piper's core argument: the birthplace of Christian fasting is homesickness for God. Fasting is not merely a consequence of superior satisfaction in Christ but also a chosen weapon against every force in the world that would steal that satisfaction. Drawing on his book A Hunger for God, Piper shows how physical hunger becomes a parable of spiritual hunger, and how fasting declares by bodily action what prayer says in words — that Jesus is better than food. Essential for understanding the theological logic that drives the "fasting as normative" position.

What's the Point of Fasting?

The Gospel Coalition

A systematic treatment of fasting's biblical foundation and purpose, establishing that throughout Scripture believers have intensified their prayers with fasting in times of special need. The article traces fasting from the Old Testament through the New Testament, showing its consistent connection to prayer, repentance, mourning, seeking God's direction, and spiritual warfare. It asks the pointed evangelical question: what does it mean that most evangelical churches have entirely lost touch with this biblical pattern?

How (and How Not) to Fast

Crossway

The most practically useful piece for someone considering beginning a fasting practice. This guide addresses the physical dimension (starting small, hydration, types of fasting), the spiritual dimension (what to do with the time and physical hunger), and the common pitfalls that derail fasting into legalism or mere body discipline. The article emphasizes that fasting without prayer and spiritual intention is just skipping meals, and offers concrete wisdom for sustaining the practice faithfully.

Fasting Isn't for the Spiritually Elite. It's for the Hurting.

The Gospel Coalition

An important corrective that reframes fasting not as an advanced spiritual practice but as a means of lament available to all believers in crisis or pain. The article argues that fasting mourns the situation that sin has created and seeks to restore intimacy with God through repentance. It emphasizes fasting as a desperate cry for patience, healing, guidance, and help — making it accessible and relevant to ordinary believers facing genuine suffering, not just the spiritually ambitious.

The Benefits of Fasting

Ligonier

From the Reformed tradition, Ligonier outlines the spiritual benefits of fasting: increased dependency on God, growth in self-control, intensified prayer, and a heightened sense of spiritual seriousness. The article shows how fasting as a discipline works by creating a concrete practice that embodies the heart's turning toward God. By temporarily abstaining from a legitimate good, the believer practices trust and affirms God's supremacy — benefits that extend far beyond the fast itself.

Fasting for Listening

Mere Orthodoxy

An exploration of fasting as a form of listening — particularly the practice of verbal fasting (silence) combined with physical fasting. The article argues that bodily disciplines like fasting quiet the noise of appetites and distractions, creating space for the voice of God to be heard. It suggests that contemporary evangelicals have lost not just fasting but also silence and solitude as communal and individual practices, and recovering them together is crucial for spiritual formation.

New Covenant Fasting

Ligonier

An explanation of how fasting functions in the New Covenant age, showing that fasting is fundamentally an act of longing and desire — specifically, a longing for a fuller sense of God's power and presence. The article situates fasting within the broader arc of salvation history, showing how it connects believers to both the patterns of Scripture and to their own deepest spiritual yearnings for intimacy with Christ.

Fasting from Food in a Land of Plenty

Christianity Today

A contemporary reflection on the countercultural act of fasting in a culture organized around food consumption and appetite satisfaction. The article explores both the spiritual and physical dimensions of fasting, showing how voluntary self-denial of food functions as a prophetic act in a society built on abundance and comfort. It addresses the question of why fasting matters particularly now, when the refusal of available food says something urgent about Christian values and desires.

Fasting for Feasting

Mere Orthodoxy

An article that recovers the biblical and historical connection between fasting and feasting — showing that they belong together and that the loss of fasting in evangelical Christianity is tied to the loss of meaningful feasting. The piece argues that God kept the Jews busy with feasts and fasts throughout the year to remember and celebrate His work and their identity as His people. Recovering both disciplines together is essential to a rounded Christian spirituality.

Fasting Is A Good Thing. But For Some of Us, It's Complicated.

Christianity Today

A crucial pastoral piece that addresses the reality that fasting, while biblically valid and spiritually valuable, is genuinely dangerous and harmful for people with histories of eating disorders or disordered eating patterns. The article insists that the pastoral care of individuals with these histories matters more than blanket fasting recommendations, and that faithful church leadership must know its people and discern who can practice fasting safely. It demonstrates how to affirm fasting's spiritual power while protecting vulnerable believers.