What are the different types of fasting?

Answer

Usually, fasting involves abstaining from food for a specific period. There are various forms of fasting in the Bible, and not all of them require refraining from food. Many individuals in the Bible practiced fasting, such as Moses, David, and Daniel in the Old Testament, and Anna, Paul, and Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Numerous significant figures in Christian history have acknowledged the value of fasting, as do many present-day Christians.

Biblical fasting is often associated with repentance, as seen in the examples of David, the nation of Israel, and the city of Nineveh. Fasting is also connected to fervent prayer, as illustrated by King Jehoshaphat and Queen Esther. Biblical fasting originates from a humble heart that seeks God (Isaiah 58:3-7). John MacArthur reflects on Isaiah 58, stating, “The people grumbled when God did not acknowledge their religious deeds, but God pointed out that their fasting was insincere. Hypocritical fasting led to strife, arguments, and pretense, hindering genuine prayer to God. Fasting entailed more than just an external ritual and false repentance; it involved remorse over sin, resulting humility, breaking free from sin and mistreatment of others, feeding the hungry, and showing compassion to those in need.”

A regular fast entails refraining from all food, solid and liquid, except water. This is the type of fasting that King Jehoshaphat of Judah called for when his nation faced invasion “And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.”, (2 Chronicles 20:3). The Lord granted them victory over their enemies, and the men of Judah praised the Lord (2 Chronicles 20:24-27).

Chronicles 20:24-27). After the Babylonian Captivity, the people returning to Jerusalem prayed and fasted, asking God for His protection on their journey «Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. », (Ezra 8:21). The Lord Jesus fasted during His forty days in the wilderness being tempted by Satan «being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. », (Luke 4:2). When Jesus was hungry, Satan tempted Him to turn the stones into bread, to which Jesus replied, “Man shall not live by bread alone” «And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. », (Luke 4:4).

Another type of biblical fasting is the partial fast. The prophet Daniel spent three weeks fasting from certain foods. In Daniel 10, the prophet says, “I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over” (Daniel 10:2-3). Note that Daniel’s fast to express his grief on this occasion only omitted “choice” food, and it also involved relinquishing the use of oils and “lotions” for refreshment. Today, many Christians follow this example and abstain from certain foods or activities for a short time, looking to the Lord for their comfort and strength.

Also mentioned in the Bible is the absolute fast, or the full fast, where no food or water is consumed. When Esther discovered the plan for all the Jews to be killed in Persia, she and her followers fasted.

How Jews fasted from food and water for three days before she entered the king’s courts to ask for his mercy «Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. », (Esther 4:16). Another example of an absolute fast is found in the story of Saul’s conversion. The murderous Saul encountered Jesus in His glory on the road to Damascus. “For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything” «And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. », (Acts 9:9). Immediately following that time of blindness and fasting, Saul dedicated his life to preaching Jesus Christ.

In the cases of Esther and Saul, the absolute fast only lasted three days. However, Moses and Elijah took part in miraculous, forty-day absolute fasts. When Moses met God on the mountaintop to receive the tablets of stone, he ate no bread and drank no water «When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water: », (Deuteronomy 9:9). And, after Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, infuriating Queen Jezebel, Elijah fled for his life and spent forty days of fasting in the wilderness (1 Kings 19).

The Bible also mentions a sexual fast, although not by that name. In Exodus 19:15, the people of Israel were to prepare for their encounter with the Lord at Mt. Sinai, and part of their preparation was to abstain from sexual relations for three days. And in 1 CorinthiansIn 1 Corinthians 7:5, Paul mentions that a married couple can mutually agree to abstain from sex for a brief period to focus on prayer. However, they should then “come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”

The purpose of fasting is not to manipulate God into granting all our desires like a genie in a bottle. Fasting, whether regular, partial, absolute, or sexual, is a pursuit of God’s heart, with all other blessings and benefits considered secondary to God Himself. This distinction is what differentiates biblical fasting from various religious and cultural practices worldwide.