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Read through the Bible and one
thing quickly becomes apparent: fasting was never an unusual spiritual
practice. It was simply part of the rhythm of God’s people. Joel calls
God’s people to return to Him through fasting. Daniel turns to God with
prayer and fasting. In Acts, the church worships, prays, fasts, and listens
for the Holy Spirit’s direction before sending missionaries and
appointing leaders.
Both the prophets and Jesus spend
time correcting the misuse of fasting. That correction actually reveals
how common the practice was. They taught people how to fast
because nearly everyone already assumed they would.
When the Pantheon was completed in
Rome around AD 125, it stood as an engineering marvel. Yet after the
fall of the Roman Empire, the knowledge required to build a dome of
that scale was gradually lost. For more than a thousand years, no one
could replicate it until Brunelleschi completed the dome of Florence
Cathedral in the fifteenth century. The knowledge had not been
disproven—it had simply been forgotten, neglected.
I wonder what Joel, Daniel, or the
believers in Acts would think if they visited the modern church. I
imagine they would recognize at least somewhat, our worship, our
prayer, our study of Scripture, and giving to those in need. But I
suspect one of their first questions might be, “Where did fasting go?”
I don’t ask that as criticism. For
much of my own life, fasting has occupied very little space in my walk
with Christ. Yet the more I read Scripture, the more I find myself
unsettled by the gap between what seems ordinary in the Bible and what
has become rare in our lives and in mine.
Perhaps fasting is one of those
forgotten practices worth rediscovering. Not because it earns God’s
favor, but because, throughout Scripture, it creates space to return
our attention to Him, to hear His voice more clearly, and to become
more available to His work. My hope is that as we recover this ancient
practice, we might also rediscover something of the spiritual potency
that marked the Early Church.
Fasting
gives birth to prophets; it strengthens
the powerful. Fasting makes lawmakers wise. It is a safeguard of
a soul, a stabilizing
companion to the body, a weapon
for the brave, a discipline
for champions. Fasting knocks
over temptations, anoints for godliness. It is a companion of sobriety, the crafter of a sound mind.
In wars she fights bravely,
in peace it teaches tranquility.
—St. Basil the Great
(AD 330-379)
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