What Is Fasting All About?

We are now a full week into the time of Lent. Have you considered fasting as a way of preparing your heart for Easter?

Fasting has been practiced for thousands of years. Today we may associate fasting with intermittent fasting—for health reasons. However, if you read the Bible, you will see that fasting was used as a way to draw closer to God, hear His voice, and seek His will. 

Just take a look at all the people who used fasting:

  • Ezra called the Israelites to fast on their journey from Babylon to Jerusalem.

  • Esther asked all the Jews in Susa to fast for her before she made a request of the King.

  • David fasted while his son was ill.

  • Isaiah taught what true fasting was supposed to look like!

  • Jonah (after getting out of the belly of the fish) fasted along with all of Nineveh.

  • Anna, a prophetess who spoke of Jesus when He was still a child, regularly fasted.

  • Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights before starting His ministry.

  • Paul, who wrote many of our New Testament books, fasted regularly.

Friends, this is just a shortlist that I came up with. The men and women listed above fasted from food and drink, and while they had different situations, fears, and struggles, they all did it as a way of acknowledging who God is! 

So who is God, that I should abstain from anything for Him?

I haven’t always been a Christian.
I have had a head-knowledge of who God is, or at least who I thought He was, since childhood. But I started to actually read the Bible just before my first son was born. It has been a slow but steady process of learning for me. Having a teenager who questioned the reality of God only served to strengthen my own faith. Thank you, Alex. ♥️


When I started to take curse words out of my vocabulary, it changed me.

When I started to make time for attending church services, it changed me.

When I started to study the Bible, it changed me.

When I started to limit the amount of alcohol that I drank, it changed me.

When I started to watch and listen to Christian media, it changed me.

When I started to realize what it meant to give my heart to Jesus, IT CHANGED ME.


When I take certain things out of my life, it makes room for different things.
When I add certain things into my life, it pushes other stuff out.

So here is the crux—be aware of what you are swapping out in your life.

Fasting can allow a deeper connection to God, but only if you are consciously seeking to add Him back into the space you just cleared out.

When we deny ourselves the pleasures of food and drink, we are very clearly reminded that hunger pains hurt. What if fasting allowed you to take a moment to pray each time you felt a pang of hunger?


Is fasting from food the only way to go?

Some of you may not be able to fast due to health issues or medication. What else can you take out of your life, for just a short time, to make room for something different … something holy?

Two of the ladies reading this devotional have given up social media for Lent. I text them the link on Mondays and Wednesdays since I know they won’t see it online. I fasted from Facebook last year, and I was amazed at the number of times I picked up my phone throughout the day to “just check what was new on Facebook.” 🙄 Have you ever given up Facebook, Instagram, or whatever platform you frequent? It’s enlightening. Would giving up social media leave a place in your day that you could give back to God?

I think the best question to ask ourselves is, what can we give up in order to make room for Him?

Giving up social media may not be the best way to fast for YOU.

  • Do you struggle with food (sugar) addiction?

  • Do you question some of the shows you watch?

  • Do you need to take a look at spending habits?

  • Do you turn to a glass of wine just to relax?

  • Do you complain about people and situations?

  • Do you lose sight of daily blessings?

Friends, two of the things listed up above are things I am currently thinking about! A couple of the questions up there could even lead to adding something into your life rather than taking something out! One of my sons has been coming home from school with nothing but complaints. I have started asking him things that he is grateful for, and that may need to be something I do with him each day to prepare our hearts for the amazing blessing of Easter!


Remember that fasting is between you and God. It can be something personal and unique. ❤️

Bible Moment

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:16-18 NIV).