Fasting

While many things can be fasted from (e.g., all food, certain types of food, social media, technology, entertainment, television), the most common form of fasting is from food.
If you plan on fasting from food, it is important that you plan and be intentional about it.

The following are some guidelines and practices to help with fasting from food:

• Make sure you are medically able to fast from food. Such things as medical conditions may not all you to fast from all food. If you are uncertain, it is important that you consult a medical professional (e.g., your doctor) to ensure fasting is appropriate for you.
• You need to drink plenty of water when fasting from food. While a person in good health is able to live several days without food, the body cannot go without water for extended periods of time. Dehydration is dangerous.
• Gradually work-up to longer fasts. Starting a long fast "cold turkey" generally is ill-advised. You need to build up to being able to fast for longer periods of time.
  • Start with a shorter fast or fasting from only certain types of foods.
    • A Juice-Only Fast: Try fasting from only solid foods. Do a juice-based fast for 24 hours.
    • 24-Hour Lunch-to-Lunch Fast: Try a 24-hour fast from lunch-to-lunch. In this type of fast you only fast from two meals: dinner, then breakfast.
    • 24-Hour All Day Fast: Try a 24-hour all day fast. You fast from all three meals in a single day (breakfast, lunch, dinner).
  • Try one day at a time over a few weeks rather than starting with multiple days at once.
  • Once you become familiar with how your body reacts to fasting (e.g., hunger pains, caffeine withdrawal headaches, nausea), this will help you understand better what fasting might be like for you over an extended period of time. Then you can work up to a 2-3 day fast.

The following are fasting-related resources that you may find helpful for further study.

• A Hunger for God by John Piper
• The Essential Guide to Fasting by Elmer L. Towns
• Habits of Grace by David Mathis (Chapter 10, "Sharpen Your Affections with Fasting")
• Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster (Chapter 4, "The Discipline of Fasting")
• The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard (Chapter 9, "Some Main Disciplines for the Spiritual Life")