How long are biblical fasts

Some people will fast from food and water but will drink juice to maintain energy. Another style of fasting is abstaining from social media, entertainment, sex, sugary foods, or a variety of other things.

Choosing to fast from the following things will allow you to fast for much longer periods of time. This is because these fasts do not affect your health. In fact, they may improve your overall health. I recommend fasting from these things for longer periods of time. If you are married, be sure to come to the conclusion with your spouse when it comes to abstaining from sex. Aside from the following exception, fasting from social media, entertainment, sugary foods etc, can and should be done over a longer course of time.

This is partly because many habits are formed from entertainment and food indulgences. Breaking these habits and reliances can build stronger reliance upon God. For many people, entertainment, such as phones, television, the internet, magazines, and other media, take more attention and time than is devoted to God.

Without the distractions from these things, individuals can more easily approach the Lord. In fact, it becomes more of a habit to seek the Lord than to seek other things in free time.

Taking a month off of these things can reset your life and move it in a new direction. In the same way, fasting for months or even a year form these things will build more perseverance, self-control, and focus.

Christians should fast for a prolonged period of time at least once in their lives. However, I recommend a yearly, quarterly, or monthly fast. This is something for you to pray about specifically with the Lord to discover what this looks like for your life. Since life is busy and it is filled with distraction and evil, it is important that we recenter ourselves around Christ continually.

This should be a daily act of renewing the mind through prayer, scripture, Biblical teaching, and accountability from a community of believers. Moreover, when recentering your life, this process benefits greatly from a fast. Fasting can occur during trying times or times of great decisions. Many follow what is called lent. Lent is more of a tradition of the church, however, it can be of benefit to a Christian with a pure heart and motives. Listed below are scriptures that expand on the concept of fasting and give examples of how early believers fasted.

This is not an exhaustive list, rather it displays only a few of the substantial amount of scriptures concerning this topic. The list is in order based on books of the Bible. We can learn from these examples to pray and fast when faced with decisions in the church and to pray and fast with humility. If you are planning an extended fast, it is better to fast on days when you don't have high-energy obligations, like speaking to a large crowd or participating in an exercise class. Plan fasts for times when other people will not be inconvenienced by your dietary restrictions.

For example, it is not wise to fast on Thanksgiving Day when the family has traveled long distances to fellowship together! Plan fasts on days where you can spend quality time praying and being with your Savior. Learn More about Prayer and Fasting! What do you think? God , the Father, sent His only Son to satisfy that judgment for those who believe in Him.

Jesus , the creator and eternal Son of God, who lived a sinless life, loves us so much that He died for our sins, taking the punishment that we deserve, was buried , and rose from the dead according to the Bible. If you truly believe and trust this in your heart, receiving Jesus alone as your Savior, declaring, " Jesus is Lord ," you will be saved from judgment and spend eternity with God in heaven. Ideally, setting aside specific time in your calendar to focus on prayer and study during your period of fasting will help.

Selecting the right physical space is important for fasting. To reduce your temptation to eat and to sharpen your focus during your fast, consider setting aside space in your home or in another familiar space for prayer and meditation.

If you can, during your typical mealtimes, move out of your food-related context by taking a walk, going for a drive, or sitting outdoors. While individuals in the Bible fasted for extended periods of time see Matthew 4 , before you fast for any period longer than twenty-four hours, please consult your doctor. If during the course of your fast you start to feel ill, stop fasting and ease back into eating. Experts recommend coming out of a period of fasting, not by feasting, but by starting slowly and being disciplined to eat only regular portions.

While you may be hungry and inclined to overindulge after a fast, your goal should be to return to a normal eating pattern. Remember, nowhere in Scripture are individuals encouraged to fast to the detriment of their health.

When individuals and people groups called for fasting, it was typically for a specific period of time with a well-defined starting and ending point.

Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed? This implies that the people who engaged in the fast did so for a certain period of time for a certain personal reason. At this point in the conversation, perhaps they had completed their fast and were frustrated with the results: they had gone into their fast period with a certain goal in mind, and their goals were not accomplished.

Before you start your fast, review the list above several times and dig deeply to understand your motivations. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife , and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves?

Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? Isaiah —5. This passage speaks to the heart and practice of people who fast to put on a show or whose motivations are not pure. In this, Isaiah clarifies what God wants to see in our lives when we fast—namely, a sincere devotion to himself and others without self-imposed blinders for the situations around us.

In the following passages, Isaiah calls out the people for their refusal to act in ways that would truly reflect their personal devotion to God and his purposes in the world emphases mine :.

Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them , and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Isaiah —7. But the chastising we read in Isaiah 58 does not come without hope and a promise—a promise that was as true for its initial hearers as it is for us today.