Fasting is a spiritual practice deeply rooted in Scripture — a way of setting aside our physical desires to focus on our spiritual needs and align ourselves with God's will. Jesus taught that fasting isn't for show: "When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites... but when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you" (Matthew 6:16-18).
Fasting follows the example of Jesus, who fasted forty days in the desert before beginning His ministry. It isn't meant to earn God's favor or manipulate Him, but to draw closer to Him, purify our hearts, and depend on His guidance.
Scripture describes fasting in several forms: a partial fast from certain foods, as Daniel practiced; a complete fast from food for a set time, as Esther and her people did; a corporate fast where a whole community seeks God together, as in the days of Jehoshaphat; and longer, extended fasts undertaken for a specific season of seeking God.
True fasting, the prophets remind us, goes hand in hand with compassion — "to loose the bonds of wickedness... to share your bread with the hungry" (Isaiah 58:6-7) — and with a wholehearted turning back to God, "with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning" (Joel 2:12).
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”