Christians Fasting?

Question

Am i correct that christians fast?

If so how do you go about doing it? Can you eat anything or only drink water? When should you start? How long should this go on for?

Answer 1

It depends. The catholic concept of fasting, involves denying stuff that you otherwise find enjoyable for certain periods of time. Most common fastening periods are 40 days before Christmas and 40 days before Easter. Also, every week on Wednesday and Friday.
Eastern Orthodox fastening includes abstaining from certain foods, like meat (all kinds of meats that have blood, including fishes, but crustaceans and malachea can be consumed, e.g. shrimps, squid, etc.), mild and dairy products, and even oil.

Answer 2

Yes Christians fast. You can fast for any reason and fast from anything. The idea is not to deprive yourself of anything rather to do something that helps you keep your focus on God. So you can fast for 1 hour or much longer.

If you are fasting from food and drink then it is essential to drink loads of water and to end the fast well by having a small meal of fruit or something and build up slowly, Some people drink fruit juices during a fast but what really matter is why you are doing it not what you are doing,

If you fast from TV or computers then you spend the time you would spend on line/watching TV praying and reading the bible.

It is a hard but profitable thing to do.

Answer 3

The idea of fasting has really cut back in recent years, in terms of being a required practice. If you want some really detailed information, see if you can find an old Roman Catholic missal or prayer book that predated Vatican 2 (look for early 1960s or earlier).
At that time, if I remember correctly, it was "no red meat or meat products" on certain days, and your meals were of smaller size than usual.
Think that a number of spiritually-inclined people nowadays are using "fasts" from a number of things, not just food---for example, giving up sweets, caffeine, TV as a matter of spiritual discipline.
Jews normally fast strictly (no food or water) on Yom Kippur, with restrictions waived for sickly folk, so we know that length of time is not fatal. I would NOT restrict water, and if you have any significant health issues (diabetes, pregnancy, anything you see a doctor for at least once every 6 weeks), I'd get a medical OK before fasting.

Answer 4

Christians fast in order to increase their faith in God and help them through some really tough times. They are giving up a part of their lives, the eating of food" to become closer to God ,and develope a stronger relationship with Him, by going into a deeper state of prayer and medidation with Him. It's not as easy as you think.

Fasts vary. They can be for a person to skip one meal or skip all meals for a day or even three days or some people fast for 40 days. But no matter how long they are fasting, they remain in constant prayer with the Lord for the duration of the fast. One must consult a phsyican before considering a long term fast. Just know that a person can live without food for 3 days, but they can't live without food and water for no more than 6 days. You body organs will start to shut down and death is a certainty.

Answer 5

Yes Christians are supposed to fast but it is not compulsory. Fasting usually occurs in the run-up to Easter. It probably has more to do with [historically anyway] a shortage of food at the end of winter than for any really important religious reason. Some Christians take to fasting so that they can give the money they have saved to a charity or it might be done by a group of Christians to draw attention to the plight of others. The most famous faster in my lifetime was Gandhi. He was a Hindu.

Answer 6

you can do a full fast, giving up all food (not water) for a period of time, or you can do a partial fast, giving up one meal each day for a period of time. Some people fast from TV, or sex, or chocolate.....the point is to show God that He is more to you than something you couldn't normally do without. You choose how long you will fast for, unless you believe God has prompted you to fast for an indefinate period of time, in which case you do it until he tells you to stop. I've never lasted a full fast beyond 43 hours!
The Bible does say 'when' you fast, not 'if' you fast, so you decide whether or not it's something Jesus expects us to do. It does lead to a closer relationship with God.

Answer 7

Yes, some Christians fast. There are the extreme fasts, essentially nothing passes your lips. They, necessarily, are commonly very short fasts. Then there are the token fasts, some practice this during what is called Lent--you give up something to remind you of something. Common fasts are doing without food, but allowing some water, for several days.

In practice, fasts are for two primary purposes. One is common spiritual discipline. This is as the sentiment when Paul wrote to the Corinthian church "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway" (1 Corinthians 9:27). We could be forced into difficult moments at any time, so fasting is something we do to prepare ourselves, in a fashion, for the hardships we might face in the future. During this time of discipline we spend the time we normally would spend at meals, instead getting spiritual "meat and drink" by reading the Bible and praying.

The other primary purpose of fasting is because we have problems. The Bible is full of examples like this. In Genesis 31, Jacob, in the middle of the desert, wrestled with some mysterious "man", but the man was not merely man and blessed him, after wacking his hip out of joint from a "touch". In a sense then, some Christians fast as a time to ignore everything but spend it trying to 'get a hold of God' for a solution to a really pressing problem. Esther 4:14 describes how Esther called for a fast. Even though she was queen, her people were about to be destroyed, the law had gone out already. In verse 16 it says, "neither eat nor drink three days, night or day." They were to spend their available time in prayer to ask God to protect them. Paradoxically, in Daniel 6, king Darius did some fasting himself (see verse 18).

Jesus fasted for 40 days. This was a spiritual exercise and he was tempted at that time (see Matthew 4). It was a sort of "shake down cruise" where he moved from merely the son of a carpenter to being about his Godly Father's business. It was a time of spiritual transition, but doing a 40 day fast is not something to lightly try to emulate Jesus with. Some people can handle fasts in the extreme and some can't.

BTW, I was told that for a good, long-term fast, there is something special about the third or fourth day. Your body changes, kicks you into starvation mode, and things tend to be easier. It is true, as I found out from personal experience. But unless you can make it a spiritual exercise and are healthy enough to do it, you better be hearing a strong message from God if you seriously feel a need to go to the 30-40 day stuff--two or three days, or a week maybe, is usually plenty of practice for which ever reason you are fasting. If you haven't heard the answer by then, He's probably saying No.

Answer 8

For some Christians, a fast is a sacrement. It rarely involves more than skipping one meal or eating very lightly at the occasional mealtime. Whether one fasts totally - no oral intake at all - or accepts liquids such as water and tea - or whether they actually eat a small amount of food such as a piece of unleavened bread - like a soda cracker or matzoh - is largely a matter of personal choice.
Truth be told, a lot of us would do well to fast regularly, if for no other reason than the condition of our waistlines!
Not all Christians fast. And not all of those who do, do it for entirely altruistic reasons. But most of them believe it brings them closer to God.

Answer 9

Fasting is for edification and also clensing both the body and spirit , there are several types of fasting usually you have juice and water fasting but there is also a fast of skipping meats and treats and having fruits and vegetable or just juice it depends on what you are lead to do and your medical condition there are theories as to the Daniel fast some say all he had was water others say all he had was water and vegetables. but before going on any fast check with your doctor, it's specially hard on Diabetics.

Answer 10

I don't believe that Christians need to fast. Fasting was something done under the old covenant like animal sacrifices.

Yes, Jesus fasted for that one-off occasion of 40 days/nights, but this was to establish his identity as the new Israel (Israel od old "fasted" for 40 years in the wilderness). There are no instructions in the New Testament for Christians to fast.

The Christians "fast" is personal sacrifice, giving up their old life and offering themselves as a living sacrifice to Christ.