Fasting – A double benefit – Spiritual and Physical

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What is the benefit of fasting according to the Gospel? What purpose does it serve, and are there any examples? Indeed, abstinence from food or severe restriction is actually associated with a two-pronged purification process. Fasting is less an option than a requirement.

Fasting is (almost) always helpful

Fasting, meaning the drastic reduction of food or even abstinence from it, is a topic in the Gospel that should not be neglected. In the field of medicine, fasting is also largely considered to be very beneficial. This is not (only) in terms of weight loss (diet), but primarily because it stimulates the body’s own cleansing process. While this primarily occurs at night, during sleep, sufficient sleep is essential for this. If the deep sleep phase is regularly too short, or is completely absent due to all-nighters, the body lacks the time to cleanse itself or detoxify itself from metabolic waste or ingested environmental toxins.

Roughly speaking, the metabolism can only do one thing: either detoxify or distribute the nutrients consumed. This is sometimes a reason to skip a “big dinner” in the evening and instead limit your meal to quickly digestible snacks. To achieve this, the last meal should be eaten no later than three hours before bedtime. The digestive tract also needs time for cleansing and recovery.

However, the restrictions on fasting depend on the individual’s physical condition. In the case of certain illnesses or conditions, a doctor should be consulted and his or her opinion sought.

A few practical tips and the reasons behind them can be found here.

What I eat is me

“You are what you eat,” goes the saying. It’s true. Because your body doesn’t get its nourishment and building materials from the air, like a tree gets its CO2, but from the food you eat. The thinking apparatus between the two ears is a part of the body that, for better or for worse, has to make do with what it is given. This particularly applies to the front of the brain, the prefrontal cortex. The center of critical thinking, emotions, consideration, and decision-making. The nutrients you consume, or alternatively, “modern waste” from industrial production, have a tremendous impact on this cortex, located right behind your forehead.

Biblical statements should also be understood accordingly, such as when the law is to be nailed to the forehead, or when the mark of the beast is placed not only on the hand (deeds, actions) but also on one’s own forehead (thinking, believing – Info). One such example is Deuteronomy 11:18:
“Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.“

The right faith (“forehead”) also leads to being marked by God on the forehead (symbolic seal of quality) in the midst of an apostate people, Ezekiel 9:4:
“And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.“

Own cleanup

Fasting can also be interpreted in different ways. You can either abstain from certain foods, such as meat or your favorite dessert, or you can limit yourself to just one vegetable or fruit juice per day. Another option is to abstain from food completely and limit yourself to drinking plenty of water, which you already drink generously. This is especially true if you don’t feel thirsty, because thirst is essentially a warning signal from the body.

The spiritual aspect of fasting according to the Gospel can also be viewed as a purification. The Bible provides several statements and examples on the subject of fasting. However, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a fasting period of 40 days and 40 nights, as Jesus Christ did in the wilderness shortly after His baptism.

Impurity (in the spiritual sense) is a very important, even essential, theme in the gospel. The following statements illustrate this:

1 Thessalonians 4:7:
“For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.”

Ephesians 5:3:
“But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;”

Colossians 3:5:
“Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:“

Purity is a prerequisite

Those declared righteous by Jesus Christ will receive the right to enter through the gates of the new city of Jerusalem. Revelation 21:27 also contains a warning about impurity:
“And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.“

It is clear that purity is a predicate of the person who has truly recognized Jesus Christ and walks according to His example, or is still on the path to doing so. Conversely, the agents of the great adversary (Satan and his fallen angels) are the epitome of lived impurity, as Revelation 18:2, among others, demonstrates:
“And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.“

see also Acts 5:16:
“There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.“

A required process

Approaching God in prayer with a purified mind and body creates a completely different constellation than approaching God in prayer with impure thoughts, intentions, and a belly full of pork schnitzel (Info). This is immediately apparent and understandable. The symbol of the righteousness of Jesus Christ is also a pure white, shining linen garment, without spot or wrinkle. Imagining the opposite is up to each individual’s imagination. But this already creates a comprehensible image.

Therefore, fasting is not only a recommended, but even highly recommended, discipline in the spiritual life. This deepens the relationship with God or Jesus Christ, since fasting is also an expression of one’s own self-abasement. This, of course, contradicts the narrative that humans should be their own center in the sense of humanism. In this regard, a global “adjustment” will soon occur anyway. (Info).

Psalm 35:13:
“But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.”

Nehemiah 1:4:
“And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,“

In profane terms, those who fast significantly increase the chances that God will hear their prayers, because they approach Him purified or in the process of purification, Ezra 8:23:
“So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.“

For the apostles, fasting was a matter of course, Acts 13:2:
“As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.“

When push comes to shove, fasting may even be a necessary measure, as Judges 20:8 and 26 show:
“And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house.
Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.“

Formal fasting is not helpful

Fasting for spiritual cleansing should (of course) come from the heart, with sincerity. Methodical fasting as a routine is abhorrent to the Lord. Just as God condemned the routine sacrificial service of the people of Israel (Isaiah 1), so the Lord also rebukes “hypocritical” fasting as a quasi-ritual without any devotion, let alone honesty. Isaiah 58:5-6:
“Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?“

At this point, God condemns fasting for its own sake. The people weren’t striving to finally walk the right path again and keep God’s laws. Instead, they impressively demonstrated a hypocrisy that Jesus Christ also criticized the Pharisees for when they displayed a “pain-distorted face” while fasting (Matthew 6:16).
“Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.“

The Pharisees clearly made an impression, as the general public pointed to the aspect of fasting. The disciples were not fasting as the Pharisees do, was the criticism. Jesus Christ responded, Mark 2:19-20:
“And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.“

Fasting is not just an option

It becomes clear that fasting in the Gospel is anything but a mere option. This is especially evident in a rather striking change or deletion in modern Bible editions in Matthew 17:21. It concerns the casting out of demons:
“Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.“

German-language Bibles in their modern versions have simply deleted this statement. These include, among others, the Luther 2017, Good News Bible, Hope for All, New Evangelical Translation, New Elberfeld Bible, The Book, and New Life. In short, all Bibles that use the scientific-textual critical basic text (Nestle-Aland) instead of the majority text (textus receptus – Info).

The duration of the fast depends on various factors. Daniel fasted for three weeks, pleading for an explanation of a previous prophecy (Daniel 10). However, it is reported that Daniel abstained from “sweet foods, meat, and wine,” but not explicitly abstaining from food completely. This is certainly a clue.

The body’s cleansing process usually begins during the second day of complete abstinence. If a third day without food (only water) is added, the fasting also becomes noticeable in the thought process, in the clarity of mind. “Unfortunately,” the second day without food is often more challenging than the first or third. You have to truly overcome hunger, which in turn provides the perfect opportunity for the overcoming that is already required. (Info).

Bible verses from King James Version (1611)

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