As we prepare for our week of prayer and fasting 1st -7th June, it is worth asking a simple question: What is fasting actually for?
Christian fasting is not about proving our spiritual strength, punishing ourselves, or earning God’s attention. Neither is it simply skipping a meal and carrying on with the day as normal. Without a purpose and plan, we may be going without food, coffee, social media or television, but we are not necessarily seeking God.
John Piper writes that Christian fasting is rooted in a “homesickness for God.” It is a way of saying: Jesus, I want you more than the comforts I instinctively reach for.
That is why fasting can be uncomfortable in more ways than one. When we remove food, coffee, sport, social media, gaming or entertainment, we often discover how much we depend on them to comfort, distract or reward us. Hunger, boredom or restlessness can expose what is going on in our hearts: impatience, anxiety, irritability, disappointment, self-pity or simply how rarely we turn first to Christ.
Piper puts it starkly: “Fasting is a hunger for God, or it is worse than nothing.”
The purpose of fasting, then, is not merely to feel empty. It is to bring our emptiness to Jesus. When hunger comes, we pray. When we instinctively reach for our phone, we turn to Scripture. When we miss the comfort of a favourite food, drink or programme, we remind ourselves that Christ is better, deeper and more lasting than any created pleasure.
This is also why fasting requires a plan. Decide beforehand what you will fast from and how you will use the time or attention it frees up. You may choose to fast from one meal, fast from dinner one day until dinner the next, eat only simple foods for a period, take only liquids, or step away from coffee, television, social media, sport viewing or gaming. The particular fast matters less than the purpose: making space to seek God in prayer.
Jesus assumes that his followers will fast, but he also warns against doing it for appearances. Fasting is not a badge of seriousness. It is an expression of dependence, humility and longing: Lord, satisfy me with yourself. Show me what has been mastering my heart. Teach me to desire you more.
So do not simply remove a pleasure and leave a vacuum. Without prayer, Scripture and conscious dependence on Christ, we may simply become hungrier, more irritable, or more likely to seek another distraction.
Instead, let each hunger pang, each missed comfort and each restless impulse become a prompt to pray:
“Jesus, more than food, comfort, entertainment or distraction, I need you. Meet me in my hunger, and satisfy my heart with yourself.”
Based on themes from John Piper’s A Hunger for God here and the church’s fasting guidance:
Fasting is Feasting Booklet: https://christcentral.church/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/260526-Prayer_and_Fasting_Booklet.pdf
A 2024 sermon on fasting : https://christcentral.church/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Whats-the-point-in-fasting-7th-April.mp3
