4 Reasons Why Fasting Is Worth It

Fasting Is Worth It

When we misunderstand fasting and how to honor God in it, we’ll avoid it altogether. That’s why we need to see it from Scripture’s perspective.

By stripping away the comforts our culture tells us are essential, we see that they’re only cheap imitations of God’s comfort. Fasting isn’t reserved for those with great self-control; it’s also for those who see their need for self-control. It’s not reserved for those who walk closely with God; it’s also for those who lament their distance from him. If you’re tired of relying on yourself, if you’ve experienced the emptiness of worldly comforts, if you desire a deeper relationship with God—fasting is for you.

And fasting is worth it. Here are a few blessings that come from this practice.

1. We Commune with God

Seeing more of God is the central benefit of fasting. Isn’t it why we practice spiritual disciplines in the first place? To come nearer to Christ, to draw strength and joy from his presence? These practices help us cultivate disciplines of devotion so we can focus on the one thing we desperately need: to “dwell in the house of the Lord” and to “gaze upon [his] beauty” (Ps. 27:4). If every other gift of fasting fell away, this would be enough. Fasting helps us see more of God because it facilitates our communion with him through prayer. That’s why John Piper calls it the “humble, hungry handmaid of faith” that prompts us to pray.¹

Fasting is pointless when not paired with talking to God— it’s an empty ritual, a form of self-deprivation to show our mettle.

Consider Paul’s warnings against both trying to obtain righteousness by abstention and treating the body severely (Col. 2:20–23; 1 Tim. 4:1–4). Some claim that these verses teach against fasting altogether. But as we saw from the early church’s example, fasting is a fitting response to longing for Christ’s return (Matt. 9:15). Our goal in fasting is to commune with God, not to earn his approval or secure our own salvation. While fasting does help us teach our bodies that they’re not our masters, that’s not the main purpose. Our focus should be less on what we’re saying no to and more on the better yes in its place. All the benefits of fasting are downstream from this one: deepening our relationship with God through prayer.

Let’s consider a few ways that fasting does this.

2. We See Ourselves Rightly

I can give many reasons why my prayer life isn’t as vibrant as I want: I’m busy. There’s so much ministry to do. I haven’t found the right system. But Nick Thompson unmasks the reality: “Where prayer is wanting, humility is wanting.”² My lack of felt dependence keeps me from praying. I don’t feel as though I need it.

Fasting doesn’t make me weak and dependent— it reveals how weak and dependent I’ve been all along. When I feel the piercing hunger pangs, I’m reminded how quickly my body breaks down without food that God provides daily. He’s the source of everything I need for life: food, water, oxygen, and shelter. So I’m drawn to him in dependent praise and gratitude.

When I feel capable, I’m more likely to work instead of pray. I can maintain the illusion of self-sufficiency. Fasting reorients me to the reality of my creatureliness and casts me on my Creator.

3. We Love What’s Worthy

When food is taken away, we realize how much we’ve relied on it for satisfaction and comfort. For those like me who struggle with emotional overeating, this absence is especially revealing—all this time, I’ve been turning to a gift instead of to the giver.

Without food as an easily accessible crutch, I have to look elsewhere. In Habits of Grace, David Mathis writes, “In that gnawing discomfort of growing hunger is the engine of fasting, generating the reminder to bend our longings for food godward and inspire intensified longings for Jesus.”³

Fasting creates space so that I can turn to Christ with my boredom, my anxiety, and my desire for control and find that “my soul [is] satisfied as with fat and rich food” (Ps. 63:5). I hunger less for food and more for righteousness—and for the righteous one (cf. Matt. 5:6).

As we sharpen our affections for Christ through fasting,⁴ our longing to see him face-to-face grows. Fasting is a temporary measure because the bridegroom is coming back (Matt. 9:14–15; John 14:1–3). Through our deprivation now, we’re viscerally reminded to long for the right thing—not for the dinner we’ll eat in a few hours but for the wedding feast of the Lamb and the fellowship we’ll enjoy with him forever (Rev. 19:6–7). Fasting is an expression of longing for Christ’s coming that in turn intensifies our longing.

Fasting is an expression of longing for Christ’s coming that in turn intensifies our longing.

4. We See God Work

Prayer is communion with God, but it’s also more than that. The Lord encourages us through Paul to bring all our requests and thanksgiving to him (Phil. 4:6). We come to God with our needs and desires, asking him to act in particular ways.

Fasting adds fuel to the fire of our prayers. It’s similar to how the posture of kneeling helps orient our hearts toward the Lord. By “leaning into the lack,” we feel our weakness bodily.⁵ We come more desperately; we come with more faith. We get the joy of focusing all our neediness on the one who promises to provide for all our needs (Phil. 4:19).

We mustn’t treat fasting like a formula: Subtract food and receive the answer we want. King David fasted and prayed for the life of his newborn son, but the boy died anyway (2 Sam. 12:15–23). Despite such a devastating outcome, David still worshiped the Lord (2 Sam. 12:20). Praising God even when our prayers aren’t answered the way we desire is an act of trust that his wisdom is greater than ours.

When answers are delayed, we still have reason for confident hope. In Luke 2:36–38, the elderly prophetess Anna spent her days in the temple worshiping, fasting, and praying as she awaited the promised Savior—and she lived long enough to give thanks to God as the baby Jesus was brought into the temple.

There are examples of fasting in the Bible where believers fasted, and God heeded their prayers. If we humble ourselves and bring our requests to the Lord, he will answer according to his superior wisdom. We can use this God-given means of grace and trust that, whatever the outcome of our petitions, we’ll benefit by learning to rely more on the Lord. That’s his work too.

Throughout Scripture, believers have intensified their prayers with fasting in times of special need. Let’s imitate them and see what God does.

This article is adapted from Fasting by Cassie Achermann.

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