In my mind growing up, the idea of fasting was always tied to food. My Catholic friends would fast during Lent—the 40 days leading up to Easter—by not eating meat on Fridays. While my family never observed Lent in the traditional sense, I was still encouraged to consider fasting from food as a spiritual discipline by abstaining from eating for 24 hours as a means to focus more attentively on God.
In many ways, my views on fasting have not changed. I still see spiritual value in removing food for a period of 24 hours. The practice does indeed heighten awareness of spiritual matters.
And nothing I write beyond this point is meant to take away from that practice or the spiritual benefits of it. I only mean to add to it.
You see, as I have matured in my life (and my spirituality), I have begun to recognize additional value in the discipline of fasting. Moving beyond abstaining from food, I have also learned to appreciate the benefits of fasting from almost anything in moderation.
Fasting, it seems to me, is ultimately about self-control. It is about the intentional removal of one, external controlling factor in our lives for a period of time. It is an exercise in self-control. And self-control holds benefit for all—regardless of our faith or nonfaith preferences.
In college, for the first time, I set out to give up one “controlling factor” in my life for a period of 40 days—a form of fasting that drew inspiration from my Catholic friends (although I’ll be quick to admit that most world religions embrace some form of fasting).
My thinking went like this, “If there is any external reality in my life that I could not give up for 40 days, it has become a controlling influence on me. By definition, I have lost an element of self-control.”
Over the years, as a result of this exercise, I have fasted from television for 40 days, eating out for 40 days, my cell phone for 40 days, and candy for 40 days. Each time, I chose one thing that would be difficult to part with for a period of days, and then challenged myself to go without it as an exercise in self-control.
Each time, it seemed, I learned more about myself and gained additional insight into finding balance in my life.
I am not alone in my practice of this discipline. The Minimalists recently gave up social media for 30 days. Courtney Carver has written about giving up sugar for 30 days. And almost everyone who attempts an extended shopping ban will tell you it was worth it.
There is value in this practice—however you choose to embrace it.
Currently, my fasting practice looks a bit different than the extended period of abstaining 30 or 40 days from a specific item. Over the past year, I have returned to the 24-hour model of intermittent fasting, choosing to abstain from coffee on Saturdays. It’s not a long, drawn-out practice that requires pre-planning of any sort. It’s just a simple reminder to me—every weekend—that I am in control of my habits, not coffee.
Recently, I texted a friend to see if I could call her about a writing project on a Sunday evening. She said I’d have to wait until Monday, “Sunday evenings are family time. I don’t do any work on purpose.” Just another form of fasting, I thought to myself.
There is value in this discipline. Here’s a quick guide to get started:
1. Choose one external influence in your life to fast from. The best practice for testing (and strengthening) self-control is to choose an item you imagine would be difficult to part with. Finish this sentence, “I could never go 40 days without ____________.” Whatever pops into your head might be a good place to start. Maybe it’s chocolate or Facebook or alcohol or Netflix. You get to decide.
2. Choose a period of time (or regular interval) for your exercise. You may choose 7 days, 40 days, or 365. Or maybe you want to fast every Saturday, every weekend, or every first week of the month. Again, the choice is yours. But do choose a period or interval of time that will challenge you and require a measure of self-control on your end.
3. Make arrangements if necessary. If you are choosing to abstain from sugar for 30 days, it might not be wise to keep lots of sugary snacks in your pantry. If you decide to give up television for a period of time, it may be beneficial to remove the temptation entirely (assuming other members in your family do not object). When I gave up eating out for 40 days, I needed to think through and prepare adequately for brown bag lunches each day instead.
4. Embrace the discipline and expect the beginning to be the hardest. There is nothing wrong with this being difficult—especially at first. Expect it and embrace it. In fact, if the fasting is not difficult for you, you may want to consider choosing something more difficult to give up.
5. Find meaning in defeat. If you give in at some point during the experiment and succumb to the temptation, don’t lose heart. Make failure your servant by examining its root. And then get back up to try again.
6. Re-enter slowly. When you complete your exercise, reintroduce the item into your life deliberately. Remember, you have not committed to giving up something for the rest of your life—only for a predetermined period of time. But that doesn’t mean you automatically return the element to the same level of influence it had before. Almost certainly you will have learned something during the process that will enable you to reintroduce the item in a healthier manner.
Many of the external items that subconsciously control our lives are not needs, they are wants (coffee, dessert, television, Facebook, etc.). But we have become so accustomed to having them in our lives on a daily basis, we quickly confuse our wants and our needs.
Fasting from anything (and/or everything) for a set period of time helps put these items back in proper perspective and gives us the strength to walk away when necessary.
There is value in the practice of fasting. I have found this to be true. So will you.
Margie in Toronto says
I am currently giving up red meat for Lent (eating poultry and fish) and I have been quite surprised to find that it has been easier than I thought. I don’t have any objections to eating meat but I would prefer to eat meat that is ethically sourced – and therefore much more expensive. I now know that I will permanently reduce my overall consumption and concentrate on the more expensive product.
I have had periodic breaks from Social Media and from television and I can see more breaks in my future. I find it gives me time to rethink certain things and to examine how much I really need, whether it’s food, clothing or anything else. I don’t want to be enthral to something external. A lot of things to consider – thank you.
Josh says
Very timely post, Joshua. I was just thinking about fasting today, when by 10:00 I had been so busy at work I hadn’t had a chance to eat anything. I need to incorporate fasting into my spiritual life. God has me on a detour, and I need to give him my full attention, which I’m guilty of not doing.
Thank you.
zigzag says
This post really hit a nerve on something I’ve been thinking about lately. How identifying areas of my life that have gotten out-of-control, temporarily cutting them back or out, and reflecting on whether that has resulted in an improvement in my overall well-being. This may then lead to a longer or permanent fast of that particular thing.
I find the word ‘fasting’ much more doable than ‘giving up’ which has such a negative, deprivation connotation for me. Also, fasting seems much more elevated and high-minded!
Andrea says
I love point #6. We should exit the fast stage gently and use the momentum to give us a healthier perspective/relationship with whatever it is we were fasting from. This is one area I tend to gloss over, but it is a really important part of the discipline process. Thanks!
Ann says
Thank you so much for this article. I believe it required bravery to send a more spiritual message/challenge to all your readers/followers. I’ve been struggling with ending for a time something of a sinful nature, yet I’ve been addicted to this thing. I woke up this morning ready to succumb to temptation, when I instead checked my email and here was this article. The idea of fasting for a period of time, a year or a few years, put my challenge from remaining un-addicted in a whole new perspective that’s lifted me right out of my struggles and givin me such-needed spiritual inspiration to feel already more-able to continue more easily in the path I’ve been trying to stay on. So thank you so much!
JuliAnne says
I love this! I can absolutely agree every time I have purposely taken a controlling factor out of my life for a period of time, it draws me closer to God spiritually and gives me so much mental clarity. After fasting social media for a month a couple of years ago, I decided to delete it entirely! The freedom it gave me to be who I want to be and not what social media pushes was a great feeling. As a millennial without social media, I’m often questioned by others about it and receive the opportunity to suggest a fast to experience what I have!
I’m currently intermittent fasting and looking forward to taking something else out of my life.
Thank you for the constant inspiration!
Andrea Brito says
As a Muslim women, this article resonates a lot with me. We have our 30/31 days fasting period during Ramadan. We abstain from food, water and sexual relations from the sunset until sundown time. But more than that, we also try our best to give up during those 30 days period of any bad habit we may have, like swearing, backbiting, smoking, social media addiction or anything else that is taking control over our life. With that, we gain more control over our life, we focus more on spiritual things, and other important things in our life like time with family, as well as we also focus in doing more charity and helping others. The good thing is that this fasting is great for our spirituality but also great for our health. Of course, elderly people, pregnant women and people with some illness don’t need to do the food fasting. But they can still take advantage of the fasting benefits by fasting other things like you said in your article. Independently of people’s beliefs, fasting has great benefits for everyone.
JuliAnne says
I love this. As a christian woman, I’ve fasted food but never tried to fast water or sexual relations as well.
My mother suffers from low blood sugar so she fasts things like sweets, meats and dairy since she cannot completely give up food. so as you said, even those with illnesses can fast something if not give up entirely.
Our pastor always suggests fasting something we are truly addicted to. For some, cereal isn’t a big deal but my older brother loves cereal! Fasting cereal for him is a HUGE challenge! lol
Thank you for sharing from a Muslim’s perspective. :)
Kate says
I’m a Baha’i, so this article comes at the perfect time! It’s halfway through our 19 days of fasting before the March 21st New Year. We fast for 19 days, not consuming food or water during daylight hours, obviously with some exceptions. It’s always been a huge test for me, as I am someone who becomes very grumpy usually when my blood sugar is low, but our time of fasting always reminds me that I’m a spiritual being first and food can’t be an excuse to be inconsiderate. I always find myself full of such gratitude and reflecting on whether or not I really need my morning coffee or afternoon snack to be a pleasant person.
Fasting from certain foods or habits is another option, but I would really suggest to anyone interested to try fasting from food and water for a few days and see what a change it brings about in you. It helps you focus on your own blessings, the suffering of others, your reliance on material things, etc. The Baha’i Writings say “Fasting is the cause of awakening man. The heart becomes tender and the spirituality of man increases.” I can attest to this and hope others will consider trying it, too!
Diane says
Insightful perspective on fasting and one that can inspire anyone to move beyond perceived dependency on our worldly possessions, habits, distractions, etc. I so appreciate that you shared your desire to focus on God through fasting. When I have fasted, I’ve been clearly reminded of my need for His strength and direction in my life, especially when I am weak in spirit and self-control. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with all of us!
Paul says
Thank you for this article Josh. I found it a great way to start the week. As an member of the LDS (mormon) church we fast the first Sunday of every month and donate the money we would have used for those meals to those who are in need through what we call Fast Offerings. I find the spiritual strength and clearing of the mind gained from it to be extremely freeing feeling and love the feeling of the sprit being stronger than the flesh.
I love the concept of taking fasting to other areas of our lives as you point out. Recently I completed a 15 month fast of not buying any new clothes. I walked into my closet one day and thought “I have enough here to wear for a decade”. I ended my 15 month clothes shopping fast on Dec 31, 2017 but as you point out in your article there were things I discovered about myself in this process and have “re-entered slowly” having only purchased a few things since then. Over the 15 months I also donated many of my clothes to charity and now my closet feels so much better to walk into.
There are so many external factors that can start pulling us from what we value most. Thank you for the reminder to sit back, take a self evaluation and look around at what may be having more control over our lives than we really intend to.