Biblical Topics A to Z
Fasting
What the Bible says about fasting, which passages command or commend it, and how Isaiah 58 and Matthew 6 frame its purpose and its proper spirit.
At a Glance
Fasting is voluntarily abstaining from food to seek God more earnestly, valuable only when it is paired with genuine humility of heart rather than outward show.
Overview
The Bible presents fasting as a voluntary abstention from food undertaken to seek God with greater intensity, commended throughout Scripture in seasons of repentance, decision, and crisis, but repeatedly warned against becoming an occasion for outward religious display rather than genuine humility before God.
Learning Objectives
- •Identify occasions in Scripture when God's people fasted and why.
- •Explain what Isaiah 58 says God actually desires in a fast.
- •Describe how Jesus instructs his disciples to fast in Matthew 6:16-18.
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?
Isaiah 58:6
Read It in Context
This study quotes Isaiah 58:6, but no verse stands alone. Open a Bible and read the whole surrounding chapter to see the full argument the passage sits within, then look up the other references cited throughout this study — Matthew 6:17-18 and beyond — in their own context. Scripture is the final authority here, not this summary.
Historical & Literary Context
Isaiah 58 rebukes Israel for fasting outwardly while continuing to oppress others and pursue their own pleasure, showing that ritual fasting divorced from a changed heart and changed conduct toward others is not the fast God desires. Jesus's teaching in Matthew 6:16-18 comes within the Sermon on the Mount alongside his teaching on giving and prayer, each addressing the same danger of practicing righteousness 'to be seen of men' (Matthew 6:1).
Fasting Throughout Scripture
God's people fasted in seasons of repentance (Joel 2:12), urgent need (Esther 4:16), and seeking guidance (Acts 13:2-3), showing fasting as a recurring, though not commanded-for-all-time, practice tied to seeking God with heightened earnestness.
What God Actually Desires
Isaiah 58:6-7 redefines the fast God has chosen not merely as abstaining from food but as acts of justice and mercy, 'to loose the bands of wickedness... and to let the oppressed go free,' confronting empty ritual with the substance it is meant to produce.
Fasting in Secret
Matthew 6:16-18 instructs disciples to fast without a 'sad countenance' or any outward display, but to appear normal before others so that fasting is done 'unto thy Father which is in secret,' with the reward coming from God rather than human admiration.
Christ-Centered Focus
Matthew 4:2 records Jesus himself fasting forty days in the wilderness before facing temptation, modeling reliance on the Father rather than on bread alone, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 that man does not live 'by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.'
Practical Application
This week, if you set aside a specific time to fast and pray over a particular need or decision, examine your heart using Isaiah 58's standard, asking whether it is paired with genuine humility and care for others, not merely outward religious observance.
Prayer
Father, teach me to fast not for show, but in genuine humility before You. Let any fasting I undertake be matched by a heart that seeks justice and mercy toward others, as Isaiah 58 describes, and draw me closer to You in secret. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Scripture Memory
"But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret."
Matthew 6:17-18
Reflection Questions
- 1What examples of fasting in Scripture stand out to you, and what prompted them?
- 2How does Isaiah 58:6-7 challenge a purely ritual understanding of fasting?
- 3What does Matthew 6:16-18's instruction to fast 'in secret' reveal about the temptation fasting can create?
- 4How does Jesus's own fasting in Matthew 4:2 model reliance on God rather than merely physical need?