The Altar
One day
A single day set apart
Then all the children of Israel... fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
Judges 20:26 · King James Version
Why this one
The most common fast in Scripture, and the one people start with. One day of putting food down to pick something else up.
The shape of it
Skip from waking until evening. Drink water. Spend the meal times praying instead of eating.
What to expect
Hunger arrives around the time you would normally eat and passes within twenty minutes. Headache is common in the afternoon — usually caffeine, not starvation.
Breaking it
Break it gently in the evening with something light. Do not break a fast with a feast.
Day by day
- One thing. Name it before you start and come back to it every time you are hungry.
Before you begin. Fasting is a spiritual discipline, not a medical one, and it is not for everybody. Do not fast from food without speaking to a doctor if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, diabetic, underweight, taking medication that must be taken with food, recovering from illness or surgery, under eighteen, or if you have any history of an eating disorder. There is no shame in fasting from something other than food — media, spending, sleep for a night, a habit. God is not measuring your stomach.