The Altar
The Esther fast
Three days, for something urgent
Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day.
Esther 4:16 · King James Version
Why this one
Esther called it before she walked into a room that could have cost her life. It is the fast for a decision or a danger with a deadline on it.
The shape of it
Three days. Most people today keep it as water-only or a single evening meal. Choose one shape before you begin and keep it.
What to expect
Day two is the hardest — low energy, short temper, poor concentration. Day three is usually clearer than day two.
Breaking it
Break slowly over a day: fruit, soup, then normal food. Your stomach has shrunk.
Day by day
- Day one — Name the thing. Say plainly what you are asking for and why.
- Day two — Repentance. Ask what in you needs to change regardless of the answer.
- Day three — Stand. Ask, and then stop asking. Wait.
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.