34. On Fasting

Acts 13:2; 1 Corinthians 7:5 • 1 min. read • grade level: 10

A correspondent in York inquires, “What place does fasting occupy in the New Testament, with respect to the Christian of the present day?” We believe the exercise of fasting is distinctly recognized in the following passages, namely, Matthew 17:21²¹Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. (Matthew 17:21); Acts 13:2²As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. (Acts 13:2); 1 Corinthians 7:5⁵Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. (1 Corinthians 7:5). It stands in immediate connection with prayer, and we think the connection is most instructive. Fasting implies abstraction from things natural and earthly; prayer implies occupation with things spiritual and heavenly. The former closes the channel of communication between nature and the scene around; the latter opens the channel between the spiritual man and the scene above. That involves the wholesome denial of the old man; this the complete dependence of the new. We must, however, guard carefully against anything like monasticism, asceticism, or legality, which would only tend to puff up that which ought to be kept down. Our own impression has long been, that the moral effect of “fasting” is realized by a constant habit of self-control in all things.