3 Ways Fasting Focused My Faith

This is an edited article version from an audio transcript of a Sunday School lesson.

I want to give you my personal example of fasting. I don’t know if you remember, but I told you I would fast—because I wanted this lesson to be a real, personal example of how I actually did it.

So before my youth sermon preached last Sunday, that’s when I fasted. I fasted Thursday—basically the whole day—then Friday, the whole day, and I ate Saturday at noon. That was my fast.

Fasting is only temporary. When Jesus returns and we’re in heaven, there won’t be fasting anymore. But right now, Christians fast because we want more of God. Now technically, you’re not supposed to tell people you fasted. But since I’m your teacher, I’m telling you so you can learn from it.

1. Fasting Deepens Dependence

Fasting turns physical hunger into spiritual dependence. The spiritual exercise was that every time I got hungry, I would channel that and direct my thoughts to God. I’d say, “Okay God, I’m hungry. But I need You more than I need food. So I’m praying to You right now.”

And I would specifically pray for the sermon. I’d ask God to give me strength to preach, give me the words to say, help me organize my thoughts. I also prayed for you guys—for everyone who would be listening. I’d pray, “God, encourage them through Your Word.”

Every time I got hungry, I turned to God in prayer, saying, “God, I need You,” and I actually meant it. There’s something different about physically feeling it. Like, you know, “If I don’t eat, I’ll die,” but it’s only for a little while. I wasn’t fasting for 40 days or anything. But just the fact that I was hungry and my body told me I needed food—something in my heart and spiritual mind said, “God, I actually need You more than this.”

I could physically go a few days without food, but spiritually, going without God is way worse. That’s how I channeled that energy. And I think that’s the right attitude. If you do end up fasting, that’s the mindset to have: “God, I need You more than food,” and actually mean it.

2. Fasting Brings Focus

While fasting, I was more focused and intentional with how I used my time. Every time I got hungry, I’d pray and say, “God, I need You.” That would make me think about the sermon text—which was about how nothing can separate us from God’s love.

So it made me think about the sermon and God’s Word. If you fast, it’s good to pray, but also direct yourself to a Scripture or passage to reflect on.

It’s not like I skipped meals and ignored my family. My kids still needed to eat, and I still spent time with them. But personally, I let myself think about the text.

3. Fasting Reveals Idols

And honestly, this might be the biggest thing I took away: when I did this spiritual discipline, I saw how much food, comfort, or riches can become idols in my life.

Me and Jess—we love going out to eat. Our favorite things are spicy hot pot and all-you-can-eat. That’s our thing. So when I denied myself food, I really felt it. I thought, “Man, this is messed up. I should be able to eat whenever I want. What am I doing?”

And I realized, wow—it’s easy to get comfortable. We’re 21st-century Christians who are well off. But fasting helped reorient me, to remember what really matters: spiritual things.

That was a big takeaway for me. We fellowship around food. I hang out with people around food. I look forward to meals. But spiritually, we should all know—food is just food. God is more important.

Fasting Helps You Hunger for God

So I encourage you to try fasting—especially if you want to grow in your spiritual life. A lot of people point out that Jesus said, “When you fast,” not “If you fast.” So He does expect it.

You just need to figure out when is the right time for you to fast. It could be during summer, when you want to focus on God. Or maybe when you’re struggling with a specific sin or really want to pray for someone or something going on in your life.

That’s probably the most applicable—for something you’re going through, and you want to turn your focus fully to God in prayer. Then you can say, “God, I’m going to skip a meal and use that hunger to pray—to show You I care, and I’m seeking You.” I think that’s good. That’s what God wants. Use your physical hunger to hunger for more of God.