Fasting Guidance
Why DO we Fasting?
“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to others to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to others to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” - Matthew 6:16-18
Jesus’ assumption was that we would fast, ‘when you fast’, and not ‘if’. Therefore, we are going to follow Jesus’ lead and will be have periods of prayer and fasting across 2026, for us all to engage in, as we can, together as a St John’s church family.
Over the course of 2026 we will be calling periods of prayer and fasting, to complement the rhythms of prayer we have been encouraging us all to take a step forward in, because the Bible shows us that when we engage together in a season of prayer and fasting it changes things, leads to breakthrough and enables us to enter into new seasons (Matt 17, Acts 14, Luke 4, Exodus 34, Acts 13, Daniel 10, Joel 1, Isaiah 58).
How to approach fasting practically
First, it’s important to acknowledge that fasting is not always right or medically safe for everyone for a variety of reasons (pregnancy, breast-feeding, diabetic, mental health, eating disorders etc.). Please protect your health and seek advice from medical professionals where appropriate.
Also, consider what activities you will be taking part in during the fast. There may be occasions where fasting food, particularly if you haven’t done so before, may be unwise if you are undertaking a lot of physical activity or travelling for long periods of time.
Please be safe and sensitive to your own needs! If food or drink isn’t appropriate for your fast, then abstaining from something else (i.e. TV, clothes shopping, social media, etc.) would be worth considering instead. Abstaining from certain things like sugar or technology is a really good way that our children and young people can get involved during this period of fasting, as we would not encourage them to go without food whilst growing. We have put together some ideas and practical help to support children in engaging positively during this period who wish to engage with the fast.
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Prepare your body for a fast. Ease into it, adjusting your diet and intake so the reduction of food is less of a shock to the system.
Similarly, plan how you will break your fast. Rather than jumping straight into full meals again, bridge the gap slowly so your body has time to adjust.
Soup is a particularly good option for this!
Drink lots of water and stay hydrated.
Partner up with someone that you can fast with, maybe doing it as a family or with a prayer partner. If fasting with children who may not be able to give up food, perhaps you could commit to giving up TV or phones for a certain night of the week (or something like that!).
Encourage one another as we go on this journey together
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There are a wide variety of ways you could choose to fast, the most important thing to remember is to take it a step at a time. Start where you are, take things slow and make incremental steps forward over time. So depending on how you have fasted before, over each 5 day period you could:
Fast a meal a day, once a week or each day
Fast from 6am to 6pm, once a week, a couple of times a week or every day
Fast for a 24 hour period, once a week or a couple of times in the 5 days
Fast for a 2 or 3 day period, in the 5 day period
Fast for the full 5 day period
(Remember go at your pace and start slow. We would only recommend the longer periods of fasting, if you have experience of doing these types of fasts before, it is not something you should jump straight into if you have never fasted)
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Consider what’s safe and what is fasting. Does your fasting need to be food related or could you look abstinence from other areas, such as technology etc. If you are considering fasting with food, perhaps consider a different way to do this, ensuring it’s safe and you’re eating the right amount of food to thrive. Creating adaptations that allow you to engage and join in without at the cost of your or a baby’s wellbeing. Some example of this may be:
Fast from “fun snacks”, this could be biscuits, chocolate, sweets, crisps or other additional snacks but rather, where you need to snack, using fruit, vegetables, hummus, boiled eggs or almonds and other nuts.
Removing the extras from meals, e.g. skipping the garlic bread with your spaghetti bolognese or eating more simple meals days in the week.
Consider not eating meat or dairy products for the period of fasting.
These are ideas to get you started rather than alternative options. Pray, listen to God, and ensure your physical wellbeing is taken care of.
Consider how you could ‘give back’
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?” - Isaiah 58.6-7
Lastly, fasting is not just about ‘giving up’ something. By making space in our time and finances, we have an opportunity to ‘give back’ to God through connecting with Him in prayer and in how we use the ‘money’ saved.
If you give up a meal, how can you use that time you don’t normally have to pray or worship God? If you’re giving up a type of food like coffee or chocolate over the periods of fasting, how could you use the money that would normally be spent on this to build God’s kingdom?
One practical way we will be looking to facilitate this is by asking everyone to consider how they could contribute to the Coventry Foodbank, either with monetary donations or by bringing items to St John’s on the Sundays post the the period of fasting. We will then pray for Foodbank. A list of items needed by Foodbank can be found on their website.
Taking a step forward
We can all take a small step together, going beyond what we’ve done before but not pushing ourselves too far into the unknown. By each taking a small step as a church family, we will be travelling far together.