Fasting and prayer have a strong connection, particularly during the season of Lent. Along with almsgiving (charity), fasting and prayer make up the pillars of Lent.
Ultimately, Christians seek to fast from sin; prayer and building our relationship with God, can also help us fast from a life of sin.
There are standard Lent fasting rules that Catholics follow, but many people fast during other liturgical seasons.
While different diets have become popular in recent years, fasting is a spiritual practice, not a dietary one.
“Christian fasting is not concerned with losing weight,” said Rev. Daniel Merz on the USCCB website. “It is a matter of prayer and the spirit. And because of that, because it is truly a place of the spirit, true fasting may well lead to temptation, and weakness and doubt and irritation.”
Perhaps Pope John Paul II said it best.
“Furthermore, fasting, that is, the mortification of the senses, mastery of the body, confer on prayer a greater efficacy, which man discovers in himself. He discovers, in fact, that he is “different”, that he is more “master of himself”, that he has become interiorly free,” said Pope John Paul II. “And he realizes this in as much as conversion and the meeting with God, through prayer, bear fruit in him.”
Below are some prayers written by Hallow to help aid your spiritual journey of fasting.
Prayers for Fasting at the start of Lent
Lord, may my small sacrifice open a space in my heart for You to fill. As I begin this Lenten journey, give me strength to be consistent in my fasting as I give up (name what you are giving up for Lent). May I think of Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice, to strengthen me in the days ahead. In His name I pray. Amen.
Heavenly Father, on Ash Wednesday, we are reminded “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” May I be filled with the spirit of humility as I embark upon my Lenten sacrifice. As I fast from food and (name what you are giving up for Lent), I pray that this small sacrifice reminds me that You are in control. May it help me trust in You more, reminding me that You offer us true food and true drink–and the promise of heaven. Amen.
Prayers for Fasting from Food
God of all creation, I come before you today in solidarity with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who are fasting today. I pray that as my hunger increases, so may my faith. As my diet lessens, so may my doubt in You. As my body aches for its next meal, may my soul long even more intensely to be filled with Your spirit. You are all I need. In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.
Lord, as I fast today, I pray that you lift up my brothers and sisters who will go hungry today and who struggle to eat on most days. In my own fasting, strengthen me to serve my brothers and sisters. May my fasting make me better appreciate what I have and renew my commitment to feeding the hungry. In Your name I pray. Amen.
God, may my fasting unite me with You. May my fasting help me surrender myself, my day, and my life to You. May the sacrifice I’m making not fill me with pride, but instead, humility and a greater dependence on You. I love You, Lord. Be with me now and always. Amen.
General Fasting Prayer for Any Time
Lord, in my fasting, may I detach from the comforts, sins and temptations of this world and unite myself to Christ. In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.
Fasting in the Bible
The roots of fasting date back to the Bible and trace all the way through the Old and New Testaments.
We hear of the merits of fasting early on in the book of Tobit:
“Prayer with fasting is good. Almsgiving with righteousness is better than wealth with wickedness. It is better to give alms than to store up gold, for almsgiving saves from death, and purges all sin. Those who give alms will enjoy a full life, but those who commit sin and do evil are their own worst enemies.” (Tobit 12: 8-10)
Isaiah also mentions fasting extensively:
“Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking off every yoke? Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry, bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.” (Isaiah 58:6-8)
The clearest example of fasting in the Bible, however, comes from Jesus and His fasting in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights.
“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.” (Luke 4:1-2)
Early Christians practiced fasting, and it’s been a constant practice in the Church ever since.
“Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others, you open God’s ear to yourself” – St. Peter Chrysologus