Different Types of Fasting —

The Normal Fast

The Normal fast involves setting aside food but not water. Any food or drink with caloric value is to be withheld. Jesus’ fast in Luke’s Gospel was a normal fast; “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 it he was hungry.” (Luke 4:1-2)

Jesus ‘ate nothing,’ but not that he ‘drank nothing.’ The Scriptures recount that Jesus was ‘hungry,’ not ‘thirsty.’ This suggests that Jesus was abstaining from food, but not water. 

The human body cannot go for more than several days without water, and it is assumed that Jesus drank water during this time. There is also nothing to indicate that this was one of the miraculous fasts recorded elsewhere in Scripture. Jesus’ fast here, would have been a ‘normal fast.’

This will be one of the forms of fasting we will be participating in.

The Partial Fast

The Partial fast involves giving up certain foods or types of drink for a specific period of time. This fast is the temporary setting aside of specified food items and specific drinks. We decide on one or more types of food and drink and do not partake of any of those items until the fast is completed. Certain foods are restricted, but all food is not stopped. 

In the book of Daniel in the Old Testament, the prophet Daniel participated in a Partial Fast in Daniel 10:3; “I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.”

“Lent” would also be a form of a ‘Partial fast.’

This will be one of the forms of fasting we will be participating in.

The Complete Fast

The Complete fast is the exclusion of all food and drink for a period of time, including water. This fast normally does not last longer than three days due to the fact that the body must have water to survive. 

In Scripture, there are several examples of the complete fast. Esther, who was of Jewish descent, was married to King Xerxes. While Queen, Esther found out that one of the main servants of the king had formed a plot to kill all the Jews in Susa and the surrounding territories. In Esther 4:16, she informs her cousin Mordecai, “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day.”

This form of fasting is a powerful expression of devotion, however, the follower of Jesus must be mindful and self-aware as there are risks involved as the body cannot go without water for more than a few days.

We won’t be practicing this form of fasting.

Miraculous Fasts

This specific form of fasting, which is the ‘Miraculous fast,’ is found in Scripture where the boundaries of what the human body can tolerate under normal circumstances are surpassed. 

Moses’ first miraculous fast is recorded in the book of Deuteronomy. He described the first time he received the Law on stone tablets from the Lord and his Miraculous fast is recorded: “When I went up to the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord had made with you, then I remained on the mountain forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water” (Deut 9:9 NASB).

We won’t be practicing this form of fasting.