FAsting Resources

Join Our 24-Hour Corporate Fast

Friday, May 29th at 7 am - Saturday, May 30th at 7 am

Join us in a corporate fast aligned with our 24-hour burn, praying for our move to the Far West Side of San Antonio.

How Do I Get Involved? 

Choose a Fast

Ask that Lord what He's asking you to fast from. We have info on a few different kinds of fasts further down on this page.

Visit the Prayer Room

Prayer Room Open
Monday - Friday | 7 am - Noon

Tuesday Night Prayer
Tuesdays at 7 pm

Attend Special Events 

Culture of Prayer Conference
January 23rd - 24th​

24-Hour Burn
January 30th - 31st

What Fasting IS: 

Fasting is the voluntary abstention from food (or some other desired object or activity). The purposes of fasting include:

  •  To subdue the flesh.
    • "So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world." Colossians 3:5 NLT
  • To better prepare us for prayer and holy meditation
    • Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. "Acts 14:23"
  • To give evidence of humbling ourselves before God, when we confess our guilt before Him and seek his face.
    • "On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow." Jonah 3:4–5 NLT

What Fasting is NOT: 

  • The purpose of fasting does not include earning bonus points with God. In Isaiah 58 (which is very well worth reading in its entirety) we read:
    • ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say. ‘Why aren’t you impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!’ Isaiah 58:3
  • Fasting, in this context, is also not for health or weight control purposes. Any health or weight-control benefit you experience is purely incidental to the purposes of fasting as a spiritual discipline.
  • Fasting isn’t necessarily abstention from food. It can be from other things that are hindering your fellowship with God. Things like: social media, the internet generally, entertainment media, shopping, news/politics, sports, overwork, etc. You might also want to consider limiting or even eliminating your consumption of these things.

Types of Fasts

Fasting isn’t necessarily or exclusively abstention from food. It can be from other things that are not necessarily sinful (except to the extent they end up displacing God as the center of our affections) but that are hindering your fellowship with God. Things like: social media, the internet generally, entertainment media, recreational shopping, news/politics, sportsball, overwork, etc. You might also want to consider limiting or even eliminating your consumption of some of these things.

Daniel Fast

A Daniel Fast is patterned after what we read in the Bible in the Book of Daniel (Daniel 1:8-16). Broadly speaking, if it comes from a plant you can eat it. While not an exhaustive list (the dividing line is plant-based), here are general guidelines for foods included on a Daniel Fast.

Foods to Include
  • Fresh, Frozen, Dried, or Canned Vegetables
  • Fresh, Frozen, Dried, or Canned Fruits
  • Whole Grains & Legumes
  • Liquid Plant-derived Oils
  • Nuts and Seeds

Foods to Avoid: 
  • Any meat and animal products including beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and fish.
  • Any dairy products including milk, cheese, cream, butter, and eggs.
  • Processed fats with vegetable origins like: margarine, cooking fats made using hydrogenated vegetable oil
  • Any refined sweeteners including white sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, date sugar, honey, syrups, molasses, cane juice, stevia, agave nectar and artificial sweeteners.
  • Any leavening agents (principally yeast and baking powder) and any leavened bread and baked goods. 
  • Any refined or excessively processed food products including artificial flavorings, and artificial sweeteners, white rice, or white flour.
  • Any animal fats like butter and lard, and fats which include artificial ingredients like margarine.
  • Beverages other than water. This includes coffee or tea (whether caffeinated or decaffeinated), carbonated beverages, energy drinks, and alcohol. Treat fruit juice like a serving of food, not a beverage.
  • Recreational drugs.
Daniel Fast Explainer
Liquid Fast

Limited to water, juices, soups (without chunks of solid food), broths, shakes, and other liquids.

Water Fast

Limited to only water.

Sunup to Sundown Fast

Fast from food during the day - from sunup to sundown.

Other

Fasting isn’t necessarily or exclusively abstention from food. It can be from other things that are not necessarily sinful (except to the extent they end up displacing God as the center of our affections) but that are hindering your fellowship with God. Things like: social media, the internet generally, entertainment media, recreational shopping, news/politics, sports, overwork, etc. You might also want to consider limiting or even eliminating your consumption of some of these things.

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