Rules for Fasting?

I received an email question from a member of the congregation yesterday with a great question about fasting. Some questions that I received included:

• What are the "rules" for our Methodist tradition of fasting?

• Do I not eat at all for the 24 hour day?

• Do I not eat from sun up to sun down?

My Response

This is a great question. Thanks for passing it along. Here are a couple web resources that may be helpful:

1. http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=2872

2. http://archives.umc.org/frames.asp?url=http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/wesley/index.html

3. http://archives.umc.org/frames.asp?url=http%3A//www.upperroom.org/askjulian/default.asp%3Fact%3Danswer%26itemid=74814

I would also encourage you to read Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster which is a book that you can find in The Well bookstore at church. This book has very practical advice about fasting. As a first step, I would encourage you to try fasting once a week on either Wednesday or Friday. These were days that Wesley fasted as a part of his practice of faith. You might try fasting for one meal first and then for two meals. Fasting for two meals would be a 24 hour fast.

Have you fasted? What spiritual disciplines have you found to be effective for your spiritual growth?