I used to think of fasting as a spiritual practice for desperate situations—not for my typical struggles as a mom. But the days of caring for my two young girls at home were often punctuated by simmering impatience and anger. I enjoyed motherhood and desired to embody the heart of Christ, but self-control felt elusive in the hard moments.
In Scripture, we read that God’s people fasted for several reasons—to seek God’s wisdom (Acts 13:1–3), to lament (Neh. 1:1–4), to express repentance (Lev. 23:27–28), and to fight temptation (Matt. 4:1–2). Fasting was an embodied way for God’s people to surrender their whole lives to him, which was what I needed—desperately.
Maybe fasting would be good for me, after all.
Initially, I wondered how not eating for a day would have any positive effect on my mothering. Wouldn’t hunger only exacerbate my poor attitude? Nevertheless, my husband and I chose a day to fast from breakfast and lunch, eating only an evening meal—and it was the most peaceful, emotionally restrained day I’d experienced in a long time.
How the Lord works in our lives through fasting is still somewhat of a mystery to me. But I’ve begun to recognize how the Holy Spirit uses it to orient my hunger toward Christ and declare his sufficiency in the everyday work of motherhood.
Fasting Cultivates Humility
In Deuteronomy 8:3, Moses reflects on God’s provision during the Israelites’ 40 years of wilderness wandering: “He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”
The Holy Spirit uses fasting to orient my hunger toward Christ and declare his sufficiency in the everyday work of motherhood.
Hunger is uncomfortable. God made our bodies to need food and our souls to enjoy it. When those of us with access to an abundance of food experience hunger pains and don’t immediately satisfy them, it’s an invitation to acknowledge our felt finitude before the Lord. It’s possible to avoid the discomfort of hunger so adeptly that we rarely remember we’re dependent creatures.
As I feed, dress, instruct, and encourage my kids, how quickly I forget that I don’t hold all things together. I’m tempted to believe that my strength (or energy level, time management, or disciplinary strategies) will bring peace and security to my home. While food certainly benefits our mental clarity and emotional regulation, temporarily going without it reminds us of our true source of well-being. Fasting is an opportunity to dwell on God’s sufficiency through meditating on his Word and recognizing his compassionate presence in our weakness.
Fasting Reveals Deeper Longings
Bodily hunger can be demanding, requiring our attention several times each day. By delaying gratification, we embody and focus our attention on the deeper desires within us that cannot be satiated apart from the Lord. What do we want most?
On a standard Tuesday morning, for example, my potent desire on the surface is for my kids to stop whining. Yet even more than that, I long to grow in endurance and faithful love. In some mysterious blend of the Spirit’s strength and my obedience, the physical restraint practiced through fasting trains my heart toward self-control. I more readily respond with gentleness instead of irritability.
Not every time; the flesh makes a valiant effort to challenge the Spirit’s inner workings (Gal. 5:17). But I’m convinced that regular fasting—like rhythms of prayer and Scripture meditation—slowly and repeatedly reorients my deepest hunger toward Christ and compels me to find satisfaction in him. Richard J. Foster explains, “Our human cravings and desires are like a river that tends to overflow its banks; fasting helps keep them in their proper channel.”
Hunger can also guide me to intercede for others as I attend to my children. Each time my stomach groans, whether while running errands or changing a diaper, I can remember people and circumstances in need of God’s consolation and redemption: “Lord, even more than I hunger for food right now, I long for . . .” Fasting becomes a subtle but powerful way to redirect my attention to God’s desires.
Fasting Develops Perseverance
I’ve noticed how the Lord has grown my endurance in motherhood through a regular practice of fasting. He has increased my tolerance for the inconvenient, uncomfortable, and tedious sacrifices necessary for my kids’ well-being. He has quickened my reflex to ask for help and surrender my will, rather than worry and complain. He has provided contentment on days when I can hardly wait until naptime.
The apostle Paul faced significant worldly troubles; he was stoned, shipwrecked, imprisoned, and martyred for his faith in Jesus. Yet in 2 Corinthians 4:17, he describes suffering as a “light momentary affliction” that’s “preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” My experience of suffering isn’t like his, but fasting is one way I can voluntarily undergo “light momentary affliction” to fix the eyes of my heart on eternity. I can choose to seek God’s peace amid hunger, the toddler’s fussiness, sickness, missed expectations, and dirt tracked on the floor. And when I encounter seasons of more severe suffering in the years to come, I pray my attitude will be like David’s when he declared contentedly, “I lack nothing” (Ps. 23:1, NIV).
Take and Eat
The purpose of any spiritual practice isn’t checking a box or mastering a skill. The goal is deeper, integrated union with Christ. Fasting, then, is an opportunity not to prove our righteousness but to grow in our belief that God is sufficient.
Fasting is an opportunity not to prove our righteousness but to grow in our belief that God is sufficient.
While not every mom can or should fast in every season, it’s worth asking the Lord what role fasting might play in your spiritual growth. If you’re new to fasting, consider skipping one meal and paying attention to the thoughts and emotions that surface in your hunger. You might adopt a weekly fasting rhythm or fast in accordance with specific needs in your community. Rely on the Holy Spirit and the wise counsel of fellow believers for guidance and encouragement. However gracefully or contentiously your body responds to the hunger pains, keep looking to the Lord for sustenance and satisfaction.
Jesus compared his life to a loaf of bread, broken on the cross and shared so all who believe in him can take part in abundant, eternal life (John 6:35–40). Take and eat, moms—feast on his Word, ruminate on his promises, and anticipate the fullness of joy when he returns.