Fasting!
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if fasting pulls your eyes off of Jesus and onto your body, onto your weight, onto food control,
it is no longer biblical fasting. It is dieting with spiritual language.
Welcome to Your Daily Bread podcast. I'm your host, Abbie Stasior, a registered dietitian and certified intuitive eating counselor. My prayer is that these bite-sized episodes will help you heal your relationship with food and improve body image, as well as help you grow closer to God. Now, I can't personally heal you, but each week I'll be directing you to the one that can, and that is Jesus. As a disclaimer, I'm not a pastor, but a sister in Christ providing you with some food for thought for you to bring to the Lord and into your quiet time as your daily bread. Let's dig in.
Hello. Hello. Welcome back to your Daily Bread podcast. Happy New Year. Happy [00:01:00] 2026. Everyone. I have missed you all so much. I took last week off for the holidays.
I have not taken a week off from podcasting in three years, literally three years. So it felt really weird to not have an episode come out. , But I was still working Over the holidays, for those of you that know, I'm writing a book right now with Nelson Books under Harper Collins, all about how to heal your relationship with food, with a faith-based approach.
Many of the things that we talk about on the podcast, but it's gonna be one book, one resource, my framework all in one place. It's going to be super actionable and. I dive into some other things that I haven't yet talked about on the podcast, which is great. The Lord has given me some new insights , that I'm reserving for the book.
So if you're a podcast listener, the book will still be beneficial for you. If you're a client or a past client, the book will still be beneficial for you. And my manuscript is due at the end of January, so I was writing, writing, writing over the holidays. So got a lot, lot of work [00:02:00] done and I hope that everyone had a restful.
Holiday season as well. I had the flu I think twice. Like I was sick for two weeks. I recovered and then I got sick again. The second time wasn't as severe as the first, but it, yeah, it was still pretty bad. It was whew. And I think because of the book writing, there might've been some spiritual warfare in there, but this is the first day that I'm actually starting to feel more like myself.
So I hope that, um, y'all are feeling good too. And we just rebuke in the name of Jesus any. Illness and we just declare healing over our bodies in Jesus' name. Today we're gonna be talking about biblical fasting. When you're healing your relationship with food, because this can be so hard, and I wanna preface this whole episode by saying this is not anti fasting.
Jesus says, when you fast, and we're gonna get into that scripture in Mark six. So this episode is not anti-fat, but it is pro discernment. Pro healing pro Jesus when it comes to fasting, [00:03:00] because if fasting pulls your eyes off of Jesus and onto your body, onto your weight, onto food control,
it is no longer biblical fasting. It is dieting with spiritual language. So this episode is meant to give you some good guardrails, some things to pray through and think through as we're entering a prayer and fasting season. Most churches do a prayer and fasting season at the beginning of the year to kind of give God the first portion of the year.
And I like that. But the thing is, it can be such a slippery slope doing this in January when people are typically starting new diets and new workout programs, new year, new me and new fitness goals, and focused on undoing how we ate and stewarded our bodies during the holidays and starting a diet.
And so it can be really easy to be like on the outside. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I am doing prayer and fasting. I'm doing a religious fast, but in. Behind closed doors, but [00:04:00] in, in your mind, are thinking, I really hope that this helps me lose weight. So it can be a slippery slope and it can get really muddled and that this is where we have to use discernment and approach fasting
in a God honoring way, in the way that he intended it. While we still hold integrity to the healing journey that the Lord has already called us to with our relationship with food, so many Christians feel pressure to fast when they're healing their relationship with food and your healing journey, with your relationship with food and embodiment does not have to be at odds with participating in biblical religious fasting.
But you want to use discernment and there's different things that you can do, certain guardrails you can put up to make sure that you are keeping your eyes on Jesus and not doing anything that would hinder you or pull you back on your healing journey. So we're gonna get into it. God, thank you so much for this day.
Lord, thank you for this new year. [00:05:00] We just praise you and thank you that you have let us live another day. And Lord, we are just so expectant for what is to come in 2026. Lord, I pray that every single listener has ears to hear and eyes to see, and our hearts are soft and receptive to receive the message that you have for us.
Lord, I pray that everything that's said in this episode is what you want to say through me, Lord.
And I pray that this helps us honor our bodies in the way that you intended, helps us to propel our healing with our relationship with food in the way that you intended. And that fasting and our relationship with food healing no longer has to be at odds, and that we fast in a way that honors and glorifies you.
In Jesus name we pray. Amen. So we're gonna be in Matthew six verses 16 to 18. Jesus says, when you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you [00:06:00] fast put oil on your head and wash your face so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to the father who is unseen, and your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
The word of the Lord. Y'all, there's so many verses about fasting. I thought about starting in Isaiah 58. Because that talks about true biblical fasting. But then the Lord was like, no, Matthew six. And I'm like, Ooh, I see why now. As I was talking in the beginning, I'm like, wow, like you could be outwardly. Participating in a fast foot behind closed doors, you're still weighing yourself. You're still body checking.
You're still hoping that this fast has you lose weight. And in your head you could be thinking these things and those things are unseen by other people, but they're not unseen by the Lord. The Lord sees what is unseen and he cares more about your heart. He is after your heart always, but especially when it comes to fasting, he is after your heart.[00:07:00]
So we wanna make sure that our motives are pure and that we are not getting caught up in new Year, new me and detoxing from the holidays and just diet culture, because diet culture can very easily slip into a prayer and fasting season and take it away from what God originally intended. . The core purposes of biblical fasting are to humble ourselves before God, to seek clarity, repentance, or direction, to create space, to hear God more clearly, to deepen our dependence, not discipline our bodies into submission. We're not trying to be like Moses that just hit the rock when the Lord said, speak to the rock.
Right? And we know that Moses out of frustration. Hit the rock and just hit it into submission, and that was him being disobedient. And so for us, it would also be disobedient for us to just whack our bodies into submission when that's what, not what God called us to do.
Biblical fasting [00:08:00] is about devotion. It's about dependence on the Lord. It is not about shrinking ourselves and it's not about deprivation. Fasting is not about what you're removing in your life. Or for that season, it's about who you're making room for. So again, if fasting pulls your eyes off of Jesus.
'cause here's the thing, like you might be taking time off from doing certain things in your life, like scrolling on social media or watching Netflix or eating a meal if, if that's what the Lord is calling you into, and the purpose is you take a step back from doing those things so that you have time to actually pray more and get with God.
There is no true biblical fasting without praying. So if you're not praying more and seeking the Lord exceedingly more than you, more than you normally do while you're in a prayer and fasting season, then that's just a diet. You can't have religious fasting without prayer ' cause the point is prayer.
The point is to [00:09:00] make room for God in your life.
We know that diet culture really distorts fasting. If you are fasting to lose weight or reset after the holidays to avoid food because it feels stressful. I hear that a lot for people. They're like, the food noise is just so strong. I just don't wanna have to worry about food. I'm so stressed, so I'm just gonna fast.
And it's like, well, that's not true. Biblical fasting, that's. You not wanting to lean into the healing that you actually need to do to heal your relationship with food and to combat the food thoughts. And, and I know that it's exhausting. I know that it is. But if that's your reason for fasting, that's not a true fast.
That's just, it's just another form of dieting and restriction. And I don't know if I've told this story before on the podcast, but the first small group that I ever went to in Nashville, this was my first in-person small group ever.
The icebreaker question. Everyone was going around at dinner and they were like, okay, go around and say whatever, what, what diet everyone is doing for prayer and fasting. That's how I was worded. I was, [00:10:00] I, I was shocked. And that's how I also knew that I was really called to, to speak on this and to speak truth into the health industry and to integrate.
Faith and nutrition. The Lord has given me eyes to see that this is not his way when it comes to true fasting and people are treating it like a diet and people were just blinded by it.
So it, the enemy really does distort fasting to get us to focus on the wrong things because the. Enemy knows how effective prayer and fasting can be. And I was even reading in Mark nine where Jesus cast out the demon from the young boy and the disciples were like, why couldn't we do that? He's like, because, sometimes these things, can only be cast out by prayer and fasting.
And so the enemy knows, these demons know how effective prayer and fasting can be. And so the enemy, especially this time of year in January, is going to do anything that he could possibly do to get your eyes off [00:11:00] of Jesus. Get your eyes off of the true biblical way to fast, to get your heart not in the right place outwardly.
You may be performing and doing all of the right things, checking all the boxes, so no one would be the wiser, but we don't live that. Colossians 3 23. Whatever you do, work at it with all of your heart as if you are working for the Lord. Not for, not for human masters, right? You're not performing for other people.
God sees your heart. God sees all. So we wanna make sure that we are doing things for him and making sure that what we do when we are unseen is still glorifying and honoring to him because that's what really matters most. So if you have a history of dieting, restriction, emotional eating, body shame, fasting from food may not be the fast that God is inviting you into right now.
Obedience looks different in different seasons, so you can still be obedient to the practice of fasting and still follow what religious fasting is biblically supposed to be, and be obedient to what the spirit is [00:12:00] putting on your heart. But you don't have to fast food, you could fast from body checking, stepping on the scale, tracking your macros, tracking calories, consuming social media content, negative self-talk comparison, watching things while you eat, distractions while you eat.
Because honestly, y'all, sometimes the most obedient thing that you can do is eat. And to eat with God and learn how to loop God into your relationship and not be distracted by scrolling and watching Netflix while you eat, or listening to podcasts or sermons like you could be doing really godly things and listening to Christian content, they can still be distracted.
We may not be leaving enough room for God to speak to us. So sometimes the most obedient thing that you can do is actually eat and to eat with God and to let God speak to you during. Meal times and to be fasting other things. Now, sometimes some food related things that I see the Lord convict clients in when he's, when he's already called you to a season of healing your relationship with food.
I very rarely see [00:13:00] that he has clients fast from food. It usually is these other things that would still aid in healing, but is still a sacrifice because for most people, skipping meals, restricting it's, I don't wanna say it's easy for them, but I think honestly for some clients it is easy for them. But that's just.
What they're used to. And so that's not a sacrifice so if skipping meals and fasting and delaying your eating is easy for you and your normal rhythm, that's probably not what God's calling you to. But some of these other things like not tracking your macros may actually be hard for you to light out.
Do not step on the scale. Every day might be hard for you to lay down. Okay, now we're getting somewhere. If it is something food related that the Lord's calling you to fast, I typically see that he'll have people stop or lower caffeine intake or energy drinks, anything that would be disrupting your appetite or preventing you from honoring and hearing your hunger and fullness cue.
So that is something to also keep in mind as well. So here are some questions that you can start to ask the Lord before you [00:14:00] engage in a fast number one. Have I prayed about fasting or have I just planned it? I praise God. I got a message from a client at the start of this week and said, Hey, you know, I feel like the Lord is putting on my heart to engage in a liquid fast, but I wanted to consult my dietician before.
What do you think about all of this? And I, the first thing I said to her, I said, Hey, I just wanna celebrate you for reaching out to me and asking for prayer, asking me to help intercede for you. And it turns out liquid fast is not gonna be best for her with her relationship with food. And we both in, in the end just didn't feel right about that, didn't feel at peace about that, um, in, in both of our spirits.
So I'm really proud of her and you know, just for the courage to reach out and ask me to intercede with her and, and come alongside her and praying for this because so often we just don't pray about things and we just plan it. Our church is doing prayer and ing. I'll just do what everyone else doing.
I'll just do the Daniel fast. So you have the thing. Have I prayed about it or have I just. Planned it because if God is leading you too fast, [00:15:00] he will tell you what to fast. He will tell you. Another question you can ask, is this fasting drawing me closer to God or making me more focused on food in my body?
Am I fasting to depend on God or to control myself or to control my body? This is a really good one. Would I still fast if weight loss wasn't a possibility? That's a big one. And then is this fast producing peace, humility, and love in my life, or anxiety and striving, I encourage you to get curious with the Lord with these questions and these are questions are not meant to be coming from a place of condemnation, but always self-examination.
I just wanna remind everyone that God is not impressed with deprivation. He's after our heart. He's not after our hunger suppression. And your healing and your holiness do not have to be at odds. You can still fast, but you wanna make sure that you're doing it in a way that does not hinder the healing of your relationship with food if he's called you to, , healing [00:16:00] that fasting is really meant to lead us to life and greater intimacy with Jesus.
And if something is leading you deeper into bondage, into shame or fear, it's okay to pause and ask Jesus, what does obedience look like here? For me in this season in my current body. What does obedience look like now for me? Because if he calls you to fast and we know from Matthew four when Jesus was led into the wilderness to fast, the spirit will lead you to fast.
So if the Lord has called you to fast, it should always be spirit led. He will tell you what to fast. And if you need any support with this, I will post in the show notes. I'm offering a free accountability group for this prayer and fasting season for the month of January to offer encouragement. It's a free group to join, so definitely join that accountability group for some fasting support.
So to make sure that you are keeping your eyes on Jesus and not falling into diet culture, and schedule a free call with me if you feel like you need more personalized health support. And all of that will be in the show notes. See [00:17:00] y'all next week. Love y'all.
