Chris Fleming wrote:"...fasting is an interesting subject within the Bible, and like many things therein, often misunderstood. I understand that there are different traditions of man which may have fasting as an element of their practice, but within the Bible it shows that fasting was not to be a purposeful act. Rather, a person would become so burdened to pray to God for someone or about a situation that they couldn't eat. That is, the person was so desperately seeking God that no time was taken to stop and eat. This is completely different from a person who forcibly decides to do a certain fast for a set amount of time or something like that.
Chris:
I have to disagree with these comments. There are numerous examples in the Holy Bible of fasting deliberately done as a "purposeful act". Moses chose to fast for forty days and forty nights on two different occasions (Ex.24:18; 34:28; Dt.9:9,18), and Elijah also fasted for forty days and forty nights (1 Ki.19:8). Additionally, David purposely fasted in repentance for his sin with Bath-sheba (Sam.12:16-17). See also Zech.8:19.
Christ purposely fasted for forty days as well (Mt.4:2). Furthermore, prayer with fasting was one of the criteria for ordaining elders in every church from the earliest days of the Faith (Acts.14:23), and has remained so within Eastern Orthodox Christianity to this day, along with three separate Lenten Fast periods throughout each year.
And lastly, St. Paul mentions prayer and fasting in his advice to married couples (1 Cor.7:5). There are other biblical references as well, but these should suffice to indicate that prayer and fasting were clearly done in both the Old and New Testament in a deliberate manner as a purposeful spiritual practice.
Doc