My Fasting Journey

I grew up in church, as a vicar’s daughter, so the concept of prayer and fasting was always familiar to me – but I thought it wasn’t for me, and that I couldn’t do it! I am very much a “three meals a day” person, and if I ended up eating late I’d get grumpy – hangry was definitely a thing! If I’d hardly eaten at lunch, by late afternoon I’d be light-headed and struggling to focus.

Ruth Perrett

Earlier this year, a situation arose around secondary schools for our oldest son. We were praying really hard, but the situation only seemed to be getting worse, and I was stressed and concerned. During the Easter holidays I was chatting with two friends – one of them regularly fasted, and she encouraged us to consider fasting too. Both of us were reluctant! But over the next few days the topic of fasting kept coming up in conversation. It definitely felt like one of those “God nudges” that I couldn’t ignore.

And so, I started fasting.

The first couple of times I just missed a meal, but then I decided to really go for it: two 24-hour fasts each week, from Monday teatime to Tuesday teatime, and again from Wednesday to Thursday. I was desperate for God to move. The first few times weren’t easy – I was hungry! – but it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected, and it got easier each time. Hunger helped me focus my mind on praying.

After about a month of fasting, God answered our prayers in an amazing way.

But that was just the start of my journey. I discovered I actually enjoyed the challenge and wanted to keep going. Now I still fast two or three days a week for 24 hours, and I’ve also added an 18:6 fast most days (eating in a six-hour window). I’m not strict about that, since that’s more for health than spiritual reasons – so if we go out for brunch or an early lunch, that’s fine! On my full fast days, new things always come up to pray about. There’s no shortage of needs to bring before God when I feel hungry.

Six months ago I would never have imagined voluntarily fasting regularly. It has completely changed my mindset. I’m so thankful for the encouragement of friends, the gentle prompts from God to start, and the answers to prayer I’ve seen along the way.