Quotes About Fasting

August 10, 2023 / compiled by Rob Sizemore

Some thought provoking quotes from John Piper’s book A Hunger for God:

(Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer)
c1997 Crossway Books Wheaton, IL

“Do I really hunger for God? Do I miss Him? Do I long for Him? Or have I begun to be content with His gifts? Christian fasting is a test to see what desires control us.” P. 19

“The danger of eating is that we fall in love with the gift; the danger of fasting is that we belittle the gift and glory in our willpower.” P. 21

“One might think that those who feast most often on communion with God are least hungry… But, paradoxically, it is not so that they are the least hungry saints. The opposite is the case. The strongest, most mature Christians I have ever met are the hungriest for God.” P. 23

“… it is not that we have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and no room for the great.” P. 27

“Jesus began His ministry with fasting. And He triumphed over His enemy through fasting. And our salvation was accomplished through perseverance by fasting.” P. 55

“The absence of fasting is the measure of our contentment with the absence of Christ.” P. 93

“…fasting is meant to waken us to the hunger of the World, not just our own hunger… not just to savor the goodness of God in our own bounty, but in the power of love to live for the sake of others.” P. 143

“Fasting is an expression of humility—that is, our sense of desperate, utter dependence on God for what we need.” P. 170

“God rewards fasting because fasting expresses the cry of the heart that nothing on Earth can satisfy our souls besides God.” P. 181

Rob Sizemore and his wife Robin have attended East White Oak since 2006. Over the years he has helped lead worship and taught various ABF classes. Rob has been teaching in public schools since 1989.