A Non-Negotiable Discipline
John Wesley, the 18th-century preacher whose movement eventually became Methodism, considered fasting so essential that he would not ordain a minister who did not practice it. Twice a week — Wednesdays and Fridays — he fasted from food, following a pattern stretching back to the earliest centuries of the Christian faith.
This wasn't austerity for its own sake. Wesley saw fasting as inseparable from prayer. His journal entries make clear that he experienced some of his most powerful encounters with God during extended fasts. Before pivotal decisions — launching new preaching circuits, confronting theological opponents, sending missionaries — he fasted first.
The Revival Connection
Historians have noted that the great waves of revival associated with Wesley's ministry were consistently preceded by seasons of prayer and fasting. The explosive growth of Methodism in England and America wasn't just the result of Wesley's preaching gift. It was fuelled by a community that fasted together, prayed together, and expected God to move.
Wesley once wrote: "Some have exalted religious fasting beyond all Scripture and reason; and others have utterly disregarded it. The truth lies between them both."
What Others Saw
Those who travelled with Wesley noted his extraordinary stamina. He preached multiple times daily, rode thousands of miles on horseback, wrote prolifically, and maintained this pace into his eighties. Many attributed his energy not to natural constitution but to the discipline of his life — of which fasting was a cornerstone.
What This Means for You
Wesley didn't fast because he was extraordinary. He became extraordinary partly because he fasted. The discipline created capacity — spiritual, mental, and even physical — that sustained one of the most impactful lives in modern church history. You don't need to fast twice a week. But the question is worth sitting with: what might regular fasting create space for in your life?