Has Fasting Always Required Abstaining From Water?

[JLHPROF]

Exactly.

 

I guarantee you will not feel close to God while you are dehydrated and fighting a headache. 

 

It is just following scriptural precedent, hardly "needless asceticism":

 

Esther 4:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

 

Ezra 10:6 - Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.

 

Acts 9:9 - And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.

 

However, Luke 4:2 indicates that a fast can be food only as well.  Fasting, like so many other things, has different levels, purposes, and  uses.  Kind of like Baptism used to back in the early days of the Church.

[VideoGameJunkie]

I have to drink water with my meds.

[Calm]

Same here.  And one had to be a lot of water and the same time every day which would be in the fasting time if I was able to fast...which I am not.  So that solves that for me at least.

Edited July 21, 2015 by calmoriah

[oneclimbs]

In the Old Testament, we see a lot of examples of fasting. Using a Strong's Concordance and just picking, say, 2 Sam 1:12, we see the Hebrew word "tsum" which it says can mean "to cover over (the mouth) that is, to fast".

 

I really like what Elder Bednar had to say in one of his books about doctrine, principles and applications. He lamented that too often we teach the application more than the doctrine or the principle. If we study the doctrine or principles, the Spirit will teach us how to apply them in our own situations. 

 

I know that the teaching is "2 meals" which could mean a 24-hour period but it could mean less if you eat more frequently than 3 meals per day. To keep up my metabolism, I eat up to six small meals per day. When I fast I prefer a full 24 hours, there is something about reaching about the 18 - 21st hour that I find spiritually fulfilling. I'll often start my monthly fast Saturday afternoon after lunch, skip dinner, breakfast and then break my fast with the sacrament at 1pm. Sometimes that adds an extra 3 hours to my fast but it's not a big deal for me.

 

I've also been in situations where I have been outdoors and sweating a lot where I felt like drinking was necessary to preserve my health. In those times, I didn't feel that I was breaking my fast. The word fast means "firm, fixed, immovable, steadfast" and I believe the principle of fasting is about exercising dominion over the natural man, to transcend base appetites. 

 

So I think a lot about why and what I am doing. So long as I feel in control and my decisions are not being made to simply quiet an appetite, I feel that my fasting is effective.

 

Now those are just some of my experiences. They are not the gospel truth, but to me and in my circumstances, they were effective. I think that's the key, study the principles and let the spirit guide the application. Applications, as Elder Bednar suggested were practically limitless and apply to our personal situations. Oh, and I'm referencing the fourth chapter of "Increase in Learning".

[Calm]

my decisions are not being made to simply quiet an appetite

 

That is the trick, isn't it.  

[theplains]

There are different forms of fasting. The most strenuous form is to go without both food and drink. In Islam Ramadan consists of forgoing food and drink (among other things) from sunup to sundown.  Others will only forego food, but will drink.

 

I suggest you should join them on one of these nights.  You'll discover that they eat plenty of

food and drink sufficiently (some almost to the point of gorging themselves).  Try it yourself

and then see how easy it is to abstain during sunup to sundown. 

 

I have also heard it mentioned also that sexual relations during the time of fasting is prohibited.

But its unclear if this means daytime (during the fasting) or the entire month.

 

Regards,

Jim

[JAHS]

I have always understood the fast to include both food and water for two meals, but to modify it as needed according to one's health.

 

Fast Day - Howard W. Hunter

www.lds.org/general-conference/1985/10/fast-day?lang=eng

Members of the Church may fast at any time as they have a need, but the fast contemplated on the day referred to as fast day, as defined by President Joseph F. Smith, “is that food and drink are not to be partaken of for twenty-four hours, ‘from even to even.’” From even to even has been given the meaning of going without two meals—from the evening meal on the night before to evening meal on fast day.

 

The Blessings of a Proper Fast

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2004/10/the-blessings-of-a-proper-fast?lang=eng

Carl B. Pratt

We are taught that there are three aspects to a proper fast day observance: first, abstaining from food and drink for two consecutive meals or, in other words, 24 hours; second, attending fast and testimony meeting; and third, giving a generous fast offering.

[Garden Girl]

When health issues developed to the point that my ability to fast was affected (diabetic), I counseled with my bishop... and also during a TR interview with my SP... both confirmed that the fast is not to interfere with health to the point of being detrimental... and that I could dedicate whatever time I'm able to fast even if only for a few hours.  It is my attitude of purpose that is important...  and that is the way I'm able to fast at all...

 

GG

[Raingirl]

Exactly.

 

I guarantee you will not feel close to God while you are dehydrated and fighting a headache. 

 

Actually, no, you can't.

 

You may be able to "guarantee" that that is how you will feel, but you cannot make that claim for everyone else.

 

I come from Orthodox Judaism.   Fasting for us was a full 25 hours, none of this just-wait-until-after-the-block-is-over-and-call-it-a-fast stuff.

 

Plus, fasting on a day such as Yom Kippur included many, many hours in synagogue, starting with erev Yom Kippur and continuing throughout the next With a lot of those hours spent on one's feet.

 

Did people get headaches?  Yes, some did.   Many did not.  The majority of the ones I knew that were complaining about headaches, were not having headaches due to not drinking water, but due to caffeine withdrawal.  The smart ones tapered off the caffeine before the fast to avoid these headaches.

 

Were some people slightly, temporarily dehydrated?  Probably.

 

But these dehydrated, headache suffering people were most definitely feeling close to God.  It is possible to transcend the physical.

[williamsmith]

When I engaged in regular strenuous exercise through a week, and then fasted (didn't workout on that day), I still had generally cup of water just to clean the system and keep it functioning.

I normally drank many cups of water, so, that was indeed still "fasting" to me.

[Yirgacheffe]

I suggest you should join them on one of these nights.  You'll discover that they eat plenty of

food and drink sufficiently (some almost to the point of gorging themselves).  Try it yourself

and then see how easy it is to abstain during sunup to sundown. 

 

I have also heard it mentioned also that sexual relations during the time of fasting is prohibited.

But its unclear if this means daytime (during the fasting) or the entire month.

 

Regards,

Jim

Nice put down of others practice.

[St. Bookmark]

I think you can fast with out food and water , with out food but water is ok , and if you are diabetic then give something up like no tv or computer for 24 hours.

Also bible fasting some fasted twice a week every Monday and Thursday.

[toon]

It is taught in my ward that that is one of a range of benefits.

 

I know I have heard that too, but have often considered it to be a throwaway comment.

 

I don't believe there are any significant health benefits to fasting, and to the extent that there are minor benefits, I think that the negatives likely far outweigh them.  The idea that fasting someone cleanses the systemt (or whatever) seems pseudoscience.

 

That doesn't mean that fasting once a month is necessarily bad for one's health.  But for some people, it can be, and the Church makes allowance for tha in its teachings.  Going without water is more likely to impact a greater range of people.  (I have to have water and can't allow myself to get dehydrated, but going a day without food is not a problem.)

 

We fast for spiritual reasons.  And when offerings are involved, for temporal ones too. 

[toon]

, one of the top memories is the week long fast on my mission and finding a family to teach and baptize. Funny thing, it wasn't until I gave up fasting to find someone and instead fasted as a way of living my covenant of sacrifice that we actually found them, that or maybe my companion had his own epiphany of something that allowed the fast to end. shrug.

 

I remember my mission president instructing us that we were only to fast on Fast Sunday and at no other times, unless it was for something that was run by him.

 

I think he recognized that without the restriction, young and naive missionaries might let their zeal override common sense.  I think it also came down to the great weight he felt for being responsible for the well being  of 150+ missionaries.

[Dgal]

Fasting from water is unwise and very unhealthy. The WoW is about health as much as it is about obedience and disciple. Fasting from other forms of liquids is another matter.

[Avatar4321]

Fasting is a spiritual principle that can be adapted to individuals

I'm diabetic. I drink water but refrain from eating and other things as I can.

The Lord isn't worried as much as strict rules as he is about the heart on this matter