Should young children fast?
Take possession of your stomach, before it takes possession of you. – St. John Climacus During the West Africa Summit on Christian Education that ACSI organized, one of the speakers emphasized the importance of teaching our students to fast from the age of three. In that moment, I was quite concerned that he was advising schools to make fasting compulsory for students from the age of three years old. Coming from the U.S, where fasting is one of the spiritual disciplines that does not get much attention and is often neglected, I quickly dismissed this idea. However, here in Nigeria, fasting is a regular practice among Christians in the church from a young age so I figured that before I jump to conclusions, I should do some research. So I did the Reformed thing to do and consulted a friend who just graduated from Calvin Seminary. It is very clear that Jesus has given us instructions to fast. In Matthew 6:16, Jesus says “when you fast” not “if you fast”. John Piper