This is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help. Isaiah 58:6-7

Why do people fast? To lose weight? Gain spiritual insight? Can we do it wrong and miss the point completely?
When it comes to fasting for spiritual purposes, some people do it for show. Nicholas’ wife wasn’t impressed when he said he fasted because he wanted to be closer to God but all he ended up doing was bragging about it, being exceptionally grumpy all day, and arguing with her.
When a person fasts, the idea is that we are positioning ourselves before God in hunger, letting our voluntary weakness remind our hearts how desperately we need Him. We’re meant to long for Jesus to return, right the wrongs in the world, and satisfy our heart’s desire for Him. No one can compare to Him.
God also tells us about the type of fasting He desires in scripture, saying, “This is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help” (Isaiah 58:6-7).
If you decide to fast, consider taking the money you would have spent on food and blessing someone in need, sharing God’s love. Just as Jesus was voluntarily weak for our blessing, we too can be voluntarily weak while fasting in order to bless someone else!
Just as you fast from all food or certain food, you can also fast from other things that you’d miss when you replace them with something done in love for God or to show God’s love to others.