Can Kids Participate in Fasting?

Many churches do 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting.  The emphasize is to encourage the church to pray and fast together for what they want to see God do both individually and as a church family.

Kids can obviously participate in the prayer element.  But can they participate in the fasting element?

Jesus told us in Matthew 17:21 that sometimes it will require prayer and fasting for us to seize the victory in God.

So what does this mean for kids?  Kids need food on a daily basis to be healthy and fasting might not be an option for them.

That being said, there are other methods of fasting that kids can participate in.  Here are some examples...

Fasting from watching television.

Fasting from video games. 

Fasting from a smart phone.

Fasting from a certain kind of food like ice cream.

Fasting from candy.

We can encourage them to spend a minute or so in prayer when they are missing these type of items or activities.  It would even be a great tool to provide them with a paper that has prayers they can pray and Bible passages they can read to focus on Jesus over these earthly things. 

Kids can also make a list of prayer requests and spend extra time praying for the things or people on their prayer list. 

Kids can also spend some of this time in praising and worshiping Jesus.

A emphasis on prayer and fasting can be a game-changer for kids.  As they participate in this, they will be drawn closer to Jesus.

Your turn. 

Have you ever led kids in a prayer and fasting emphasis?  How did you do this?  What were the results?  What are some other tips you may have for leading kids through a prayer and fasting emphasis?  Share with us in the comment section below.