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Baha'i
Baha'is have begun the Nineteen Day Fast which consists of abstaining from food and liquids from sunrise to sunset for nineteen days … the last month in the Baha'i year... the month of 'Ala or Loftiness.
The purpose of Fasting is spiritual:
Fasting, said ‘Abdu’l-Bahá “is the cause of awakening man. The heart becomes tender and the spirituality of man increases. This is produced by the fact that man’s thoughts will be confined to the commemoration of God, and through this awakening and stimulation surely ideal advancements follow”.1
However, it is important to note that fasting should not be viewed as a practice of asceticism, nor is it to be used as a means of penance: “[T]his material fast is an outer token of the spiritual fast; it is a symbol of self-restraint, the withholding of oneself from all appetites of the self, taking on the characteristics of the spirit, being carried away by the breathings of heaven and catching fire from the love of God.”2
https://www.bahai.org/beliefs/life-spirit/devotion/fasting
A prayer for the Fast:
"I beseech Thee, O my God, by Thy mighty Sign, and by the revelation of Thy grace amongst men, to cast me not away from the gate of the city of Thy presence, and to disappoint not the hopes I have set on the manifestations of Thy grace amidst Thy creatures. Thou seest me, O my God, holding to Thy Name, the Most Holy, the Most Luminous, the Most Mighty, the Most Great, the Most Exalted, the Most Glorious, and clinging to the hem of the robe to which have clung all in this world and in the world to come.
"I beseech Thee, O my God, by Thy most sweet Voice and by Thy most exalted Word, to draw me ever nearer to the threshold of Thy door, and to suffer me not to be far removed from the shadow of Thy mercy and the canopy of Thy bounty. Thou seest me, O my God, holding to Thy Name, the Most Holy, the Most Luminous, the Most Mighty, the Most Great, the Most Exalted, the Most Glorious, and clinging to the hem of the robe to which have clung all in this world and in the world to come.
Read the complete prayer at
https://www.bahaiprayers.org/fast1.htm
Exemptions from Fasting:
There are exemptions permitted from Fasting.... among which are:
"The sick, elderly, and very young are exempt from fasting, as are pregnant or nursing mothers, travellers and those doing heavy physical work.
"If a Holy Day occurs during the traditional period of fasting, then the fast is not obligatory on those days."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/bahai/customs/fasting.shtml
The purpose of Fasting is spiritual:
Fasting, said ‘Abdu’l-Bahá “is the cause of awakening man. The heart becomes tender and the spirituality of man increases. This is produced by the fact that man’s thoughts will be confined to the commemoration of God, and through this awakening and stimulation surely ideal advancements follow”.1
However, it is important to note that fasting should not be viewed as a practice of asceticism, nor is it to be used as a means of penance: “[T]his material fast is an outer token of the spiritual fast; it is a symbol of self-restraint, the withholding of oneself from all appetites of the self, taking on the characteristics of the spirit, being carried away by the breathings of heaven and catching fire from the love of God.”2
https://www.bahai.org/beliefs/life-spirit/devotion/fasting
A prayer for the Fast:
"I beseech Thee, O my God, by Thy mighty Sign, and by the revelation of Thy grace amongst men, to cast me not away from the gate of the city of Thy presence, and to disappoint not the hopes I have set on the manifestations of Thy grace amidst Thy creatures. Thou seest me, O my God, holding to Thy Name, the Most Holy, the Most Luminous, the Most Mighty, the Most Great, the Most Exalted, the Most Glorious, and clinging to the hem of the robe to which have clung all in this world and in the world to come.
"I beseech Thee, O my God, by Thy most sweet Voice and by Thy most exalted Word, to draw me ever nearer to the threshold of Thy door, and to suffer me not to be far removed from the shadow of Thy mercy and the canopy of Thy bounty. Thou seest me, O my God, holding to Thy Name, the Most Holy, the Most Luminous, the Most Mighty, the Most Great, the Most Exalted, the Most Glorious, and clinging to the hem of the robe to which have clung all in this world and in the world to come.
Read the complete prayer at
https://www.bahaiprayers.org/fast1.htm
Exemptions from Fasting:
There are exemptions permitted from Fasting.... among which are:
"The sick, elderly, and very young are exempt from fasting, as are pregnant or nursing mothers, travellers and those doing heavy physical work.
"If a Holy Day occurs during the traditional period of fasting, then the fast is not obligatory on those days."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/bahai/customs/fasting.shtml