Fasting and Praying

In continuing the series on observing a holy Lent, today we will look at fasting and praying. Biblical fasting is going without food. Both the Greek and Hebrew words for fast mean a voluntary absence from food. There are many people in both the Old and New Testaments who fasted. Fasting is always associated with praying, the two are interconnected.

Ezra 8:21

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.

Nehemiah 1:4

As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Matthew 4:1-2

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.² And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

“Fast and pray in order to humble yourself and purify your worship. In fasting we are not trying to get something from God, but seeking to realign our hearts’ affections with His. In fasting we can more readily say, “We love you, Lord, more than anything in the world.” Lust of any kind is perverted worship, but fasting enables us to cleanse the sanctuary of our hearts from every other rival.” (International House of Prayer – Fasting)

Lent is the perfect time for us to seek the Lord through fasting and praying so we can better align our hearts with the Lord and seek His will for our lives. There are many ways to fast but one of the easiest ways to start is to fast from after dinner on one night through the start of dinner the following night. It requires you to skip breakfast, lunch and snacks. It is a very doable fast and when it is accompanied with prayer can really help us seek the Lord in a powerful way.

Look at your calendar this week, what day can you set aside for fasting and praying? Mark it on your calendar, begin praying to the Lord about your fast today and then follow through with it. May the Lord bless your time of fasting and praying and may it help you draw even closer to Him.

• Scripture from www.biblegateway.com

Advertisement

Join me on a Lenten Journey

We are in the season of Lent. It is the 40 days, not including Sundays, from Ash Wednesday until Easter. It is a time of self-reflection, recognizing our sinfulness and repentance, or at least it is supposed to be. We are currently 12 days in, how is your Lent going?

Some may have started off with the right attitude and a desire to use Lent as a time to preparation to really be able to celebrate Easter. However, many of us get distracted and busy with our lives and get off track. Some may have the desire to keep a holy Lent but don’t really understand how to do that.

The Book of Common Prayer’s Ash Wednesday service has a beautiful invitation that is said prior to the imposition of ashes. It not only invites us to observe a holy Lent, but tells us exactly how to do that.

“I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.” (BCP 1979)

First of all, it is an invitation and like all other invitations, we can accept or reject it. If you chose to accept this invitation then you need to do what is necessary to observe a holy Lent. A holy Lent includes self-examination, repentance, prayer, fasting, self denial and reading and meditation on God’s Word.

Looking at this list may seem overwhelming but it is very doable. For the remainder of Lent I will be describing what each of these things are and giving practical examples of what they look like in your life. It is not too late to start. Will you accept the invitation for a holy Lent?