Fasting for Lent, part 2

I am encouraging our congregation to fast during Lent which begins on Ash Wednesday, February 17. This is simply an invitation and not an expectation. There will be a short meeting following worship (about 12:45 pm) on Sunday, February 7 for everyone planning to fast during Lent. We will make sure everyone understands how to fast, answer questions, and encourage one another.

As I said at the beginning of January, fasting is a spiritual discipline; it means abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. Fasting and prayer go together. Therefore we devote the time normally used for eating to reading scripture and prayer. Furthermore, the feeling of hunger is a reminder to draw near to God. Doing so often leads to greater intimacy with the Lord and to hearing more clearly what the Lord is saying to us. While there are interesting physical things that happen when we fast, far beyond anything physical is the spiritual. This is a discipline that helps us hear from the Lord and be in the Lord’s presence. Also, as Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, we should refrain from calling attention to what we are doing. We do not act miserable because, in fact, we are not miserable. We are feeding on God!

Please remember that some people are not able to fast, such as those who are diabetic, pregnant, or heart patients. Please do not abstain from food if it is unhealthy for you. There are other ways to fast. We can abstain from the internet, chocolate, television, or something else. It has to be something important to you daily, though. This is the practice of “giving up” something for Lent and would be given up the entire season of Lent, from February 17 until Easter Day, April 4. Again, the major work of fasting is in the realm of the spirit. Keep prayer and fasting together.

If you are fasting by abstaining from food there are several options:

• Twenty-four hour partial fast. You can drink fresh fruit juice during the fast. If you fast from lunch to lunch you would not eat two meals (supper and breakfast). This could be done once a week.

• Twenty-four hour normal fast. Again do not eat two meals but only drink water (and healthy amounts of it). This could be done once a week.

• Thirty-six hour fast. Do not eat three meals and drink only water. For instance, to fast on Wednesday, eat supper on Tuesday evening, then eat nothing more until breakfast on Thursday morning. This could be done once or twice a week. The ancient church manual, the Didache, prescribed two fast days a week – Wednesday and Friday. John Wesley revived this teaching from the Didache and urged early Methodists to fast on these two days. Later in Wesley’s life he fasted every Friday.

• Three to seven day fast or longer. The first three or four days are usually the most difficult, physically. The sixth or seventh day you begin to feel stronger and more alert. By the ninth or tenth day the body will have eliminated most toxins, hunger pains will be minimal, and you will feel good. Physically, this is the most enjoyable part of the fast. Anywhere between twenty-one and forty days, hunger pains will return. This finally is the first stage of starvation. The body has used up its reserves. The fast should be broken with small amounts of fruit or vegetable juice. The stomach has shrunk and the digestive system has gone into a kind of hibernation. You must be very careful as you begin eating again!

Please consider fasting during Lent. If you choose to join me in this spiritual discipline, we will meet for a short time following worship on February 7 to help us prepare.