Day 32/40 into Lent Fasting | What is Lent Fasting & Why?
What is Lent Fasting?
Lent starts on Ash Wednesday and lasts until Easter Sunday. One of the traditional practices of Lent is fasting. We are told in Matthew 4:1-11 that Jesus spent forty days fasting in the wilderness and afterwards “he was starving.” Fasting can be a powerful practice for a Christian, but it’s also significantly misunderstood, culturally challenging, and therefore decidedly under-practiced.^
^Fasting is a way to place ourselves in the way of grace by withdrawing our reliance on earthly things so that we can feast on God’s presence and power. It’s not dieting or abstinence so that we can learn to ‘control ourselves’ more. It’s not minimising the time to eat so that we have more time to do daily tasks. It is literally ‘giving up’ earthly things and replacing them with time of prayer and reflection - “feasting in God’s presence”.
^Reference: https://gravityleadership.com/how-to-fast-for-lent/
During this season of Lent, I decided to do a partial fast. I chose not to just ‘give UP’ coffee (my daily routine and comfort), I chose to ‘give IN’ to Jesus. 32 days it has been and it hasn’t been easy.
What was the goal? To feel a deeper connection with Christ and feel a transformation, helping me learn to replace my ‘willpower’ with a ‘willingness’ to follow.
How have I been feeling in the past 32 days? Oscillating between {frustration and self-righteousness} AND {empowered and needing God’s grace}
How am I feeling now? CHALLENGED but as always, peaceful.
Has it transformed me? Not yet. Not in a way that I had hoped.
Why not? There’s still a voice in my head playing that ‘I’ can do it. Pride is still lingering in me. I am falling short and I want to feel completely humbled.
What am I going do then? Keep praying, holding in faith, keep praying.
Jesus, it is YOU who gives me strength. Not my own doing. Help me and build me to let this Truth sink in over the last 8 days of Lent.
Have you got a fasting experience you want to share and to encourage others? Comment below!