+ Repentance, Prayer, Fasting, and Works of Love +
In our Ash Wednesday Liturgy, we were invited to struggle against everything that leads us away from love of God and neighbors by exercising the Discipline of Lent: repentance, prayer, fasting, and works of love. These become the specific occasions and opportunities for spiritual renewal during this Lenten season of renewal. In these particular aspects of the Lenten Discipline, we focus our lives on Christ’s self-sacrificing passion, death and resurrection, which have brought us acceptance, forgiveness and redemption by God. Through that same discipline, we make a loving response to God.
During the Sunday Adult Education session in Lent we will look at a different component of the Discipline of Lent:
March 5 – Repentance March 12 & 19 – Prayer March 26 & April 2 – Fasting April 9 – Works of Love
Also, on each Sunday in Lent, you will receive a daily Lenten challenge related to the theme of that week in your email. We invite you into intentionality, that is, to set a time each day to read and participate in the daily challenge. Contributors to the week’s daily challenges are Randall Rutsch, David Potas, Kimberly Matney, Casey Burnett, Christian Meyer, and Pastor Mark.
We pray that we all are blessed through this Lenten exercise and truly experience a memorable Lent.
Week 4 - Fasting
Fasting comes to us from Judaism and was recommended by Jesus both in example and teaching (Luke 4:2, Matt.6:16-18, Mark 2:20). It was also practiced by many prominent figures throughout scripture, including Moses, David, Elijah, Anna and Paul, yet there is no biblical command that all Christians must fast. But it is a practice designed to strengthen the spiritual life by weakening one's attractions to pleasures of the senses and was assumed as a common practice by the disciples after Jesus’ ascension (Acts 3:2-3). God is always at the center of fasting, thus fasting is always coupled with prayer and spiritual preparation.
Valerie Hess provides a basic definition of fasting as “saying no to otherwise normal activities for the sake of intense spiritual focus.”[1]Fasting clears us out and opens us up to intentionally seeking God’s will and grace. Richard Foster[2] notes that more than any other discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us. We cover up the things that are inside of us with food or other distractions but in fasting these things will surface. Pride, anger, bitterness, jealousy, strife and fear may be revealed in fasting. And when revealed, we know that healing is available through the power of Christ. Fasting calls on us to trust God to sustain us (Mat. 4:4) and we can fast from anything that gets in the way of our relationship with God.
Suggested Activities for Lent at Trinity:
SUNDAY – When you feel empty or restless, what do you do to fill the emptiness?[3]
Thought: A bit of self-denial may not seem like a huge deal, as many often skip a meal when busy or when trying to lose weight. But often we use food, entertainment or other creature comforts to keep an inner hunger or trouble at bay. Removing these distractions allows us to recognize what is controlling us.
Challenge:Be still. Think about your patterns or responses to feeling empty or restless. Are they healthy responses that help identify the source of this feeling or do they distract you from the feeling and paper it over. Recognize those responses that are not helpful and offer them up in prayer.
MONDAY –What is your attitude toward fasting or self-denial?
Thought: Many of us likely have difficulty thinking of disciplines as a positive and creative way to enhance our relationship with God. In a “have it your way” culture and a world that seems to worship instant gratification and physical comfort, the notion of discipline is very counter-cultural and will be viewed by many as burdensome. Yet don’t we also know that the most meaningful things in our lives are the result of discipline and delayed gratification, whether in work, athletics or relationships?
Challenge:Be still. Take some time to think about some of the things that are most meaningful in your life. Make a list and then for each, add all the ways that discipline contributed to those. Then pray that you can apply this awareness of discipline to your relationship with God.
TUESDAY – Do you see fasting as a way to find favor from God?
Thought: There is a strong temptation to pervert a discipline such as fasting in an attempt to win God’s favor or to get God to do things our way. Or we may think that by our efforts, we are transforming ourselves or impressing others. Approached this way, there is not chance for spiritual growth and “they have had their reward.” (Matt 6:16) “The only pure motive in any discipline is motive of loving obedience to God.”[4] Our personal disciplines are also an integral part of and supported by the classical Christian disciplines of prayer, scripture reading and liturgy. This keeps them from become do-it-yourself spirituality or another form of works righteousness.
Challenge:Be still.
WEDNESDAY– In what ways do you currently deny yourself?
Thought:“One of the main purposes of fasting is to wean us from our dependence upon God’s gifts and enable us to become dependent on God alone.”[5]We tend to grasp those gifts God give for meeting our needs and succumb to becoming dependent on them for our well-being and wholeness. When this destructive bondage of dependence becomes an idol blocking our relationship with God, the fasting discipline is needed.
Challenge:Be still. Wednesdays and Fridays were traditional days for fasting from food in the early church. Contemplate those food related things that you may be dependent on, such as sweets or alcohol. Prayfully consider fasting from one of these for the remainder of Lent.
THURSDAY – When has self-denial brought you something good?
Thought: Fasting is inherently contemplative. By removing dependency or distraction, it opens us to intentionally seeking God’s will beyond the normal habits of worship and prayer. It provides the time and attentiveness for being one on one with God and reminds us that we can be nourished by “every work that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4).
Challenge:If you have not already selected a non food related item to avoid for Lent, think about those things that control you and consume your time. Spend some time in contemplative prayer and see what the Spirit suggests you give up for the remainder of Lent. Offer this up in a posture of brokenness and incompleteness and ask for wholeness and strength. Spend that time in the presence of God with your Bible.
FRIDAY –Where do you operate from the entitlement mentality?
Thought: We know we live in the richest society in the history of the world, and one that prizes personal success or achievement. Yet when we are honest with ourselves, we know that it is a combination of our circumstances, luck, help from others and our own efforts that form our successes.
Challenge:Be still. Try fasting for 24 hours by skipping two meals. Do this only if you do not have medical conditions that could make it dangerous. Most people find that fasting from one dinner to the next is easiest and be sure to drink plenty of liquids. Spend what would be meal times in the presence of God, offering yourself and time to him. Read your Bible, offer praise and thankfulness for all that God has provided.
SATURDAY –What has the experience of fasting been like for you?
Thought: Fasting and confession of sins are the two disciplines with the most potential as tools for freedom for many Christians. With practice and a focus on our relationship with God, we can develop strength for times of adversity if we have trained well in the discipline of fasting.
Challenge:Be still.Contemplate the experience of your fast. What insights or experience did it provide you? Consider whether periodic or longer fasts would be helpful as a personal discipline for faith formation.
Luther in his Small Catechism said, "Fasting and other outward preparations serve a good purpose."
Written and compiled by Randall Rutsch with resources from the Trinity Adult Library- Adele Calhoun, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us; Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth; Valerie E. Hess, Spiritual Disciplines: A Year of Readings; M. Robert Mulholland Jr., Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation; Rev. Thomas L. Weitzel, A Handbook for theDiscipline of Lent at
[1]Valerie E. Hess, Spiritual Disciplines: A Year of Readings
[2]RichardJ. Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth
[3] Questions based on Adele Calhoun, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us
[4]M. Robert Mulholland Jr., Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation
[5] Ibid.