LENT FASTING GUIDE
One of the most important seasons on the Christian calendar is the season of Lent. Lent is a for reflection, preparation, prayer, and fasting in anticipation of the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus at Easter.
This guide is designed to be a primary on the Lenten season and help you understand how you might be led to participate in it.
"We hope that as Christians we mature and grow and become more and more like Christ. But the church in its wisdom assumes we will fail, even after our baptism. The church presumes that life is long and zeal fades, not just for some of us but for all. So it has included within its life a season in which all of us can recapture our love for God and his kingdom and cast off those things that so easily entangle us."
-Esau McCaulley
WHAT IS LENT?
Like many Christian practices throughout church history, the season of Lent developed organically over several centuries. One aspect of the tradition comes from the practice of new Christians being baptized on Easter Sunday. Oftentimes in the early church, new converts, or catechumens, would learn and study for up to three years prior to their baptism. Before their baptism on Easter they would fast for forty days. Forty days comes from several places in the scriptures (the life of Moses, Elijah, and Jesus are a few) and is a number that is symbolic of testing.
Over the years this fast was experimented with and expanded until the practice of a forty-day period of reflection and fasting was settled on somewhere between the 4th and 6th centuries. The practices of the Lenten season have continued to develop over the history of the church, and since Lent isn’t a biblical mandate, Christians have the freedom to participate (or not) in whatever ways best foster deeper connection with God.
HOW DOES LENT WORK?
The season of Lent covers six Sundays prior to Easter and begins the Wednesday before that first Sunday. That Wednesday is called “Ash Wednesday” and in 2025 it is March 5th. Revelation Church will mark the beginning of Lent with an Ash Wednesday service on March 5th at 5:30pm.
The Lenten fast is typically observed every day from Ash Wednesday up until Easter Sunday with a couple of exceptions. Sundays are considered feast days and the fast is broken. Additionally, there is often a feast similar to Passover on Maundy Thursday (the day before Good Friday when Jesus was crucified - “maundy” is an old English word that has come to mean “foot-washing”) to mark Jesus’ last supper with his disciples. Again, these are just church traditions, and we have freedom in Christ to engage with them in whatever ways that God is leading.
HOW SHOULD I FAST?
If you decide to practice a Lenten fast, you should prayerfully consider a few different options.
Fasting traditions for Lent are extremely varied. Many Christians of the past fasted from most rich foods such as meat, fish, eggs, dairy, sugar, and alcohol. The simple Lenten diet of vegetables and grains was common (and the fast was broken on Sundays.)
In the modern era, many Christians choose a singular, more specific food to fast from during the season such as chocolate or alcohol. What is important in choosing a food to fast from is that it is something that matters to you. If you hate oysters and commit to fasting from them for Lent, you’re going to miss out on the spiritual benefits.
WHAT IS ABSTAINING?
Many Christians decide that their Lenten fast will be from something that is not food. This is more appropriately called “abstaining.” Some options here are social media, watching certain TV or sports, shopping for pleasure, etc. There are many practices that can take an unhealthy hold on our lives and the Lenten season is an appropriate time to deal with those addictive habits. It is worth noting that if you are going to abstain from something, it should be something that is meaningful to you in order to receive the spiritual benefit.
THE VALUE OF FASTING
Fasting is valuable for many reasons. Food interacts with our bodies, minds, and spirits in complex ways. By denying ourselves food, we force our bodies to deal with hunger and we have an opportunity to seek the grace of God to overcome that hunger. While similar things can happen when you abstain from non-food practices, there is something about fasting from food that can be both physically weakening and spiritually strengthening.
It bears repeating that there are no hard and fast rules here. You should prayerfully consider how the Lord is leading you into the Lenten season, but don’t discount the power of fasting from food as part of your Lenten practice.
WHAT IS LENT FOR?
The Lenten Season and the practice of fasting have many spiritual benefits, but they are all dependent on the heart of the individual to engage with God and do the reflective work to make the season meaningful. Here are a few ways that you might expect spiritual fruit during Lent.
DEPENDENCE ON GOD
If you are fasting rightly, it will, at least sometimes, be difficult. You will be hungry. You will want to scroll on the social media platform you’ve given up. The drive for these things may be incredibly strong. It is possible that you will feel tormented by the idea of continuing your fast. You may even reason that since Lent is a practice that is optional for Christians, you should quit in the middle of the season.
This is an opportunity to cry out to God for strength. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:10: “So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” It is precisely when you feel that you can’t continue your fast that you will see the power of God within you. Take care to be aware of that inner conflict when it arises and call out to God for help in your weakness.
AWARENESS OF SIN
Food has a way of affecting our mood. During your fast you may find that you are depressed, or anxious, or angry, in ways that are not typical. Noticing these emotional cues will allow you to dig deeper into your heart to understand some of the sinful tendencies that live under the surface but may not often come out. God is being gracious to you in revealing these things through the fast. When you begin to have a greater awareness of your sin, confess it first to God, and then to another Christian whom you can trust to hold that confession in confidence and pray for you as you seek God’s power in overcoming that sin.
TO OVERCOME TEMPTATION
An Eastern Orthodox priest once said, “If you can learn to say no to a cheeseburger, you can learn to say no to pornography.” Many of us struggle with habits and addictions of all kinds that are at least unhealthy and many times explicitly sinful. Saying no to “the sin that so easily ensnares us” is a constant challenge. Fasting is practice for that challenge. Fasting from certain foods that you love, or abstaining from other practices that are not sinful is a safe way to build spiritual muscle against real, sinful temptation.
As creatures we have very limited willpower. It’s a finite resource and it runs out. In order to overcome temptation consistently throughout our lives, we need to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to make us into people that are more in love with the good than with the evil. Fasting is one spiritual discipline that God will use, if we allow him, to shape us into people that can be stronger in our ability to say no to sin.
OTHER LENTEN PRACTICES
While Lent is primarily known for fasting, there are other practices associated with the season, as well as general spiritual disciplines that might be helpful as you participate. As you subtract from your life through fasting, there may be ways that God is inviting you to add in your pursuit of Him.
THE STUDY OF SCRIPTURE
It is always valuable to have a consistent discipline of engaging with the scriptures, but during the Lenten season you may consider a focus on a particular section of God’s word. In his book on the Lenten season, Esau McCaulley suggests that reading about two chapters a day in the gospels will get you through all four of them by Easter. You could also read through all of Paul’s letters during Lent at the same pace.
REFLECTION
Disciplines of reflection are often helpful practices. As God speaks to you during your fast, makes you aware of your inner sins, and works his strength in your temptations, consider journaling or meeting with a friend to discuss what God is doing in you through this season. Outward processing tends to make concrete ideas that don’t have a solid form in your mind, and that concrete thought will often help you to continue to move forward in spiritual maturity.
GENEROSITY AND JUSTICE
Just like with scripture, it is always a good practice for the Christian to be engaged in works of generosity and justice. The Lenten fast is a good opportunity to participate with more focus in these disciplines. One very old Christian writing, The Shepherd of Hermas, instructs us that ”after calculating the amount of the cost of that day which you would have expended, you will give it to the widow or orphan or someone in need.” If you are fasting from the coffee stand for Lent, what would it look like to donate the money you saved to a Christian charity?
Maybe your prayer practice can be amended to add prayers for justice, and if you aren’t sure what to pray for, this season could be a time to look deeper into the needs of the less fortunate in our community and around the world.
COMMUNITY
Lent is a season that is given to us by the church. It is therefore, by definition, not an individual endeavor. Revelation Church will engage in Lenten practice as a body through the Ash Wednesday and Good Friday services. We will adjust our Sunday liturgy to pray a prayer of confession in the place of the Lord’s Prayer each Sunday. You are journeying through Lent with your church community and it is wise to take advantage of the support that your relationships offer by participating in these formative practices together.
WHAT ARE SOME PITFALLS?
There are some dangers to look out for during Lent. As with any spiritual practice in which a Christian decide to devote themselves especially to the Lord, the enemy will try to stop you and spoil any spiritual fruit that might come from the practice.
LENT IS NOT A SHOW
In Matthew 6:16, Jesus tells us, “Whenever you fast, don’t be gloomy like the hypocrites. For they disfigure their faces so that their fasting is obvious to people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward.” While public, planned fasting was a part of Jewish practice, Jesus points out a tendency that we all have to make a show of our spiritual disciplines. While it may be obvious that many of us are fasting during Lent, guard your heart against the temptation to talk too much about your fast. You don’t need to “humblebrag” about what you are fasting from on social media. Be aware of a fleshly desire to drop your fasting regime into conversation so that others will know how holy you are. If you are fasting so that others think you’re extra spiritual, that’s all the reward you will get. God will not be honored by your fast and you will not receive the spiritual benefits that are possible.
LENT IS NOT A DIET
Lent is not a Christian “slim down for summer” program. There is nothing wrong with fasting for physical reasons, but if that’s your motivation, you will miss out on the spiritual growth that Lent has to offer you.
Additionally, be careful if you are abstaining from a practice that you feel has an unwarranted hold on your life. It may be appropriate for you to abstain from Instagram because you sense that its influence on you is unhealthy. Lent is a fine time to make a healthy spiritual change. However, if you are abstaining from something that’s bad for you, you should ask the Holy Spirit for his power to completely change your relationship to that thing or remove it from your life permanently.