While the foundations for Lent Fasting aren’t entirely specified by the Christian Bible, the biblical practice of fasting dates back to the Old Testament as a spiritual discipline to deepen our relationship with God. Today, fasting continues to be practiced by many Christian denominations and is annually observed through the time of Lent in preparation for Easter Sunday. Lent is a 40-day period of reflection and prayer to recollect the lifetime of Jesus Christ – specifically his temptation, struggle, suffering, crucifixion, and death.
The church celebrates the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter. Fasting is one in every of the three pillars of lent alongside prayer and almsgiving. The act of abstinence and self-denial from worldly pleasures gives Christians purposeful time to hope, repent, and concentrate on gratitude. Whether your church doesn’t observe Lent fasting otherwise you simply do not know methods to do it, you may discover the Christian significance of fasting for Lent and practical guidance to your fast within the Lenten season.
Key Facts about Lent Fasting:
- Christian fasting is refraining from food for spiritual purposes and edification
- Lent Fasting lasts from Ash Wednesday until the Saturday before Easter
- The period of Lent Fasting relies on Jesus’s time of fasting within the Gospels
- Protestants, Catholics, & Eastern Orthodox Christians each observe in unique ways
- In the Bible, fasting is joined with prayer
- Fasting has several health advantages
Lent Fasting Rules: Table of Contents
What is Fasting and Why Do Christians Fast?
Christian fasting might be explained as refraining from food for spiritual purposes and edification. Merely abstaining from food since it shouldn’t be available or for medical causes doesn’t equate to Christian fasting. There should be a spiritual motive and purpose for fasting as a Christian, especially the fasting of Lent.
In his book “A Hunger for God,” John Piper writes, “Christian fasting, at its root, is the hunger of a homesickness for God. Christian fasting shouldn’t be only the spontaneous effect of a superior satisfaction in God, it is usually a selected weapon against every force on the planet that may take that satisfaction away.”
The purpose of fasting should be to attract closer to God.
Lent Fasting Rules: A Guide to Fasting for Lent
For Protestants: Amid the various Protestant churches, you will discover a mix of recommendations regarding the Lenten fast. This is an final result of the Reformation, as founders similar to Martin Luther and John Calvin desired recent followers to center their Christian lives on salvation by God’s grace relatively than traditional spiritual disciplines.
Today, most Protestant churches view fasting as a person decision for members who want to strengthen their relationship with God. Additionally, many churches do support members to withdraw indulgences similar to favorite foods, social media, and watching TV during Lent.
For Catholics: The custom of fasting during Lent has long been embraced by the Roman Catholic Church. The rules are very distinct and include fasting on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all Fridays during Lent. However, the fasting rules don’t apply to young children, the elderly, or anyone whose well-being could also be endangered by the abrupt variation in food plan.
The modern dictates for fasting and abstinence are present in the Code of Canon Law for the Roman Catholic Church. To a confined extent, they might be adjusted by the conference of bishops for every country.
For Orthodox: Some of essentially the most stringent dictates for fasting are observed within the Eastern Orthodox Church. During the Lenten season, there are quite a lot of days when members are encouraged to scrupulously restrain their diets or abstain from eating altogether:
- On weekdays during Lent, meat, eggs, dairy, fish, wine, and oil are restricted.
- The week before Lent is “Cheese-fare,” when all animal meats are prohibited.
- Good Friday is a day for a whole fast, during which members are encouraged to eat nothing.
Rules for Lent Fasting within the Bible
Christians have observed Lent for roughly 2,000 years to honor and commemorate Jesus’s death and burial before glorifying His resurrection. One of the central traditions of Lent is fasting, the discipline of abstaining from specific foods or something you enjoy for a set period of time. The Newspring Church describes the aim of fasting, stating: “Fasting helps us practice saying “no” to our desires and saying “yes” to Jesus [and the will of God].”
In scripture, fasting is a spiritual discipline to develop a more in-depth communion with God. It’s a practice of devotion through which we show our obedience to Jesus and repent for sin. In the Book of Joel, fasting is described as a “return to the Lord” saying “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all of your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and never your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he’s gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster” (Joel 2:12-13).
Fasting is joined with prayer as spiritual practice and disciplines to deepen our trust and reliance on God for all things. As faithful Christians, we must train our hearts and minds to know that each one good things come from God.
“And once they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom that they had believed” (Acts 14:23).
“Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all of the inhabitants of the land to the home of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord” (Joel 1:14).
Spiritual and Physical Benefits of Fasting
The spiritual edification of fasting encourages our reliance on God and repentance for the shortage thereof. Fasting for Lent is primarily a spiritual discipline to orient our complete dependence on God. We repent for not all the time acknowledging God’s presence and charm in providing for our every need. Our God is a loving God, and fasting is one approach to refocus our lives upon looking for His kingdom of heaven first.
“And my God will supply every need of yours based on his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
Fasting has gained popularity for its health advantages within the last decade, as many have questioned the diets and lifestyles of modernity. The physical health advantages of fasting have been studied to indicate promising biological benefits from ancient spiritual practice. Healthline reported a collection of health advantages from fasting. Some which can be mentioned include:
- Promotes blood sugar control by reducing insulin resistance
- Promotes higher health by fighting inflammation
- May boost brain function and stop neurodegenerative disorders
- Aids weight reduction by limiting calorie intake and boosting metabolism
- Increases growth hormone secretion, which is important for growth, metabolism, weight reduction, and muscle strength
Encouraging Bible Verses for Lent Fasting
Matthew 6:16-18
“And whenever you fast, don’t look gloomy just like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting could also be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they’ve received their reward. But whenever you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting will not be seen by others but by your Father who’s in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Isaiah 58:3-7
‘Why have we fasted, and also you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you are taking no knowledge of it?’ Behold, within the day of your fast you seek your personal pleasure, and oppress all of your employees. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours today is not going to make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I select, a day for an individual to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a quick, and a day acceptable to the Lord? “Is not this the fast that I select: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to interrupt every yoke? Is it to not share your bread with the hungry and convey the homeless poor into your own home; whenever you see the naked, to cover him, and never to cover yourself from your personal flesh?
Joel 2:12-13
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all of your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and never your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he’s gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
Luke 4:1-4
And Jesus, stuffed with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit within the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And once they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you might be the Son of God, command this stone to turn into bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.'”
Article image from GettyImages
Sources:
Newspring.cc
LearnReligions.com
Prayers for Lent | Christianity.com
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