Fasting Focus :: Fourth Week of Lent

Fourth Week of Lent
Abandonment

Food and Meals
Jesus is the ultimate example of what it looks like to abandon our will to the will of the Father. Abandonment always requires surrender. So, this week we will physically be engaging abandonment and surrender by fasting food.

Pick either a type of food (like meat or carbs or even “solids”) and fast from them for the week. Or alternately, pick a meal (like breakfast or lunch) to skip on a daily basis. If you skip meals, spend that time you would have spent preparing and eating food in doing something like prayer, reading Scripture or serving others. Perhaps take these blocks of time and find a way to bless someone, even if it’s just time spent listening to them.

Keep journal entries of what it’s like to go hungry, even if it’s just for one meal. What has it been like to begin to assert some mastery over your body these past two weeks?

How does your body/mind respond to that?

If you forgo a whole category of food, consider:

• What is it like to deny a craving? Is it easy or hard?
• How does that craving grow the more you deny it?
• Does it eventually become easier? Why?
  

For more resources on fasting: Basics, Purpose of, Frequently Asked Questions & Guidelines, Biblical Examples, Types of Fasting.