22nd February 2026

A Lent Fast

I saw a lovely cartoon this week. It pictured somebody lounging in an armchair, a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates open in front of him, mindlessly scrolling on his phone. The caption read "There are at least two time zones where it's not Lent yet"! It made me laugh because it expresses the inner reluctance I can feel towards entering fully into the spirit of this season of penitence and fasting. The cartoon reminded me of several thought-provoking conversations I've had about fasting with different people over the last few days. What is the point, we have wondered, of giving stuff up for Lent? What does it actually do?

Firstly, fasting is considered to be a spiritual discipline. I've been watching the Winter Olympics over the past few weeks. An athlete who wants to be able to do the amazing feats these athletes are demonstrating on snow and ice has to discipline their body. They submit to physical training, special diets, hours and days and weeks and months of discomfort and privation, to prepare themselves for sometimes just a few seconds in the spotlight. Fasting is one of the disciplines (along with prayer and generosity) that help us to prepare ourselves spiritually to live the "life in all its fullness" Jesus has invited us into. Just as an athlete may not notice at 6am on a cold winter morning the effects their training is having on their bodies, so we may not always see the effects of spiritual disciplines on our spirits - but we can trust that God "who sees what we do in secret, will reward us" (Matthew 6).

Secondly, in our consumerist society, fasting is a profoundly counter-cultural action, which has been described as "spiritual defiance". To choose to fast is to proclaim our faith that we are more than what we consume, that we refuse to submit to the lie that by buying this product, eating this, drinking that, following this thread, we can somehow become the person we were always intended to be. To choose to fast is to proclaim our trust in the words God spoke over Jesus at his baptism and still speaks over us today, that we are his beloved child, that God knows us as we are and loves us anyway. To choose to fast is to take a stand against the impulses of the world - and to believe that our small stand, our mustard seed of faith, has an effect in the spiritual world.

Thirdly, it may be an unpopular discipline in our 21st century world, but the Bible expects us to go through periods of fasting as well as feasting. To fast is to follow the example of the Old Testament prophets, of the disciples and of Jesus himself and to recognise that we are dependent not on what we put into our bodies or minds, but upon "every word that comes from the mouth  of God" (Matthew 4).

Safeguarding note
It should be said that fasting from food is not for everybody and nobody should feel under pressure to give up food during Lent or at any other time. If you are pregnant, have a health condition, or have had issues with food and eating in the past, but want to enter into a Lent fast, it would be wise to choose something else.