A Word on Fasting

Traditionally, participants use the Lenten season to fast during the weekdays and feast on Sundays. This is true all the way through Holy Week, which begins on Palm Sunday (March 29, 2026). Whether it’s abstaining from food, technology, social media, spending, entertainment, sleep, or something else, we can’t talk about Lent without talking about fasting. 

But…why fast? This is where we need to examine our hearts and proceed with caution. Fasting is not about losing weight to look better before Spring Break. It’s not about reinvention or meeting our personal goals. It’s not about challenging ourselves for the sake of a challenge. None of these things are inherently “bad”...but they miss the point.

We fast during Lent so that we can pursue a deeper intimacy with Jesus. Easter comes with a whole host of cultural expectations—pastel dresses and ties, baskets and bunnies, family brunches and egg hunts. It’s easy to get so tied up in these secondary things that we miss out on the true meaning of Easter. When we observe Lent, it reminds us that there would be no resurrection without the crucifixion.

It is a time where we can fully prepare our hearts for the overwhelming joy of Easter Sunday by acknowledging the days of sorrow and suffering that came before it. Whenever we feel a pang of hunger or an urge to swipe the credit card or a pull to hit the snooze button during a fast, it creates a physical longing that reminds us to meditate on the price of our redemption and the lengths that Jesus went to in order to save us.

Fasting isn’t about subtracting something as much as it is about adding the BEST thing—communion with God. With that in mind, we encourage you to spend some time in prayer. What is the main source of distraction in your life right now that keeps you from spending daily time with God? What is a temptation that you can’t seem to shake? What is eating up most of your free time? Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal these things to you, and use the answers to inform how you fast. 

This may look different for each of us…and that’s okay! We are not more holy, and God is not more pleased with us if our fast is more challenging than someone else’s. You may want to add on a new fast each week, or you may want to stick with one for the whole season. Maybe you want to go big, or maybe you want to start small. You may be restricted from certain fasts by health conditions and life circumstances. We have more good news for you:

Lent isn’t meant to be a burden. Rather, it’s a special opportunity for each of us to steward as our unique schedules and situations allow. Our ultimate hope for you is that you would use a fast to create some margin and then leverage that margin for the sake of delighting in Jesus. It is meant to help you engage in deeper times of worship, Bible study, prayer, community, meditation, and reflection. 

Following Christ into the wilderness does require some inconvenience and a resistance to our culture of instant gratification. But, we promise you this:

If you entrust God by establishing a consistent rhythm of fasting during this season, you will reap a harvest of spiritual renewal, maturity, and breakthrough. Let’s prepare our hearts accordingly as we ask the Lord to do a work in us as he gives us the “...strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that [we] may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:18-19)

Fasting Ideas For You to Prayerfully Consider

• Food - abstaining from one meal a day
• Food - abstaining from all food from dawn to dusk (We encourage you to drink water!)
• Food - abstaining from caffeine or sweets
• Technology - abstaining from social media 
• Technology - abstaining from TV shows, sports, or movies 
• Technology - abstaining from video games or secular music
• Other - abstaining from non-essential shopping
• Other - abstaining from sleep (waking up early or staying up later to spend more time with God. We do not encourage you to abstain from sleep entirely.)