ALBRIGHT UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Lenten Fasting—tradition?

Fasting has been apart of Methodism from it’s early beginnings. John Wesley considered fasting an important part of a Christian’s life and he personally fasted weekly. To Wesley, fasting was an important way to express sorrow for sin and penitence for overindulgence in eating and drinking. He believed it benefited prayer life by allowing more time for prayer. He also  felt fasting was more meaningful if combined with giving to the poor. Wesley did advise caution against extreme fasting for those in fragile health.

The penitential season of Lent is a season of the Church year which comemmerates the forty days Jesus fasted and prayed in the wilderness, before he began his public ministry. Although fasting usually refers to any practice of restricting food, there is a distinction, in the Church, between fasting (limiting food to one full meal a day, with two smaller meals allowed) and abstinence (abstaining from eating meat). Abstinence from meat one day a week is a universal act of penitence.. It is important that you check with your physician before attempting a total fast (no food, only water) for more than 24 hours.

Lent is a very personal time for individuals, so the United Methodist Church does not have official guidelines on how individuals should observe Lent. The article “Connecting Worship and Daily Living in Lent” by Rev. Dan Benedict offers many suggestions for personal Lenten practices.

http://archives.umc.org/interior….What Does the United Methodist Church say about fasting?