My encouragement to fast this Lent

‘More than a mere discipline, fasting is an invitation to an embodied spirituality, a practice that acknowledges our faith is not just spiritual or intellectual, but deeply lived in our bodies,’ says Jamie Phear.

I want to emphasise that fasting is an invitation, not a command. If you have experienced an eating disorder or have a complex relationship with food or your body, know that God meets you exactly where you are. If fasting is not good or healthy for you in this season, please know that God can speak powerfully to you through all the practices of Jesus.

For thousands of years, fasting was central to Christian life, with early believers fasting twice weekly. Only in the last few centuries did Christians in the west abandon this practice, likely around the Enlightenment, when focus shifted from the body to the intellect.