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I've been using a book on Christian discipline in the night for my nightly devo. It convicted me on not fasting. So I decided to fast reading fictions and read books on my Christian walk. Well I found out keeping a fast is rather hard. I started reading a book on prayer and got convicted really fast. I would say I pray about 45 minutes a day not including Bible reading. The book helped me re-examine why I pray and what I pray for. We so often forget how important prayer is and why we pray. We forget we should always expect answers although not how we want them. We forget how we should pray, and to keep constant. How often our minds drift off of praying.

I have the same problem of my mind drifting as I pray. I've never been good at fasting meals. Maybe I should fast something more important to me like internet or my .mp3 player. And spend that time praying

Although its a good thing to keep in mind that when fasting was referred to in the Bible, it generally meant "not eating"

I thought this was an interesting article on the practice of fasting: http://blogs.ancientfaith.com/glory2god ... dern-lent/

It is a very hard practice but one that can be very good if practiced with the right intentions.

I skimmed the article and read a few paragraphs that caught my eye, thus its probably my fault why I don't know what "lent" means. But can you tell me what it is?

Basically, Lent takes place over the course of the (usually; some denominations calculate it differently) forty days (not counting Sundays) before Easter, and it's when Christians of certain denominations give up something, usually something that they really enjoy (it can be a certain type of food, a book, or a certain website that they frequent, like what Pound Foolish did, though it began as abstinence from food), in reference to the forty days that Jesus spent fasting in the desert where He was tempted prior to His ministry. It's often a solemn time devoted to prayer, alms-giving, and repentance specially intended to honor Christ's death and resurrection. It's why Mardi Gras is such a big deal; the day commemorating Mardis Gras is also referred to as Fat Tuesday, a last day of revelry before Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday. Whether or not you observe Lent depends on your church; it's usually observed among Catholics and Orthodox Christians, but Anabaptists, Methodists, Anglicans, and Lutherans are known to participate in it as well.

TigerShadow wrote:Basically, Lent takes place over the course of the (usually; some denominations calculate it differently) forty days (not counting Sundays) before Easter, and it's when Christians of certain denominations give up something, usually something that they really enjoy (it can be a certain type of food, a book, or a certain website that they frequent, like what Pound Foolish did, though it began as abstinence from food), in reference to the forty days that Jesus spent fasting in the desert where He was tempted prior to His ministry. It's often a solemn time devoted to prayer, alms-giving, and repentance specially intended to honor Christ's death and resurrection. It's why Mardi Gras is such a big deal; the day commemorating Mardis Gras is also referred to as Fat Tuesday, a last day of revelry before Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday. Whether or not you observe Lent depends on your church; it's usually observed among Catholics, but Anabaptists, Methodists, Anglicans, and Lutherans are known to participate in it as well.

And Nazarenes. My mom observed lent when she was a girl.

TigerShadow wrote:Basically, Lent takes place over the course of the (usually; some denominations calculate it differently) forty days (not counting Sundays) before Easter, and it's when Christians of certain denominations give up something, usually something that they really enjoy (it can be a certain type of food, a book, or a certain website that they frequent, like what Pound Foolish did, though it began as abstinence from food), in reference to the forty days that Jesus spent fasting in the desert where He was tempted prior to His ministry. It's often a solemn time devoted to prayer, alms-giving, and repentance specially intended to honor Christ's death and resurrection. It's why Mardi Gras is such a big deal; the day commemorating Mardis Gras is also referred to as Fat Tuesday, a last day of revelry before Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday. Whether or not you observe Lent depends on your church; it's usually observed among Catholics and Orthodox Christians, but Anabaptists, Methodists, Anglicans, and Lutherans are known to participate in it as well.

Thanks for explaining. Makes sense.

I've never been in an official fast.

MissFriendship wrote:

TigerShadow wrote:Basically, Lent takes place over the course of the (usually; some denominations calculate it differently) forty days (not counting Sundays) before Easter, and it's when Christians of certain denominations give up something, usually something that they really enjoy (it can be a certain type of food, a book, or a certain website that they frequent, like what Pound Foolish did, though it began as abstinence from food), in reference to the forty days that Jesus spent fasting in the desert where He was tempted prior to His ministry. It's often a solemn time devoted to prayer, alms-giving, and repentance specially intended to honor Christ's death and resurrection. It's why Mardi Gras is such a big deal; the day commemorating Mardis Gras is also referred to as Fat Tuesday, a last day of revelry before Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday. Whether or not you observe Lent depends on your church; it's usually observed among Catholics and Orthodox Christians, but Anabaptists, Methodists, Anglicans, and Lutherans are known to participate in it as well.

Thanks for explaining. Makes sense.

I just wrote a paper on Lent. This is a lot more explanatory than the websites I visited, thanks.

I like to read a bit of the Bible before I pray to keep concentrated by meditating on it and using it for prayer.