Meditation During Lent

Lent is a time of spiritual renewal. We temporarily remove some things from our lives through fasting. We also add things to our lives through such practices as Bible reading, prayer, and meditation. Meditation has a rich history in the Christian church, but in recent times it has become a lost art. According to Psalm 1, meditation on God’s word is the key to being “blessed” (Ps. 1:2). We need to recover this ancient Christian practice.

When we meditate, we are focused on listening to hear what God is saying to us through his word. An ancient method for doing this is Lectio Divina. See the instructions for Lectio Divina for more information. For some further information on listening to God, see Pastor Ken’s article on How to Hear God’s Voice.

Suggestions for Fasting

One of the traditional practices during Lent is fasting. Fasting means to give up something that you desire in order to practice self-discipline and focus more completely on God. The most common type of fasting is to give up certain types of food, or all food, for a period of time. But there are other types of fasting as well.

Here are some types of food fasting you could practice during Lent:

  • Give up certain foods that you enjoy for the entire period of Lent (e.g. sweets, fast food, etc.).
  • Give up eating meat for all of Lent, or on one day each week. (Friday is the traditional day to do this.)
  • Fast one or more meals each week during Lent. Be sure to drink plenty of water.

Here are some non-food fasts:

  • Give up social media, games, or watching videos.
  • Cut back or eliminate browsing the web, including reading the news multiple times each day.
  • Shut off you phone for part of a day or an entire day each week.

Sundays during Lent are considered feast days, so you can relax your fasting on Sundays and eat those special treats.

Whatever kind of fasting you do, consider making it more strict the final week before Easter, or from Good Friday until Easter morning. In the early church it was common to fast the last few days before Easter.

In addition to fasting, you should consider what you want to add to your life during Lent. How can you more to a new level in prayer, Bible reading, and meditation?

To learn more about Lent and fasting, check out these articles: