3 Lent Alternatives when Fasting is Off the Table
The season of Lent is almost here, and you might be wondering how you can draw closer to God in this season. For some of us, though, fasting just isn’t an option.
Maybe you have a history of disordered eating, and any form of restriction can trigger a relapse.
Maybe you are pregnant or nursing and just getting enough calories is difficult without the added pressure of a Lenten fast.
Maybe you are in the midst of a season where it seems like everything in life is being taken away—you cannot handle anymore loss, instead, you need to be reminded of God’s nearness.
Whatever the reason may be, Lent is still a season where you can remember your reliance on God and experience God’s nearness. It just might take a little bit more creativity!
Here are three alternative ways you can focus your attention this season, whether or not you choose to fast:
1. Fast from something other than food, like spending extra money, binging Netflix, or scrolling social media
To be clear: a Lenten fast should not be seen as a time to give up a bad habit. We are meant to forego something good as a reminder of our reliance on God—this allows us to more fully enjoy that good gift come Easter. But it can also be a time to pay close attention to the rhythms of our life that might prevent us from living into the gifts God has given us.
Taking some time to intentionally avoid spending extra money can open up the opportunity to put that money towards something else—whether donating it to an organization that is addressing a need you care about, or putting it towards some larger financial goal that might help you better facilitate community (like an outdoor dining table or the tea set you’ve been admiring).
Forgoing your evening Netflix binge or social media scroll might open up time to more intentionally invite friends over for dinner or dig into the books you’ve got piled up on your bedside table.
2. Incorporate a new hobby—and see how it can be a form of prayer too
If you’ve scrolled through my site for long, you know that I am a huge fan of baking bread. And not just baking bread, but baking bread as a form of prayer. Every year I guide a community of people through sourdough baking during the season of Lent. We gather over Zoom each week for a workshop on baking, and throughout the week I help troubleshoot the bakes in a Facebook group. The Lent Sourdough workbook includes prayers, Scripture readings, podcast episodes, and reflection prompts to help participants draw closer to God through the process of baking bread.
Learning a new hobby, like sourdough, oftentimes comes with a pretty steep learning curve. The season of Lent is a perfect time to step into this learning process because it is inherently humbling—and this Lenten season is a time to focus on our human limitation and reliance on God.
Maybe bread baking isn’t your thing. You might be interesting in trying your hand at gardening, or pottery, or sewing instead. The same principles apply. This time of learning and working with your hands is a beautiful opportunity to invite God to be present with you and slow you down.
3. Develop a new spiritual practice
Maybe you’re all in on option #2 and this is your new spiritual practice. Or maybe you just aren’t in a season of life for a new hobby…but mixing up your daily prayer time is a doable shift.
If you’ve never practiced Lectio Divina, this is a great time to give this rich spiritual practice a try. Choose a passage of Scripture each day that you will read three time. Before you read, invite God to join you in this process of reading. Ask God to reveal to you what God wants you to see in the text. The first time you read, read slowly. Pay attention to any words or phrases that jump out at you. It might help to read aloud. The second time you read, pay special attention to those phrases that jumped out the first time. Consider repeating those phrases a few times, turn them over in your mind, contemplate why they might have gripped you in this way. Read the passage once more, and then respond to it. This could take the form of prayer, or conversation with God. Or it could take the form of journaling—note what you’ve noticed in the reading and what you think God might be trying to teach you through it.
Other options might be prayer walks—walking through your neighborhood and paying close attention to the people, animals, and objects you notice along the way. Praise God for this place you call home, pray for the changes you hope to see in this place or in your life, and converse with God about the season you are in.
