PRAYER, FASTING AND ALMSGIVING

One of the old Lenten disciplines admonishes us that if we are to keep a holy Lent, what we need to do is engage in prayer, fasting and almsgiving – all three. One is not enough; neither is two. For each of threes three disciplines requires something different from us. Each requires the other if we are to emerge whole after Lent.

We begin with prayer. When we pray, what we are in essence doing is bringing God closer into our lives. Prayer is a deliberate intention on our part to recognize the God who created and sustains us, that without this God we are unable to be and become the person God created us to be/come. And when we ask God to come closer into our lives, we recognize that we cannot and will not be the same afterwards. So, it is a mighty dangerous thing to bring the Almighty closer to us – frightening, too!

Then there is the admonition to fast: to let go of those wants that get in the way of God and concentrate on our needs, which are always much less than our wants which never end. They disguise and sell themselves as needs. That is why fasting is so important. It allows us to recognize and distinguish wants from needs.

Then when we fast not only from food but from some of those unneeded material comforts we desire, what we are doing is allowing ourselves to understand just how easy it is to succumb to wanting and going after more and more. And, of course, when we do that, we are separating ourselves further and further form God. That is why we need to bring God closer to us through prayer so that God will give us the ability to discern wants from needs and the strength to overcome the call to selfishness.

All of which brings us to the almsgiving. Not only must we want to draw closer to God in and through prayer, not only must we recognize the innate desire to seek after that which can make our life easier, so also must we recognize that we already have more than we ever need or can use. The need to give of ourselves, of our abundance, and blessings, if it is not innate, it is at least demanded once we bring God closer into our lives.

We have been abundantly blessed, you and I. Our God-given talents and abilities that have allowed us to obtain material possessions such as most of the world cannot imagine let alone dream of possessing, they have been given to us to share with those who have been less blessed. Why God has so blessed us is only for God to know. What God lets us know through prayer and fasting is that we must use some of those gifts for others. If we do not, the reason is that we either have not called God closer into our lives through prayer, have not examined our wants and needs through some form of fastening/abstinence/letting go, or both.

Lent is a time, but not the only time, to pray, fast and give our ourselves. Life is that time. But Lent is surely a good time to start what should be a lifetime of living.