Prayer & Fasting Partners

The First Sunday of Lent
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

We’re now just over a month into the new year, and of course, many people are still hanging in there with their diet, exercise or other self-improvement resolutions. You’re probably not quite to the point where you hang your laundry on the treadmill, but maybe your resolve is weakening a bit. Will temptation finally win out? Will you say, “Oh, what the heck. I’ll just buy the next size up and stop torturing myself”?

I think many of us have learned that a very effective way to keep ourselves on track is to have a partner or buddy to encourage us and help us when our enthusiasm is fizzling out. The person you walk or jog with isn’t going to let you get away with saying, “I think I’ll skip it today because it might be raining in China.” You’ll coax, cajole or even embarrass your friend into sticking with the program—and they’ll do the same for you. In fact, this model of accountability is built into many successful self-help and recovery programs like AA or Weight Watchers or Gamblers Anonymous. When you might be tempted to throw in the towel, your companion is there to support you over the bump in the road.

Why is it that even when we have a good plan and a goal that’s important to us, we still can give up when the right temptation comes along? I’m afraid that’s part of the human condition since the Fall in the Garden of Eden. Who hasn’t been tempted? Who hasn’t struggled with giving up one thing we think is good to get gratified by a competing allurement? Sweat and push my body to lose two pounds so I can get into a snazzy new outfit… OR have this delicious and satisfying tiramisu from the Olive Garden? Hmm… choices.

The point of the matter is, life is jam-packed with temptations and those who tempt. Resisting temptation can be very hard. After all, temptation takes so many subtle and not-so-subtle forms: sex, prestige, comfort, money, power, food, success, a desire for fame—these are just a few examples.

If it’s any consolation, it would be very good to remember that even our Lord himself was tempted. In the gospel today, we hear how the devil took Jesus up to a very high mountain and showed him all the treasures and enticements of the world. He said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” Did Jesus consider the devil’s overture? We’d like to think no… but really, who knows? Remember, our faith teaches us that Jesus experienced everything we do except sin. To consider a temptation before rejecting it is not a sin; it’s just a morally-neutral deliberation.

This time of Lent that we’re just embarking on is meant to be an important occasion to grow closer to God and to better embrace his will. What happens, though, is that it’s easy to start strong and then peter out. Oh, you may hang in there and do what you committed to do… but maybe your heart is no longer in it. You’re just wishing Lent would be over so you could go back to normal. Really, it takes a lot of determination and stamina to stick with anything for forty days—particularly something that involves self-denial!

That’s why I’d like to propose to you to find yourself a partner so you can successfully make it through Lent and have some great spiritual accomplishment. Start thinking about whom you might ask.

Two of the most important penitential practices and disciplines of the spiritual life are prayer and fasting. We especially emphasize these in this holy season. That’s why during Lent many people pray more—rosaries, the stations, weekday mass—and that’s why people fast by giving up things like candy, beer, meat or even TV. We understand that in a mysterious way, God blesses our efforts and draws us closer to him.

I’d ask you to think about what you’d be willing to pray for… what you’d be willing to fast for. Let your request be as crazy or outlandish or improbable as you like. Nothing is impossible for God.

Do you remember the famous passage in Isaiah where God wants to bless King Ahaz and told him: “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.” Ahaz wouldn’t do it. He said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.” And God was weary of this foolishness. That’s when he announced that the virgin would be with child—Emmanuel (Isa 7:10-14).

So: let me ask you again. What do you want to pray and fast for this Lent? Is it a miracle? A physical healing when the doctors say no way? Is it some revelation about what God would like you to do with your life? Are you brave enough to form the prayer request and then actually ask for it?

With a prayer and fasting partner—in other words, when both of you are praying and fasting for the same exact thing and encouraging each other to stick with it—you’ll greatly intensify the effectiveness. Think about Jesus’ beautiful words later in Matthew’s gospel: “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Mt 18:19-20).

The beauty of this buddy system is not just that God might answer an awesome prayer, but rather that you will learn to pray and fast better… that you will learn to trust God and neighbor more… that you will become a more deeply spiritual person… and that you will experience both the discipline and intense joy of Lent. As today’s gospel concludes: “Then the devil left him and, behold, the angels came and ministered to him.”

Find a companion for your Lenten journey… share with each other your special dreams and prayers… and get your program underway. May the rich blessings of this sacred season flood into both your lives.