Episode 45 — When You Fast

Yesterday, we stepped into the wilderness with Christ. Today, we ask a quieter question: How do we fast? Not how long. Not how strictly. Not how visibly. But how does fasting shape the heart? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus assumes something important. He doesn’t say “If you fast.” He says, “When you fast.” Lent is not about whether we fast—but about the spirit in which we do it.

Scripture Reading

¹⁶ Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

¹⁷ But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

¹⁸ so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

Devotional Reading

Today, let your fast be quiet.

Eat simply. Pray honestly. Speak gently.

Don’t advertise the struggle.
Don’t dramatize the sacrifice.

Let it be between you and the Father.

The hidden work of Lent is the most powerful work.

Closing Prayer

Father,
You see what no one else sees.
Guard my heart from pride.
Let this fast draw me closer to You—not closer to my own ego.
Teach me to love the secret place.
Shape my hunger into prayer.
And let this season refine me quietly and deeply.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
Amen.