[This reflection by Helen Ruffhead was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 15/Feb/2026]
Next Wednesday is the beginning of the Christian season of Lent, which this year starts at the same time as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The Muslim year is shorter than ours by about 11 days, so Ramadan comes round earlier each year. During the month of Ramadan Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset. Going without water must be particularly hard during the long hot summer days and I am thankful for their sakes that Ramadan for the next few years will be in the cooler months when the days are shorter (at least in the northern hemisphere).
Our season of Lent commemorates the long fast of Jesus in the desert after his baptism, where he ate no food for 40 days. Jesus did not lay down any rules for his followers about fasting, but his example and various comments he made indicated that he expected us to fast at times, especially as an aid to prayer. The closest I have come to fasting is to miss lunch on a few occasions when praying earnestly about something. Those who have fasted for days have often found that it draws them much closer to God and gives more power to their prayers.
In the past people tended to abstain from certain foods like meat, milk and eggs during Lent, rather than fasting completely. More recently it has been the custom to give something else up. On the face of it, there seems little point in denying oneself a harmless pleasure, unless you substitute it with something better. When we were called as a church to a week of prayer and fasting a few years ago, I decided to fast from my inequality sudoku puzzles for a week and use the time saved to pray more. For other people, a fast from social media could give them more time for prayer.
Both Lent and Ramadan are designed to draw people closer to God through prayer and fasting. Let us pray that all those who are earnestly seeking God at this time will come to know him as their Father, who loves them and encounter Jesus, who died for them.
In Jeremiah 29 v 13 God says:
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Resources:
[1]
Bible quotations: Unless otherwise specified, quotations are taken from the resources of Bible Gateway or Bible Hub, in accordance with the licencing conditions outlined on our Site Policies page.
Bible dates:
Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.
Horley Baptist Church onlineHBC main site
Confidential prayer link
Link to Recent Reflections
.
Link to Index of Bible Passages
Last Sunday’s reflection: Sometimes You Just Feel Low by Michael Goble
Contributed by Helen Ruffhead; © Helen Ruffhead