Lent

Okay, I am not Catholic or any demoniation that even practices Lent, so why do I do it? I grew up with a DAD who, his ENTIRE life was CATHOLIC. I grew up with him practicing some of the traditions of his childhood. One of those was LENT. Since I can remember, he has always given something up for LENT. Now the defintion of Lent is : n: The 40 weekdays from Ash Wednesday until Easter observed by Christians as a season of fasting and penitence in preparation for Easter. I began to think about the definition. It says a tradition observed by CHRISTIANS. It doesn't say CATHOLIC's or EPISCOPALIAN's or any other demonination but it says CHRISTIAN's. Even if I stopped at that part of the definition, WHY wouldn't I practice this tradition? A lot of people participate in LENT and really have no idea what it means except that they are giving up something they like. IT IS SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT!
 I studied further and reasoned that FASTING is such a BIG part of the Bible...now, fasting can be practiced in so many different ways. Some do a "sun to sun" fast, which is no food during daylight hours. Some do a total fast of a certain period of time. Fasting is something that is between me and the LORD. (Matt. 6:16) The purpose of fasting is to "give up" something that is BIG in your life. Something that, when given up, is really HARD. It is also something that when given up and you are wanting or craving that particular thing, IT DRAWS YOU TO THE LORD IN PRAYER AND TO HIS WORD. It is a rememberance process.
So, with all of that said, I am giving up all hamburgers, french fries, and pizza for a season for LENT. These are my absolute FAVORITE foods and I don't know if I can do it. This is where the fasting part comes in. I know on my own I cannot do it - I cannot give these things up...even for 40 days, however, I do know someone that I can completely rest in who can give me the strength to do it. (Phil 4:13) So, when I feel weak- those times where my family orders pizza, or I am hungry and we are stopping at McDonald's, that is when I begin to pray for strength, then I will pray for whatever else the Lord has put on my heart. I have a feeling a lot of those prayers are going to be about my own lack of self-control!