So, mom and dad, you’ve decided to fast and pray along with the rest of the CVC body during the season leading up to Good Friday. That’s wonderful! But what about the kids? Although your children still need to eat, there is a great opportunity for you to use this time to teach them about drawing near to God and desperately seeking Him. Here are some tips to help you lead well.
- Let your children know what you are doing. Depending on when and how you choose to fast, your children may not even realize that you are fasting. Don’t keep it a secret from them. Explain to them what you will be doing over the course of the next few weeks.
- Clearly communicate the purpose of fasting. Make sure your children know why Christians fast. Tell your kids that fasting is choosing not to eat food for a period of time and filling that time with godly things, like prayer, instead. Sometimes people fast from something other than food. Either way, fasting is not about punishing yourself. It’s not about being prideful about what a great Christian you are. It’s not about checking off a to-do list. It’s not about losing weight. It’s not even about showing how much self-control and willpower you have. It’s really about your heart. When your heart is hungry for more of God, sometimes you show that by replacing mealtime with prayer and God’s Word. Fasting is about focusing on God, remembering that we need Him the most, and intentionally spending more time with Him. Explain that Jesus is our example, and He fasted and taught us about fasting when He was here on Earth.
- Feed your children. As I’m sure you already know, young children should not go without food, even if you are. Make sure they have their three meals a day, and while you’re at it, be sure to feed them spiritually every day, too.
- Invite your children to join you. Fasting is a voluntary spiritual discipline. Approach your kids with a posture of invitation rather than demand. Invite them to seek the Lord with you as Easter approaches. They can do this in many ways. They can pray with you during your times of fasting and prayer. They can choose to fast from their favorite snack or from a type of food (like candy). They can fast from something other than food (like a game, screen-time, social media, etc.). If they do choose to fast from something, be sure to help them create a plan for how they will spend that time with God instead. For example, once a week, they can take their screen-time and replace it with Jesus-time. Don’t leave them alone in this. Help them by standing ready to guide them in prayer, to read the Bible together, and to sing aloud with an awesome worship song playlist.
- Always remember that your whole life is a model for your children. This is probably the most important point, but hopefully reading it last will keep it in your mind. None of us is perfect, but parents have little eyes (and sometimes big eyes, if your child is a 6-foot teenager) watching all the time, and we must remember that. Even though they won’t be refraining from eating, you can still say to your children, as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” Teach them and SHOW them how to follow Jesus.
