How important is Fasting, Prayer, Penance in protestant churches?

[Chiefsinner]

Most of the Marian apparitions come with a common theme that says fasting, penance, prayer and conversions of sinners / non-believers

How important are the following aspects in protestant churches?

 

[aspirant]

How important are the following aspects in protestant churches?

This depends to a large extent not only on the denomination, but even on the local congregation and individuals.

 

[robwar]

Most of the Marian apparitions come with a common theme that says fasting, penance, prayer and conversions of sinners / non-believers

How important are the following aspects in protestant churches?

That really depends. The Methodist Church I grew up in, I never heard of anyone fasting at all and I think that is pretty typical of mainline Protestantism. The charismatic Churches I attended later talk about fasting and practiced it. Among more evangelical again it will depend. Some of the Quiver full fundamentalist groups will practice some sort of fasting. Again, fasting and prayer will not have the same understanding or intensity as a Catholic Church.

 

[ltwin]

Most of the Marian apparitions come with a common theme that says fasting, penance, prayer and conversions of sinners / non-believers

How important are the following aspects in protestant churches?

In the Pentecostal churches I’ve had experience in, fasting does occur. Sometimes this will be congregation wide perhaps once a year or if the church leaders feel lead to do it. Other times a person fasts if they feel impressed to or if there is a need in their life and they are intensely seeking God in prayer.

Prayer is hugely important. We don’t usually recite prayers, unless its the Lord’s Prayer. Most prayers are spontaneous. But prayer is hugely important in maintaining our relationship with Christ.

During services, the area in front of the platform (called the “altar” even though we don’t actually have an altar) is opened throughout the service for anyone who feels the need to pray, and people will come and pray with the people who go down. In services, we also have times of spontaneous corporate prayer. Besides prayer in regular services, churches will often have prayer meetings, which are services called specifically to pray.

Conversion and repentance are huge as well. If a convert fails to repent of sin then he will be considered backslid and every effort, including prayer, will be utilized to lead him back to Christ.

We don’t do “acts of penance” like say two Our Fathers or anything like that. We are taught to pray to God for forgiveness whenever we sin and not to repeat sin over and over again. We are also taught the importance of loving people and displaying the fruit and gifts of the Spirit.

 

[IgnatianPhilo]

I imagine some would respond “Who needs that when we have faith?”

 

[ltwin]

I imagine some would respond “Who needs that when we have faith?”

Who needs what?

I find it pretty hard to believe that any Christian would object to praying or the need to convert sinners (they may not practice it themselves, but why would they object to it?). What point is having faith in Jesus if you never talk to him or don’t feel he’s important enough to tell people about him?

 

[BA11]

Most of the Marian apparitions come with a common theme that says fasting, penance, prayer and conversions of sinners / non-believers

How important are the following aspects in protestant churches?

Fasting: Depends on the denomination and individual, but most protestants in this country arent gonna be fasting much.

Prayer: Because of the individual relationship emphasized in protestanism, it’s been my experience that prayer is even more significant to protestants than to catholics. It’s tough to be a protestant without a very strong prayer life because the churches arent going to be pressing you to do many of the physical acts of worship that catholicism emphasizes.

Penance: Most take the “it’s between you and God” approach, though many churches do have some form of spiritual aid to help people repent and overcome their sin(s). The majority of protestant churches don’t emphasize confession to anyone other than God.

Conversions: Evangelicalism is the one thing I’ve always been told by catholics they wish they could borrow from protestanism. If there is one thing protestants are good at, it’s evangelizing and enthusiastically getting the word out.

 

[Chiefsinner]

Fasting: Depends on the denomination and individual, but most protestants in this country arent gonna be fasting much.

But don’t you think fasting is an important step in spirituality. It keeps my find free from sin and it really brings a great change in your life. I’m sure others who have kept a sincere fast must have noticed the difference too.

Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil." Joel 2:12-13

There are numerous verses but this is just one of them.

 

[BA11]

But don’t you think fasting is an important step in spirituality. It keeps my find free from sin and it really brings a great change in your life. I’m sure others who have kept a sincere fast must have noticed the difference too.

Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil." Joel 2:12-13

There are numerous verses but this is just one of them.

I think fasting is entirely up the individual. Most of the devout christians I know have never fasted in their life and many that do are often super neurotic about it. Fasting in no way is a requirement for spiritual growth. It works for some, but I can’t say I have found it very impactful on my life.

 

[Peter12rb]

Prayer is very important in the Presbyterian church. Fasting, not really (though it depends on the individual). And repentance is important, though not in the style of Catholic penance.

I had an interesting thought while reading this, and in no way mean this to be overly critical, but my observation of Catholicism was that fasting was largely confined to not eating meat on Fridays in Lent and giving something up during that time period. I understand it used to be more stringent before Vatican II - no meat on any Fridays, and no food on Sunday morning before the eucharist (not sure if that’s accurate). But I thought that most Catholics didn’t place nearly as much emphasis on fasting as they did on prayer and penance. I’m not saying there aren’t Catholics who find great spiritual strength in fasting - if I’m wrong in my assumption about Catholics in general, though, I’d be interesting in hearing so.

 

[Lisa1967]

Most of the Marian apparitions come with a common theme that says fasting, penance, prayer and conversions of sinners / non-believers

How important are the following aspects in protestant churches?

It depends on the church.

At one independent Lutheran church I’ve gone to, many of its members follow the Daniel Fast during Lent. The Episcopal church encourages its members to fast during Lent (one meat meal per day) and on Fridays (or do another penance).

Some Episcopalians make confession to a priest and do penance.

I have been to a lot of evangelical Protestant churches and groups and they place a lot of emphasis on conversion of sinners and non-believers. Some Protestant churches offer the Alpha program for people to come and ask questions about Christianity.

 

[WD615]

At least among Evangelicals Protestants prayer is important, but prayers that aren’t spontaneous are often frowned upon (even the groups that favor the “Sinner’s Prayer”). Conversion of non-believers is also extremely important to them. Even conversion of more liberal Christians and Christians stuck in “religious” or “legalistic” churches. Catholics would definitely be ones in need of conversion, according to them at least. Then fasting is practically non-existent, but there are some attempts to re-establish it. Finally, penance as a practice is definitely discourage at least among Evangelical Protestants. All you have to do is ask Jesus for forgiveness and He forgives you and anything else would be “legalism” according to them.

I am a former member of the churches of Christ, my wife’s a Baptist, and I live in the Protestant South so there was always an emphasis on evangelization and prayer (at least if it was spontaneous) but not much on fasting and definitely not on penance.

 

[Chiefsinner]

Prayer is very important in the Presbyterian church. Fasting, not really (though it depends on the individual). And repentance is important, though not in the style of Catholic penance.

I had an interesting thought while reading this, and in no way mean this to be overly critical, but my observation of Catholicism was that fasting was largely confined to not eating meat on Fridays in Lent and giving something up during that time period. I understand it used to be more stringent before Vatican II - no meat on any Fridays, and no food on Sunday morning before the eucharist (not sure if that’s accurate). But I thought that most Catholics didn’t place nearly as much emphasis on fasting as they did on prayer and penance. I’m not saying there aren’t Catholics who find great spiritual strength in fasting - if I’m wrong in my assumption about Catholics in general, though, I’d be interesting in hearing so.

Fasting is an important aspect ( atleast for me) and your right that the rules did change after Vatican II I wasn’t aware of the changes but I’ve started following the older rules…

But I was always confused about the fasting and abstinance thing so I would have a small breakfast bread / glass of milk and the rest of the day only have water and then dinner at night…

 

[gazelam]

Though not Protestant, fasting is an important aspect of worship of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Fasting is encouraged monthly and with an occasional exception, the first Sunday of the month is designated “Fast Sunday”. In general, abstaining from food and drink of 2 meals is considered a proper fast. In the LDS Church fasting is considering a form of worship that can bring one closer to God. (See Isaiah 58.) It is believed that fasting combined with prayer can strenghten our petitions to God. (See Mark 9:28, 29) An analogy often used is that prayer and fasting together can at times be stronger than prayer alone in the same way that iron and carbon together (forming steel) are stronger than iron alone. Fasting should always include a spiritual purpose (i.e., overcoming personal weakness, petitioning divine help for self or others, etc.) and that fasting without a specific spiritual purpose in mind is just going hungry. Generally, those with a medical condition which would be exacerbate by fasting are discouraged from this practice. I hope this helps.

 

[robwar]

Prayer is very important in the Presbyterian church. Fasting, not really (though it depends on the individual). And repentance is important, though not in the style of Catholic penance.

I had an interesting thought while reading this, and in no way mean this to be overly critical, but my observation of Catholicism was that fasting was largely confined to not eating meat on Fridays in Lent and giving something up during that time period. I understand it used to be more stringent before Vatican II - no meat on any Fridays, and no food on Sunday morning before the eucharist (not sure if that’s accurate). But I thought that most Catholics didn’t place nearly as much emphasis on fasting as they did on prayer and penance. I’m not saying there aren’t Catholics who find great spiritual strength in fasting - if I’m wrong in my assumption about Catholics in general, though, I’d be interesting in hearing so.

The fast before the Eucharist is one hour and that is still in effect. Ash Wednesday likewise is a fast, no meat day. Some of the religious orders will have more stringent fasts than no meat on Fridays or giving up something for Lent. Some of the saints such as St. Catherine of Sienna had a fast where the only “food” or norishment they took in was when they received the Eucharist. Something like that is rare and more unusual and is a call or charism that they would have received from God.

 

[benjohnson]

From what I can seen, Lutheran’s don’t typically fast much, though I’ve seen a recent uptick in the older practices. Most Lutherans I know will give up something for Lent, but typically it’s not food - for me it was Facebook and idle web-surfing.

For me, I’d like to bring fasting back into our devotional life - not as a form of of work, but as a way to remind ourselves of God throughout the day.

 

[Journey322]

Most of the Marian apparitions come with a common theme that says fasting, penance, prayer and conversions of sinners / non-believers

How important are the following aspects in protestant churches?

Well, I can’t speak on behalf of all Protestant church because they are all different, hence the various denominations. I can say that for Southern Baptists, fasting is done sometimes, conversion of sinners is definitely a priority and so is prayer. Penance, however is not a practice of Southern Baptists. They simply confess to God their sins (directly) and receive forgiveness. Also, They do not see sin as mortal vs venial. They focus on the Scripture that says if you have broken one part of the Law, you have broken all of it.

 

[4Squarebaby]

In the Pentecostal churches I’ve had experience in, fasting does occur. Sometimes this will be congregation wide perhaps once a year or if the church leaders feel lead to do it. Other times a person fasts if they feel impressed to or if there is a need in their life and they are intensely seeking God in prayer.

Prayer is hugely important. We don’t usually recite prayers, unless its the Lord’s Prayer. Most prayers are spontaneous. But prayer is hugely important in maintaining our relationship with Christ.

During services, the area in front of the platform (called the “altar” even though we don’t actually have an altar) is opened throughout the service for anyone who feels the need to pray, and people will come and pray with the people who go down. In services, we also have times of spontaneous corporate prayer. Besides prayer in regular services, churches will often have prayer meetings, which are services called specifically to pray.

Conversion and repentance are huge as well. If a convert fails to repent of sin then he will be considered backslid and every effort, including prayer, will be utilized to lead him back to Christ.

We don’t do “acts of penance” like say two Our Fathers or anything like that. We are taught to pray to God for forgiveness whenever we sin and not to repeat sin over and over again. We are also taught the importance of loving people and displaying the fruit and gifts of the Spirit.

I have little to add except the lay person is often called upon to publicly pray for another. I remember the first time I visited at The Church On The Way after Jack Hayford returned following the death of his successor. Right there in the middle of the service the thousand or so in attendance breaks into small circles and pray for each other. It was not exactly the seeker friendly model where attendees are put on the spot to pray for a stranger.

It is during the prayer meeting or time in service that the speaking of a prayer language is heard most often.

 

[Indifferently]

Yes, all of those things are important. On Ash Wednesday we are usually berated for not fasting as hard as Moslems during Lent.

 

[Symphorian]

The Church of England has a farily extensive list of vigils, fasts and days of abstinence that we are supposed to observe.

A number of 17th century Anglican Divines wrote on the subject of fasting. In Lent they said that we should fast ‘with one spare and homely meal a day all the week-days of Lent’ and that we should ’ fasten ourselves to the Cross on Ash Wednesday, and hang crucified by contrition all the Lent long…feel the nails and the thorns, and taste the gall of our own sins’ and do so with ‘fasting and alms giving’.

We are encouraged to pray frequently and efectually.

Previously in the Church of England, an individual might be expected to do public penance. I read of some examples recently from some 18th century church records. This generally seems to have involved the ‘sinner’ kneeling at the Chancel step in sight of the Priest and congregation and reciting the Lord’s Prayer/Creed/Ten Commandments as penance.