A Very Lenten Ramadan

Episode 1

And hello. Here’s a bonus podcast drop for a Friday afternoon. It’s a limited-edition podcast, just for this Lent.

In 2026, Lent and Ramadan began on the same day. For me, that was a neon flashing light from God telling me what style of fasting I was to do for Lent this year. I’ve done Daniel Diets for Lent in the past, which is just fruit and vegetables. I’ve also done liquids only fasts. So doing a Ramadan style fast is a little next level for me.

Fortunately I just happened to interview a Muslim colleague during Ramadan last year to help me with a Bible College assignment, so I inadvertently got a few tips on how to approach the fast. I also want to thank Ed Grudier who is a lecturer at Sydney Missionary and Bible College who used to be a missionary in the Muslim world. I’m not only thanking him for teaching me in a subject that explored different world faiths but also for teaching us a lot about Ramadan and its rules and regulations. That’s fast becoming super helpful.

I’m recording these reflections at the end of day one, and at this point in time I’m saying thank you to Jesus for electrolytes in sport drinks. It was 36 degrees today. It was warm. I’m also somewhat excited to experience a type of fast that people of another faith do and to explore what that is like but under the banner of my own faith.

I guess the experience junkie within me leapt at the chance when the two periods of fasting – one Christian, one Muslim – lined up on the calendar. And now I’m going to document my thinking and experience of it, in some weekly podcasts.

I should also add that because my faith is all about grace and not law there’s some times when I am going to eat a little before sundown. This is because I’m attending an event at those points in time. There’s also other times where I’m going to maintain a liquids only fast in lieu of the fact that at another point – during the day – I’m going to eat. I’m not fasting in community. I’m fasting solo and so that makes it a little different for me. Also, because it’s Lent I do have the option of breaking the fast entirely on a Sunday. So I’ll see where God leads me on that one as I journey through the Lenten period.

But I’d like to mostly reflect in these short podcasts about what I’m learning as a result of doing a Ramadan style or Ramadan inspired fast for Lent.

I must say firstly I have never looked up the time of sunrise and sunset for an entire week before. And I definitely haven’t done a screenshot of such information and put it on my desktop before.

This has made me think about how agrarian the ancient societies were and how much was determined by those natural processes such as the sunrise and sunset, the moon and the tides. Christianity is also like this, with the Passover being a massive event in the Christian calendar. How do we know when the Passover is? Which is another way to ask how do we know when Easter is? Well, we know it by the moon.

The Passover, which is now basically Good Friday, is when we see a full moon.

This week also marks the New Lunar Year and so many Asian friends and students of mine are celebrating the new year. Again, lunar, it’s the moon. It determines so much.

So it’s caused me to reflect on the similarities between religions and cultures as to when we determine when something significant happens. In short, it’s got a lot to do with the moon.

Another thing I’m reflecting on is the fact that our Muslim brothers and sister – and they are brothers and sister not in Christ, but in Abraham – these brothers and sisters are fasting in community. I was reflecting on how wonderful that is and that it is a shared spiritual journey.

Perhaps there’s something in that which we could learn. We being Christians. Perhaps we are too individualistic in our fasting or other spiritual practices, it doesn’t have to be fasting. Perhaps we are careful to obey Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on Mount and therefore don’t wish anyone to know that we are fasting, so we don’t gain the benefits of a shared journey. Maybe there’s a balance we need to get there.

Because there is a real beauty to Ramadan’s rhythms of fasting during the day, then eating together as a family and attending your place of worship together in the evening.

Now in saying this I wouldn’t want to suggest that Christians don’t live and operate in community. We certainly do. But I think it’s arrogance if we don’t stop and consider how other religions engage in the practice of their faith and learn from them about those practices. It is possible. It doesn’t mean we agree with their beliefs. It just means we are open to learning.

And that seems like a good thing.

Finally another thing I’ve been thinking about is the nature of festivaling. At the end of Ramadan there is a festival – Eid. At the end of Lent there is a festival, it’s called Easter.

Easter is a little while away – 7 weeks apparently – so there’s time for me to think about it some more. But again, the Muslim community engages in a communal piece of festivaling; reminiscent of the Old Testament.

Is there perhaps something Christians could learn from this when we engage in the festival of Easter? That’s something I need to think about more.

Before I wrap up, I’ll say that of course, I am hoping to use this time of fasting during Lent to pray, including praying for Muslims that they might come to faith in Christ.

I’m also praying for Christians who are persecuted for their faith who live in the Muslim majority world.

So, as I move through Lent, I’m hoping to think on all these things and also pray to God in a more informed way about Islam.

And I’ll also drop a podcast once a week. Until then, may your lead up to Easter be inspiring and draw you closer to the Saviour on the cross.