After Ash Wednesday on 9th February, the 40-day walk towards Easter this year has begun. The 40-days walk, which Christians call Lent, has been well observed in the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church, but not in much of evangelical Christianity.

Methodism, following the heritage of John Wesley, is one of the Protestant Churches that places great emphasis on the season of Lent.

Traditionally, Lent is a period for prayer and fasting. While fasting is not very common nowadays among Christians, most Christian churches that observe Lent concentrate on prayer, especially repenting for sin as a way to focus on the need for God’s grace.

In 2005, Methodists worldwide are encouraged by the World Methodist Council to adopt the Wesleyan Pattern for Prayer and Fasting, which is also one of the major programmes in the World Methodist Evangelism Emphasis 2004-2006.

The concept of the 3-year initiative dated back to the World Methodist Conference 2001 in Brighton, England, where worldwide Methodists realised the urgency for spreading the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. A resolution was passed which called the Methodist People to prayer and fasting and to spreading the good news of Christ Jesus.

In response to this resolution, the World Evangelism Division of the World Methodist Council is launching a series of activities and events in 2004, 2005 and 2006 aimed specifically at further empowering members of the Wesleyan/Methodist denominations around the world to reach out and share the love of Jesus Christ.

While 2004 is marked as a year of preparation for the 3-year initiative, 2005 is the year of proclamation. Millions of Methodists across the world are to be mobilised to follow the Wesleyan Pattern for Prayer and Fasting in praying for a World Pentecost and Christian Faith-sharing.

Just like John Wesley who followed for half a century, Methodists will not take any solid food each Thursday evening, after the evening meal, until mid-afternoon on each Friday and focus on prayers. "Preachers" are expected to participate, and the Church hoped that all of the Methodist leaders and people will follow this discipline. Methodists are invited to discover the power in this regular pattern. As Wesley has suggested the more important reason for fasting is that it is a help to prayer.

The World Methodist Council has prepared the Prayer and Fasting Bookmarks to help church members in this 40-days walk. The durable printed cards in either English or Spanish contain information about the Wesleyan Pattern of Prayer and Fasting and a Thursday evening prayer, a Friday morning prayer, a mealtime prayer, and a breaking-the-fast prayer.

To read the bookmark, please visit the World Methodist Council website.