Welcome to Forty
You’ve got your Forty Journal—your companion on the journey to Easter. Think of this page as your resource hub, packed with tools on prayer, fasting, and feasting to help you go deeper. Whether it’s books, talks, or practical guides, there’s something here to support your journey.
PRAYER
"Simple Prayer involves ordinary people bringing ordinary concerns to a loving and compassionate Father. There is no pretence in Simple Prayer. We do not pretend to be more holy, more pure, or more saintly than we actually are. We do not try to conceal our conflicting and contradictory motives from God—or ourselves. And in this posture we pour out our heart to the God who is greater than our heart and who knows all things.”
—Richard Foster
—Richard Foster
PRAYER
"Simple Prayer involves ordinary people bringing ordinary concerns to a loving and compassionate Father. There is no pretence in Simple Prayer. We do not pretend to be more holy, more pure, or more saintly than we actually are. We do not try to conceal our conflicting and contradictory motives from God—or ourselves. And in this posture we pour out our heart to the God who is greater than our heart and who knows all things.”
—Richard Foster
—Richard Foster
FASTING
"Fasting is an opportunity to lay down an appetite – an appetite for food, for media, for shopping. This act of self-denial may not seem huge – it’s just a meal or a trip to the mall – but it brings us face to face with the hunger at the core of our being. Fasting exposes how we try to keep empty hunger at bay and gain a sense of well-being by devouring creature comforts. Through self-denial, we begin to recognise what controls us. Our small denials of the self show us just how little taste we actually have for sacrifice or time with God. This truth is not meant to discourage us. It’s simply the first step in realising that we have to lay down our life in order to find it again in God.”
—Adele Calhoun
—Adele Calhoun
Resources
This article includes an excerpt from Richard Foster’s The Celebration of Discipline—which, according to Matt, might just be the best Christian book ever written.
FASTING
"Fasting is an opportunity to lay down an appetite – an appetite for food, for media, for shopping. This act of self-denial may not seem huge – it’s just a meal or a trip to the mall – but it brings us face to face with the hunger at the core of our being. Fasting exposes how we try to keep empty hunger at bay and gain a sense of well-being by devouring creature comforts. Through self-denial, we begin to recognise what controls us. Our small denials of the self show us just how little taste we actually have for sacrifice or time with God. This truth is not meant to discourage us. It’s simply the first step in realising that we have to lay down our life in order to find it again in God.”
—Adele Calhoun
—Adele Calhoun
Resources
This article includes an excerpt from Richard Foster’s The Celebration of Discipline—which, according to Matt, might just be the best Christian book ever written.
Talks
Fasting & Feasting - Matt Coombs
FEASTING
"Lenten feasts invite us to discover how to celebrate life without subduing our bodies with luxuries. They offer us a chance to discover what a true feast is, embodied not by overeating and hoarding but by sharing and sacrifice, enacted not by consuming as much as we can in a day but enacted by a community that gathers and believes, against all evidence to the contrary, that Jubilee exists and the arc of the universe bends towards justice."
—David Roberts
—David Roberts
Talks
Fasting & Feasting - Matt Coombs
FEASTING
"Lenten feasts invite us to discover how to celebrate life without subduing our bodies with luxuries. They offer us a chance to discover what a true feast is, embodied not by overeating and hoarding but by sharing and sacrifice, enacted not by consuming as much as we can in a day but enacted by a community that gathers and believes, against all evidence to the contrary, that Jubilee exists and the arc of the universe bends towards justice."
—David Roberts
—David Roberts
Additional Books
Looking for something else to read? Every year, the Archbishop of Canterbury recommends a book for Lent. These two happen to be written by Matt and Andy’s very own theological tutors—so you know they’re good!
Additional Books
Looking for something else to read? Every year, the Archbishop of Canterbury recommends a book for Lent. These two happen to be written by Matt and Andy’s very own theological tutors—so you know they’re good!