Skipping a dessert: a tiny discipline turned into prayer

A dessert declined looks like nothing. Yet it is a small exercise in freedom: saying no to a craving you could satisfy, with nothing mandatory, for a reason bigger than you. This quest invites you to pass on a treat today and make it a moment of prayer.

What it looks like in your day

Choose the treat. A dessert, a square of chocolate, a pastry, a sugary drink, a snack. Not something vital: a craving.

Decide in advance. Tell yourself in the morning: “Today, I'm skipping the dessert at lunch.” The clearer the decision, the easier it is to keep.

When the moment comes, pause. When the craving arises, look at it. Acknowledge what you feel: anticipated pleasure, habit, need for comfort.

Turn it into prayer. A few possible sentences: “Lord, I hand this craving over to you. Thank you for what I already have.” Or: “What I would have eaten, I give to those who have nothing to eat.” Or simply: “I am yours, also in my appetites.”

Think of someone. Some people pair this giving-up with an intention: praying for a person, a cause, a situation. Each time the craving returns, a first name.

Notice what happens. Often, the craving passes within a few minutes. You learn that you can get through it without satisfying it.

An important precaution: this quest is meant for a light, free giving-up. If you have or have had an eating disorder, if you are diabetic, pregnant, or if your health requires specific meals, don't deprive yourself: choose instead to give up something else (a small comfort, a screen). It is never a disguised diet.

If you are short on time, the gesture takes a minute. If you are shy, nobody notices that you are passing.

What the Bible says

Paul compares the believer's life to that of an athlete:

“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

Athletes impose a discipline on themselves, for a crown that withers; Christians, for an incorruptible crown. Paul says he keeps his body under and brings it into subjection, not out of contempt for the body, but so as not to be disqualified himself after preaching to others. Giving up is training, not punishment. The same Paul says elsewhere that nothing should enslave us (1 Corinthians 6:12): freedom is the goal.

Pitfalls to avoid

Doing a disguised diet. The quest is not a weight-loss program. Keep it tied to prayer and inner freedom.

Punishing yourself if you give in. A dessert eaten is not a sin. Notice and carry on.

Judging others. “Me, I didn't have dessert” quickly becomes pride. Stay discreet.

Going beyond your health limits. Your health comes first. Adapt or change your giving-up.

Making food an enemy. A meal is a gift from God. An occasional giving-up doesn't devalue that gift.

Today, pass on a treat, and turn the moment into prayer.