By Suzan Sammons, Crisis Magazine - Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving: the three calls of Lent... If I exhort you to spend more time in prayer during Lent, you probably won’t argue with me. If I encourage you to increase your charitable giving, most readers will admit they could be more generous. But if I ask you to fast more?.. I’ll hear that fasting makes you tired and grouchy, gives you a headache, and renders it impossible to complete your day’s work. St. Anthony of the Desert lived to be 105 fasting daily til dark and then only eating bread, salt, and oil.