3 Prayers for Lent

Early in my Christian walk, I didn’t really know anything about Lent other than that my Catholic friends began the season with ashes on their heads. However, as I’ve grown and researched the church calendar, I’ve discovered that the season of Lent can be deeply beneficial for our spiritual growth. Over the last few years, I’ve tried to enter this season with purpose.

For those unfamiliar, Lent is a 40-day period leading up to the Saturday before Easter. It is a season of reflection, fasting, and prayer—a time to focus more intentionally on Christ’s great love as demonstrated on the cross. How might our lives change if we took Jesus’ call to live separate from the world more seriously? What if we purposefully decluttered our lives in these 40 days to create more time for prayer, reflection, and repentance? We wean our souls off of lesser things in order to increase our appetite for Christ Himself.

I love this quote by Orthodox Reverend Alexander Schmemann:

“The purpose of Lent is not to force on us a few formal obligations, but to soften our heart so that it may open itself to the realities of the Spirit, to experience the hidden thirst and hunger for communion with God.”

This week, the season of Lent begins. Why not set aside extra time during these 40 days to sit at the feet of Jesus more intentionally? Here are three prayers as you consider what Lent might look like for you:

3 Prayers for Lent

Lord Jesus, I confess that my life becomes cluttered so easily. So many things pull for my attention that I often live a distracted and self-focused life. In the words of John the Baptist, I need to decrease so that You might increase in my life. I repent of filling the ache in my soul with lesser pursuits that distract me from my greatest need—You. Search me, Holy Spirit. Show me what I need to fast from in order to increase my appetite for You.

Lord Jesus, like Mary of Bethany, I bow at Your feet (Mark 14:1-9). As I consider Your staggering work on the cross, my mind and heart cannot fathom the suffering You bore—all because You love me. During this season of Lent, I pray, Holy One, that You would guide me in letting go of distractions so that I can spend more time at Your feet, worshiping You. As I respond to Your great love, increase my love for You. Oh Lord, it’s so easy for my soul to wander from the wellspring of Your all-sufficient love. Fill me, I pray. Increase my awareness this Lenten season of Your love, and help me to respond with utter adoration.

Jesus, during this season as we prepare to celebrate Your death and resurrection, I now commit to fasting from all insecurity, all comparison, all self-righteousness, all striving, and all anxiety. I lay all of that at Your feet. I accept Your perfect provision in my life. I praise You that because of Your finished work, I am healed, complete, and whole. All that You are is all that I need. Take me deeper, Holy Spirit, in understanding the completeness of Your finished work. I praise You that in Your presence, there is perfect peace. Help me in these 40 days to completely relax and rest in Your provision.

Friend, as we head into Lent, my prayers are with you. May you experience a deeper sense of wonder and awe as you linger in the presence of Christ! May He increase in your heart, and may you know just how deeply you are loved.

For further reading on Lent, I highly recommend 40 Days of Decrease by Alicia Britt Chole.

This week on The Connected Mom Podcast, we’re talking with Arlene Pellicane about her new book, Making Marriage Easier.