Our heart posture during Lent is what is most important because intimacy with God is what we’re after. In deciding on what to fast, we don’t want to just pick something that would be hard or a “good one.” We want to prayerfully consider the outcome — intimacy with Jesus — when choosing something to lay down for 40 days.

Here are some questions to help you:

• What are things in my life that tend to crowd out intentional slowness?
• What are patterns in my life that could help me understand what crowds my heart?
• What are things that get in the way of spending time with the Lord?
• What is something that, if removed, would make space for me to pray and spend time with Jesus?

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season and the symbol of “ash” representing death and repentance. We observe this day to remind ourselves that we need a Savior. Ash Wednesday is a solemn day not intended to beat us down, but is a reminder to us that reorients our perspective to hold sorrow for sin and sober-mindedness for it’s impact.

*Remember, we don’t observe these things to produce shame, but to serve as an opportunity for understanding of our need of the Gospel and to prepare our hearts with gratitude for the certainty of our salvation found in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Easter is coming!

We have structured this time to provide a moment of thoughtful reflection and listening prayer. We wait upon the Lord; His friendship is what we seek. Each day, plan on reading a passage or two of scripture and respond to a journal prompt. We suggest using the acronym BREAD for your scripture reading time so that you can center your heart and mind on the Lord:

• BREATHE: Find a place where you can encounter God, ask Him to fill the space, and then take a minute to breathe in stillness.
• READ: Slowly read through the passage of the day, find a verse that stands out or grabs your attention. Write it down, if you like.
• ENCOUNTER: Take your chosen verse, meditate on it, and consider what God might be saying to you.
• APPLY: Turn your focus outward, and think about how you might practically live out what God is saying today. This could be an action, a prayer, confession, etc.
• DEVOTE: Close with a simple prayer of devotion to God.

Try turning on Reach’s Blank album as a beautiful companion to your Lent time.

Our passages of Scripture and journal prompts wont necessarily focus on the object of your fasting; rather, what we are fasting is intended to make space in our hearts and minds for what God wants to speak and work out in us through the Word, prayer, silence, and journaling.

Absolutely! Your heart before the Lord is the most important. If you’re resonating with the idea of Lent, understand that we aren’t striving or earning but leaning into greater intimacy with Jesus, and are desiring to be a part of our devotionals, please join us!

If you started and then lost momentum, maybe consider asking yourself if you’ve made things too difficult with what you’ve chosen to fast, if you’re not taking the commitment seriously, or need more community around this practice. We are here to walk with you! We’re all in this together!