Four Biblical Practices for Lent

Lent is a season of the Christian calendar, particularly for liturgical churches that is a 40-day period set aside to ponder Christ’s suffering and sacrifice as well as his life, death, burial, and resurrection. It is the consideration of Christ’s sacrifice that leads to a time of repentance, forgiveness, praise, and worship. Many people associate lent with giving up something, like chocolate. Some spend more time reading their Bible, all seek greater intimacy with the Lord.

Jesus came to earth because God loves us so much that he wants to bring us back to him, reconcile us. This reconciliation through forgiveness and payment for our sins has a physical representation, which was necessary, of Jesus dying on the cross and rising again in the power of God. The annual remembrance of this culminates in Easter, the celebration of Christ’ resurrection, and begins with the 40-day acknowledgement of the sacrifice for all that it is.

Lament

Recognizing our separation from God, our rejection of him through our sins is perhaps the first part of the Lenten season. The fallen world in which we live as well as recognizing our own fallenness is often quickly acknowledged and then set aside. However, we find in the Bible numerous examples of lament.

Lament acknowledges the pain and suffering in the world and in our personal lives. It si an expression of the grief of loss and of sorrow. It is an expression we use when we cannot explain why (why a pandemic? Why on the brink of war?). A lament is no complaint. Complaining seems to accuse others or God for malevolent intentions, whereas lament describes a problem and seeks the sovereign to respond. Our lament calls upon the God we know to bring about solutions to problems, reconcile the broken, heal the pain in total confidence in the One who can. The One Creator, Healer. We know that God cares, and he hears our cry.

So, lament is a call for God to act, it is a remembrance honors victims and mourns their suffering, it is participating in suffering of others, even historical. It is a prayer of praise of our God who acts. And it is a draw to intimacy with God.

Lament encourages us to linger on suffering. Skipping over the suffering around us, the suffering of this groaning sinful world, or the suffering that sin has caused us may minimize the need that we have for the hope of Christ and restoration to right relationship with God and others. Lament is a call to spend time mourning and grieving loss.

Lament also leads naturally to repentance of our role in perpetuating sin, and to forgiveness of those who have perpetuated it upon us. This repentance and forgiveness bring healing that only God, the One who makes all things new, gives through these acts.

Repentance and mourning in ashes are found in 2 Samuel 13:19; Esther 4:1; Job 2:8; Daniel 9:3; and Matthew 11:21. However, our greatest examples of lament come from the psalms. Psalm 13, 22, 31, 44, 56, 80 might be good to start.

These psalms take on a general progression that we can use in practicing lament in our lives. There is first an invocation or calling to our approachable God, for example, ‘my God’ or ‘Shepherd of Israel.’ The prayer continues with our questions and full lament and expressions of wrongdoings, such as ‘how long will you forget me?’ or ‘we are ravages, Lord.’ The lament includes our doubts and struggles with all honesty poured out to God. Then the lament moves to beseeching for God to act; examples include ‘save me’ or ‘restore us.’ The prayer ends with praise and hope, expressions of trust in God.

Fasting

Having recognized our separation from God and need for him, we also choose to identify with Jesus who denied his own desire and submitted to Father at the cross, as we see in Matthew 26:42. As Jesus’ followers, we are also called to deny ourselves and take up him; this can take on the discipline of fasting.

Fasting or abstaining from things during lent is a common practice which reminds us of our dependence on God and our need of him for all things. By ‘giving up’ something, when we would normally turn to that, we instead turn to God who meets our needs.

Fasting is also following the pattern of Jesus; it is what he did before his ministry began, just after his baptism (Luke 4:1-2). It also represents the Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years, a place they had gone to in order to worship God. The Israelites lost their way to God and were forced to wander, with daily reminders of their dependence on God through manna.

Fasting has traditionally been from food or physical sustenance. This may be one meal, or snacks that we forgo, or even an entire day. However, over time it has come to include abstaining from things which may detract from our focus or dependence on God. Recent examples include technology, social media, gaming, or email. Additional ideas of abstinence include complaining, unforgiveness, shopping, gossip, fast food, eating out. Others may abstain from pleasures like chocolate, sweets, or alcohol, thereby identifying with the simplicity that Jesus teaches and acknowledging that he fulfills our needs.

Integrate

Rather than abstaining during lent, there are also those who choose to add to their lives at lent; they add Bible study, they donate time, they do something irregular to their routines. All of these Lenten disciplines are intended to draw us nearer to the Lord, and study or adding something like ‘complimenting someone every day’ shows God’s love to others does just that.

Study aids in knowing him better. Perhaps this echoes the journey that Elijah undertook to seek God at the holy mountain (1 Kings 19:8). Study opens our mind to encounter God in a new way or to encounter him afresh. Some choose to read specific plans for lent, 40-day reading plans. Others choose to read texts about Christ and the crucifixion. There are numerous Lenten devotionals as well. Seeking God and adding more time with him, to know him, to encounter him, sets our hearts on him in preparation of the celebration of his resurrection and our restoration of eternal life.

Those who add something to their routine often choose something which reflects Jesus’ character. As mentioned above, there is complimenting someone, others may donate more during the season, including time. People who rarely attend church may go more frequently or more regularly; others may invite non-churchgoers to attend. Children do a sibling’s chore or something for a neighbor. Crafty people may make things and give them away. Generosity and love characterize the things that people add to their routine, things which glorify God and move us closer to Jesus (known as sanctification).

Prayer

Foundational to our lives a Christians, prayer is perhaps not surprising to see on a list of disciplines for the season, any season. It was Jesus’ only means of sustenance in his 40 days of fasting. Prayer is communicating with God and growing in relationship with him. Jesus often went to pray alone and withdrawn from others. Prayer during Lent prepares our hearts for God’s plans, just as Jesus did in Gethsemane.

Prayer is also a discipline that goes hand-in-hand with fasting and studying. Prayer seeks God’s guidance, strength, protection (especially from temptation), comfort, steadfastness, persistence, joy, and for all our needs. It emphasizes our need for God in our lives, for his presence.

Some may begin a prayer journal or even a prayer group. Others pray the psalms, one a day. There is a women’s group that prays the promises of God during Lent. There are groups that pray the stations of the cross or the seven ‘words’ of Jesus from the cross. Others may integrate more prayer as Brother Lawrence did, in everything, as breathing.

Closing

Taking up one of these disciplines for 40 days will hopefully set a new pattern in our lives, a pattern of walking more like Jesus. Each of these disciplines encourages us to seek God first and our own needs second. They encourage us to put on the character of Christ and grow in relationship with the Lord.

Do you celebrate lent? What will you be doing for lent?