Why and how to practice Lent
Just as Jewish believers intentionally prepare for the Passover, Christians prepare in the season of Lent for Pascha. Before the Passover, Jews search their house and burn all the leavening they can find. As Christians, Lent invites us to prepare for the celebration of Pascha by searching our hearts, allowing God to burn away anything that gets in the way of our relationship with Him. All of the things that we hope will, like leavening, lift us and give us life, we remove, so that we can experience God’s power alone raising us to life.
Every year, the ashes used to anoint believers on Ash Wednesday are made by incinerating the fronds from the previous year’s Palm Sunday. Just as fire consumes and changes the fronds into ash, Ash Wednesday and Lent are invitations to let the Holy Spirit consume and change our hearts. Ash Wednesday teaches us that in order for Jesus to be our King and our hosanna savior, our uplifted palms must become the ashes of repentance.
The word lent comes from English, German, and Dutch words meaning “spring season” or “long”. Of course, Lent takes place in the spring when the daylight is growing longer. The idea is that, as the days grow longer, we grow in longing for the day when Jesus will ultimately free us from sin. As we feel our sin dying inside us, we see the things around us coming to life, pointing us to the day that “creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).
But we also celebrate Lent in remembrance of the forty days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1–11; Luke 4:4–13). If so, there are few things we must be sure to do as we embark on our own forty-day fasts:
Continually allow God to fill and minister to you by choosing to be present with Him. The Gospels tell us that, before he fasted, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:22; 4:1). If you are not allowing God to fill you with His Spirit, Lent will just leave you empty. If God does not fill you, something or someone else will (Matthew 12:43–45).
Anticipate temptation. Scripture tells us that God does not tempt us (James 1:13), but Jesus himself was led “by the Spirit…to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1). If we are to be treated as children of God—as God treats His Beloved Son—He will not always steer us clear of temptation. As He leads you to temptation, ask the Father to lead you “not into temptation” but away from it, and be willing to take the escape.
Beware of asking people and things to sustain you in ways that only God can. What “stones” have you asked to satisfy you like bread? How can you stop running to things or people that cannot satisfy you like God can?
Don’t worship things that promise the authority, glory, or pleasure that only God can give. We all crave control, esteem, and comfort at some level. Any time you let this desire for control, esteem, or pleasure direct your behavior, you are worshipping. “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only” (Matthew 4:10; Deuteronomy 6:13).
Don’t test God. Don’t put yourself in spiritual danger and take God’s rescue for granted. Don’t dare God to prove His faithfulness simply because you are unwilling to do the hard work of believing and trusting.
Open your eyes to the needs of others. Jesus didn’t fast for his own sake but for ours. Our fasting should likewise be as concerned with others’ freedom and well-being as our own (Isaiah 58).