Lent is an opportunity to take stock of our relationship with God and the direction in which our lives are going. It’s a time for spiritual renewal and growth and making a fresh start with God. Here are a few things you could do to make a good Lent.
1. Set aside some time each day to be quiet before God. Use the Psalms (to be found in the middle of the Bible) to help you pray and worship. And, of course, bring your own prayers and concerns to the Lord. Read a passage from the Bible. There are notes to help you such as Word for Today. But most important of all, open your Bible expecting God to speak directly to you through its words.
2. Read a book on the Christian Faith. There are two I would recommend. “Where is God when it hurts?” by John Ortberg, which deals sensitively and clearly with that age-old question. “Prayer” by Richard Foster is an excellent book which helps you experiment with different kinds of prayer.
3. Join with others for worship and fellowship. Please take this as a warm, personal invitation to you to any of our Sunday services, our Thursday service at 10am in St. Ruthen’s, Longden or Café Wednesday in Hanwood Church Extension on Wednesday evenings at 7.30pm.
4. Expect God to make Himself more real in your experience and life as you give Him more of yourself and time.
Below is a quote from “Lent, Holy Week and Easter Services” on the meaning of Lent.
“The origin of the season of Lent lies not in any conscious re-enactment of our Lord’s time in the wilderness, which remains only a secondary theme of the season, but in the rigorous preparation of Christians for the celebration of the death and resurrection of Christ in Holy Week and at Easter. The observance of Lent was at first undertaken by the baptismal candidates, for whom it was the final part of their preparation before initiation into the Church in the Easter liturgy, and by those who had been excommunicated for grave and public sin and would be readmitted to the Church’s sacramental life in time for Easter after a period of penance. It was not long before the Church realised the benefit to all Christians of joining these particular categories of people in a season of preparation marked by penitence expressed in prayer and fasting. It is this sense of preparation and so of eager expectation with Good Friday and Easter Day always in view, that should characterise the season of Lent.”
For more information about Lent