February 26, 2022 | Resources by Mike Stanczak
Trinity Community Church,
Lent is a season of the church year counting down to Good Friday. It is 40 days long, not counting the Sundays when the church gathers before God. Traditionally, it has been common for Christians to give something up during Lent, such as chocolate or TV. While such practices might have benefited someone somewhere, this seems to treat Lent as an arena for spiritual athleticism, as though deprivation is good for its own sake. Giving up food is no good if we will not give up our sin (Isaiah 58:1-8, Hosea 6:6).
Other Christians imagine Lent as a time to restrain our joy, perhaps to honor the pain of Christ. But as Christians, we know that what seemed an impossibly sad story had an impossibly happy outcome. Holy Saturday is followed by Easter, and the Lord never instructs his people to respond to salvation with sadness, even if it came at the cost of a lamb.
Instead, it’s useful to think of Lent as a reminder of Matthew 16. In verses 13-20, Peter confesses the truth that Jesus is the long awaited ruler, the Christ. But in verses 21-23, Peter fails to realize just how exactly Christ is to rule: by a sacrificial death. And this act is to be not only the vehicle of salvation, but the shape of the Christian life itself (verses 24-28). The Kingdom that Jesus brings comes by his cross, and we respond by picking up ours.
Lent, at its best, is about being a disciple of the crucified King. It is a fixture in time in which we are reminded that “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance” (Martin Luther, The 95 Theses). We hope that during this season, we as a church can set aside time to take inventory and renew our faith in Christ.
What follows are different suggestions for use in prayer, one for each week of Lent. They are organized into two sections: “Repent” and “Believe.” For the first three weeks we will take inventory of our sins and need for Christ. In the last three weeks we will remember Christ’s Cross and Crown, in which we trust and by which we are saved. We encourage you to use these texts to guide your prayers before God, whether individually, in small groups, or for family worship.
If fasting is not already a regular part of your life, consider choosing one meal a week to skip, and instead use that time to lift up one of these prayers, knowing your church family is with you in it.
May the Lord bless our church as we come to him in repentance and faith.
