*Chad Jarnagin

Lent, in Christian tradition, is the period of the liturgical year leading up to Easter.

The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, penitence, and self-denial — for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Lent was also traditionally the term used to describe the period leading up to Christmas before the term of advent was officially recognized.

Conventionally it is described as being forty days long, though different denominations calculate the forty days differently. The forty days represent the time that, according to the Bible, Jesus spent in the wilderness before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured temptation by Satan.

Many have different perspectives on Lent. Check out my new friend David’s thoughts HERE.

This has come to be a very powerful practice of mine. Some say that we should have a spirit of Lent all year long (much like the spirit of Christmas). The reality is, we do not. So, w/ this season of Lent may we see, hear, sense Him more clearly.

(HT: Brody Harper)

God, on this alter we lay down what we know and understand.
We lay down our hopes, dreams and aspirations as a body of believers.
We lay down how we understand and encounter you,
We lay down how we understand and encounter each other.

We pray now, together, that we will not settle for what we know.
We wait expectantly for what we cannot imagine.

God we invite your creative blessing.
Release us into our created image as creators.
Release us to understand and encounter you in rich an deep ways.
Release us to understand and encounter each other in new and creative ways.

Creator God, do not let us, your people, settle for what we know.
Give us a thirst for what we cannot imagine.

- Steve Frost