During Your Fast...
When you fast, it is important to fill the void created by things you are
foregoing with the good things that God has for you.
Take the time you would have spent doing the thing you are fasting from to:
- Center yourself in meditative prayer:
I am your beloved child (or son, or daughter).
Today you have begotten me. (breathe in first
line, then out. Slowly.)
Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
have mercy on me, a sinner. (breathe in first
line, then out. Slowly.)
Be still and know that I am God
Be still and know that I am
Be still and know
Be still
Be
These prayers are designed as tools to help "quiet the voices" in our heads
and in our lives and allow us space to see ourselves and see God more
clearly. When you pray, go to quiet place, shut the door, and listen to God
and God will listen to you!
The heart of the Gospel is the Grace. That God has reached out to us in
a kind of love that overcomes everything to embrace us. The self-reflection
that is part of Lent is not a time to beat ourselves up, but a time to
humbly assess ourselves and recommit to the adventure of faith in the
freedom that Grace brings. Here are some journaling prompts that you may
find useful to help get the ball rolling.
- Think about your life and assess how you honor God and how you do
not.
- Ask yourself if you take advantages of the opportunities God gives
you to love his children, your neighbors.
- Write about your desires and goals and ask God to shape them.
- Are there fears, pride, unforgiveness, or pain that you live with
that have control over you?
- Holiness means to be set apart by a character that has been shaped
by God, but to become holy, we must learn to be disciplined and humble.
Do you see ways that you can integrate disciplines into your life that
will help to shape you in God's way?
If we are going to become more rooted in God's truth and way during Lent, we
must immerse ourselves in our story with God. The Bible.
- Read 1 John (It's short) And reflect on life with God, the freedom
and responsibility
- Read James (It's short too!) Reflect on the challenge and radical
call that following Christ is.
- Read Luke 4 which details the start of Jesus ministry. Meditate on
Jesus fasting in the desert, and how this prepared him for his
ministry. Think about how Jesus explains his own ministry. How do you
think the time in the desert prepared Jesus and strengthened him to live
the life he was to live?
Lenten practices are ultimately aimed at helping us to see with God's eyes
and work as God's hands.
- Pray that your eyes and our eyes as a community will be opened to
see the needs around us and that our hands will work to meet those
needs.
- Pray that we will see God and the dream God has for us more clearly
and that we could draw near and embrace the Spirit of God.
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