Lent Guide 2023Sample

Friday – I make adjustments for the journey

“Exercise daily in God — no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. You can count on this. Take it to heart.”

1 Timothy 4:6–10 (MSG)

Our experience of the Lent journey can deepen when we intentionally make adjustments for this period of time. We choose a specific time every day to pray, we arrange a space for prayer. Another practice for Lent is to fast from something and give up something which sometimes provides a little comfort. Dallas Willard says, “We fast so we can feast on Jesus.” The other side of the coin is that we also take up something with the extra capacity that fasting provides, something that can feed your soul. People sometimes give up things like chocolate, coffee, wine, social media, or a TV series, and replace it with activities like reading spiritual books, having conversations with others, or performing acts of service. Every time you become aware of that which you have given up, it’s an opportunity to turn to God. The “desert” becomes a place of encountering God.

What is it that you will give up and take up?

I recently saw a friend posting on social media about the travel journals she gives her kids when they travel. She invites them, at the end of every day, to write down what was good, what they learned, and what upset them. Months later they can share the stories of their journey with each other.

It can be helpful to keep such a travel journal at the end of each day. Ask God to help you remember what is important, and in your imagination, walk through your day with Jesus. Pay attention to everything that happened in your heart, that which you were thankful for, that which gave you life, and that which was difficult.

Let your day run through your imagination like a film. Pay attention to what happened in your heart today; identify the one thing that gave you life, and the one thing which was difficult for you.

It’s important to make all these adjustments with a lot of patience and grace for yourself. Decide on manageable times you can spend on prayer. If you miss it, just start again. Our intention is to journey with Jesus, a journey on which we’re always beginners.

Grace:

God, give me the grace to keep my eyes on You.