Lent is a season in the church year, traditionally set aside by Christians as a time for reflection, repentance, and renewal. The forty days of Lent echo the forty days the Israelites spent wandering in the wilderness and the forty days Jesus endured in the wilderness after his baptism. The forty days exclude Sundays, since every Sunday is a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. With Ash Wednesday on February 18, Lent begins. People with a background of observing Lent have often devoted added attention to spiritual practices of prayer, giving, and fasting. Each of these can be considered a spiritual discipline. What is a spiritual discipline? Ash Wednesday’s message The Way is Made By Walking will include a response to that question.
Author James Bryan Smith describes spiritual disciplines as soul-training exercises, wise practices that train and transform our hearts. These practices can range from familiar ones such as worship, service, or Scripture meditation, to silence or solitude, frugality, sacrifice, or even celebration. Some are activities of engagement, or things you do. Others are activities of abstinence, refraining from or going without something. Spiritual disciplines are practices, not resolutions. All are habits undertaken to turn our attention more fully to God. We embrace spiritual practices because we love God and want to lean into Him and know Him better. Spiritual disciplines can help us slow down, reflect on our relationship with Jesus, and create space that helps us more fully experience the kingdom of God. Spiritual disciplines foster the vibrant life we have in Christ. They are attempts to practice ways that Jesus lived, revealing vital steps in any Christian walk. As Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” Jan Johnson has written much about spiritual disciplines and she reminds readers, “It’s about relationship—interacting with God, abiding in Christ, and living according to the Spirit.”
Ideas will be provided on Ash Wednesday that may inspire a new Lenten practice for you. Many of the suggestions will be for a spiritual practice you can try on your own; for example, you may read Jesus’s prayers in the Gospels throughout Lent, and try praying as he did. A few group opportunities, such as a weekly time of centering prayer and lectio divina, are also planned. You may be part of a group focusing on gratitude, thanking God privately, but meeting with others to write cards and prayers of thanksgiving. Begin praying now for God to reveal to you an area of need or a spiritual discipline to try during Lent. Author Jan Johnson suggests, “Ask God to show you what discipline would best help you connect with Him.” Begin Lent with worship at 7pm on Ash Wednesday.
Written by: Sarah Storvick
Written by: Sarah Storvick
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