A Lenten Prayer

Ash Wednesday - March 9, 2011

The Lenten season begins. It is a time to be with you, Lord, in a special way, a time to pray, to fast, and thus to follow you on your way to Jerusalem, to Golgotha, and to the final victory over death.

I am still so divided. I truly want to follow you, but I also want to follow my own desires and lend an ear to the voices that speak about prestige, success, pleasure, power, and influence. Help me to become deaf to these voices and more attentive to your voice, which calls me to choose the narrow road to life.

I know that Lent is going to be a very hard time for me. The choice for your way has to be made every moment of my life. I have to choose thoughts that are your thoughts, words that are your words, and actions that are your actions. There are not times or places without choices. And I know how deeply I resist choosing you.

Please, Lord, be with me at every moment and in every place. Give me the strength and the courage to live this season faithfully, so that, when Easter comes, I will be able to taste with joy the new life that you have prepared for me.

Amen.


Reflection


Over the years "fasting" to me has never been one of my strong spiritual disciplines; however, for some reason 2011 seems to be a year of God drawing me closer to his heart for fasting. Over the past 2 and 1/2 months I have been challenged multiple times to deny my flesh specific things and people that may have taken a position in my heart that was not honoring to God. It's been interesting to see what these things have been and when I have felt the Lords leading to give them over to Him.

My life coach continuously tells me that God is never late, he's always on time, and often he is early. This saying comforts me as I pursue God and his holiness, but it is also alarming to see how God's timing is always right. If you look at sanctification as the process that continuously allows us to grow and be challenged by the spiritual disciplines in our lives, then we must ask ourselves what God's timing has to do with this process. God's role in bringing certain things up just in time for us to develop that discipline for a reason or season is key in understanding God's heart for Lent.

As millions participate in the discipline of fasting it is my prayer that each of them would see how the Lord uses this time in their lives. Fasting has taught me that He will not hesitate to extract anything from our lives that is placed higher than he is and that those things are taken care of when he sees fit to take care of them. Because of His timing and planning He usually uses these disciplines to prepare me and help me have the strength to get through the next season or challenge in my life.

May you also seek the Lord and ask Him to reveal to you areas that you may need to work on. May we all continue to grow in the disciplines of the Lord as we lay our lives down in response to His sacrifice for us.


Brandy Kimes


Prayer taken from Henri Nouwen's collections