ASH WEDNESDAY AND LENT
WHEN:
Ash Wednesday- 2/14/24
Lent- 2/14/24-3/30/24
WHAT:
Ash Wednesday is the communal gathering which begins the season of Lent. Lent is a 40 day journey focusing on prayer, fasting, and repentance.
Our theme at Journey during Lent is, LESS IS MORE
Our hope is that through the practices of prayer, fasting, and repentance, we will be led to trust a prevalent message in Jesus’ teaching, we’re calling the principle of less.
PRACTICES:
Prayer:
We want to fill the season of Lent with prayer, from sun up to sun down, 8am-8pm. In order to accomplish this, we divided each day into 3, 4 hour blocks of time. 8am-Noon, Noon-4pm, 4pm-8pm. We invite you to sign up for a day and a timeslot that will remain consistent through Lent. The commitment is that during those 4 hours, you would…
- Intentionally focus on praying for Journey, our neighbors, yourself, and any needs you are aware of, for an amount of time you are able.
- During that 4 hours, be as aware as possible of the work of the Holy Spirit, of Journey, your neighbors and whatever needs.
- As many times as it comes to your mind, offer a breath prayer of praise, thanksgiving, request and so on. The goal of these hours of prayer is to increase your awareness of God.
I Thessalonians 5:16-17, 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Fasting:
The purpose of fasting is to unite with Jesus in his suffering. In order to be fruitful, fasting needs to involve saying no for a period of time to something that you don’t possess the strength to deny. Historically, fasting is in relationship to food, but you can fast other things as well. In order for you to consider what you should fast, prayerfully consider what you don’t have the capacity to deny. The foundation of fasting is that God will sustain you, so denying something that is a regular part of your life will increase your trust in God as God proves faithful.
RESOURCES:
