Even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing—grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God.
Joel 2:12-14
Lent offers us an opportunity to draw closer to God. It is a period when we reflect on what has gone by, ask for forgiveness, and prepare ourselves to mark the death and resurrection of Christ.
Lent symbolizes the realization of our unworthiness and uncleanliness, the acceptance of the fact that we need to be clean and not defy ourselves with impurities, and the preparation of our bodies and souls for the reception of the most wonderful gift God ever gave his children, His salvation.
When you sit down and look back at your life there may be times you felt it was all over, times when you did not think you would make it out alive.
There are some blessings that you have also received that made you feel lucky because you could never have achieved any of that with your own strength. Also, you look back at the mistakes you made in the past that had very negative effects on others and yourself and ask God to remember them no more.
During Lent, we must forgo and ignore all weaknesses in the body. We must be dead to sin and follow strictly in the footsteps of our Lord and Savior. During this period we must mend all broken relationships and forgive all those who have sinned against us.
Lent is our way of telling God through fasting, supplications, and spiritual meetings that we are worthy of the sacrifice He made to wipe away our sins and save us from hell. When we are unclean it becomes difficult to stand blameless in the presence of God and feel worthy of Him.
To truly believe that all your sins are forgiven you must have no grudge in your heart towards anyone. When you have forgiven the little debts people owe you only then can you be confident that God will forgive the big debt you owe Him.
After Christ did what he did, the world was changed forever. No longer was the Jew viewed to be the only children of God but rather anyone who believed in and accepted what Christ had done for them.
In the same way, our lives must completely change after Lent. We must not return to the way things used to be. Rather we must be renewed in body and mind to never go back to the old ways but rather live as God wants us to so that His ultimate sacrifice will not be in vain.
Prayers for lent
Thanksgiving prayer for lent
Father Lord in heaven
I want to thank you through this period
Every day I wake, please prompt me to thank you
I am grateful for the life you have given me
and even though I am a sinner
I am grateful that you loved me anyway
I thank you that you sent your son to die to save me
I am forever grateful for this sacrifice
Thank you for saving my soul from hell
Thank you for the gift of eternal life
I thank you for the gifts and blessings you bestow upon me every day
Let my soul and spirit rejoice each day because I am in you
Amen
Forgiveness prayer for lent
Father Lord in heaven
During this period, I lay my soul bare to you
I present all my imperfections at your feet
I admit I am a sinner
I have cheated my neighbor and taken his cloth
I have deceived those I love in my own selfish interest
I have sinned against my body and treated your temple with filth
I am not worthy to look for your grace or favor
Today, I ask that you cleanse me of my filth
Take my sins away and forgive me
Purge me of my jealousy, anger, unfaithfulness, greed, and deceit
Take me back into your arms
Forgive my wrongdoings
Make me worthy again
For each day during this period let me wake up with remorse
and let me offer myself clean to you in prayer and supplication
Amen
Prayer for strength during lent fasting
Heavenly Father
During this Lent period, I ask for strength
Help me suppress my flesh and its urge for meat and drink
Let my spirit take control of me
Let my actions and words reflect things of the spirit
Let me ignore traps that have been set for me
Remove anything that may distract me from you
Let me solely focus on things of the spirit
Make my body dead to sin and other weaknesses
Give me the wisdom to know where to go and where not to
Help me resist temptation always
Grant me serenity and favor
Prepare my path and let me make it through unscathed
Give me divine health and let me be victorious
Let my supplications be heard
Hear my prayers and let them be answered
Grant me the desires of my heart
That will glorify your name and marvel at your greatness
Amen
Related Posts
Prayer of offering during lent
Dear Lord
During this period, I offer my body to you
I offer my time and fervent prayers to you
I offer what little I have to you
Please accept my offering
Make them acceptable unto you
Search my heart and make it clean
Remove any stains that may be causing me to be far from you
Help me take off any burden that may be putting distance between us
Receive my offering dear lord
Answer my prayers and cause breakthroughs in my life
Let them pierce through the strongest of walls
and make them acceptable unto you
Amen
Lent prayer to forgive others
Dear Lord in heaven
I pray that you remove all evil and hate from my heart
Help me resolve all conflicts between me and anyone
Help me forgive and forget all the pain people have caused me
Give me peace in my heart and help me forgive them
Let me not remember them just as you don’t remember mine
Teach me to let go of all the injustice I have faced
Help me let go of all the evil I have suffered
If anyone has cheated me, let me forgive them
For those who have lied to me let me trust them
Teach me to never hold on to any grudge
Let me be worthy of your love, dear Lord
Amen
Lent prayer for renewal
Precious Lord,
Thank you for your guidance and protection
Thank you for giving me the strength to go through this Lenten season
I pray that by the end of this lent period, I will be made anew in you
Help me not to be the same person I was before the season began
Renew my mind and my heart, Lord, teach me your ways
Help me understand your word
My soul yearns for you, dear Lord, fill me with your spirit
and draw me closer to you
Strengthen me when I’m weak, fill me when I feel empty
Renew my body and grant me the grace to do everything I do
Amen
Lent is an opportune time for you to appreciate what the Lord has prepared for you through his son Jesus Christ. It is a time to physically manifest all the spiritual blessings in your life. Commit your strength and time to connect spiritually with God. Make sure your life is not the same afterward.
Prepare your soul and make peace with God so that your soul will be His when you die. Let this period mark a new beginning in your life and receive all the spiritual blessings bestowed upon you by God through Christ Jesus.
When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:16-18
