O begin! Fix some part of every day for private exercises. You may acquire the taste for which you have not: What is tedious at first will afterwards be pleasant. Do justice to your own soul: give it time and means to grow.(John Wesley Letter to John Trembath)
So I urge you Begin! Make time each day this Lent to spend time meditating on God's word and surrounded by His presence in prayer. My prayer is you will find it more than just "pleasant" but rather, life changing.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
How Lent Can Make a Difference in Your Relationship with God
I totally agree with this author. Growing up in a heavily Catholic community I felt blessed every year not to have to participate in the fasting aspect of lent...especially as a person who disliked fish hahaha. But I find that years when I have a "plan" for lent , Good Friday and Easter seem so much more meaningful.
This was an interesting article. While I agree that "Lent" is not biblical, certainly fasting and prayer as a way to grow close to God is biblical. "So I turned my attention to the Lord God to implore him by prayer and requests, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes." Daniel 9:3 "Yet even now," the LORD says, "return to me with all your heart - with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your garments!" Joel 2:12 Jesus spent time in the desert fasting and praying for 40 days. So I think it is a good discipline and glad to reminded of that fact. I also like the fact that we will be studying God's word, as the article said to give up something and when we want to do that particular "thing", replace it with meditation on scripture. Evelyn
The article had some very good and interesting points. I have not had much luck with past attempts to fast. Trying to give up food has proven to be more of a distraction for me than anything else. Perhaps adding a spiritual disciple during the Lenten season is a good option for me now. Perhaps, in the future, an increased spiritual maturity will allow me better fasting success. As long as I am drawing closer to God and keeping my sights on Him, I believe I am heading in the right direction! I look forward to this, my first Lenten study!
Well, I am learning something already! I didn't realize that Lent was not in the scripture until I tried to look it up in the New Testament to read as a kind of prologue to this bible study. I knew that Ash Wednesday was a Catholic tradition with the ashes on the forehead, but did not realize that some Protestants viewed Lent as irrelevant. I think that fasting and giving up something is a effective reminder to what Jesus gave up for us and I am glad to do it.
I loved what Pastor Julia talked about at worship last night: Feasting on the presence of God as the focus instead of fasting as the focus. That is my favorite aspect of Lent...making time to focus on heavenly things...prayer, time studying, kind deeds, acts of love.
Lent is an opportunity to get close to God, by following John Wesley's ordinances: attendance at worship, communion, group accountability, giving, and acts of mercy.
7 comments:
I totally agree with this author. Growing up in a heavily Catholic community I felt blessed every year not to have to participate in the fasting aspect of lent...especially as a person who disliked fish hahaha. But I find that years when I have a "plan" for lent , Good Friday and Easter seem so much more meaningful.
This was an interesting article. While I agree that "Lent" is not biblical, certainly fasting and prayer as a way to grow close to God is biblical.
"So I turned my attention to the Lord God to implore him by prayer and requests, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes." Daniel 9:3
"Yet even now," the LORD says, "return to me with all your heart - with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your garments!" Joel 2:12
Jesus spent time in the desert fasting and praying for 40 days. So I think it is a good discipline and glad to reminded of that fact. I also like the fact that we will be studying God's word, as the article said to give up something and when we want to do that particular "thing", replace it with meditation on scripture.
Evelyn
The article had some very good and interesting points. I have not had much luck with past attempts to fast. Trying to give up food has proven to be more of a distraction for me than anything else. Perhaps adding a spiritual disciple during the Lenten season is a good option for me now. Perhaps, in the future, an increased spiritual maturity will allow me better fasting success. As long as I am drawing closer to God and keeping my sights on Him, I believe I am heading in the right direction! I look forward to this, my first Lenten study!
Well, I am learning something already! I didn't realize that Lent was not in the scripture until I tried to look it up in the New Testament to read as a kind of prologue to this bible study.
I knew that Ash Wednesday was a Catholic tradition with the ashes on the forehead, but did not realize that some Protestants viewed Lent as irrelevant. I think that fasting and giving up something is a effective reminder to what Jesus gave up for us and I am glad to do it.
I loved what Pastor Julia talked about at worship last night: Feasting on the presence of God as the focus instead of fasting as the focus. That is my favorite aspect of Lent...making time to focus on heavenly things...prayer, time studying, kind deeds, acts of love.
Lent is an opportunity to get close to God, by following John Wesley's ordinances: attendance at worship, communion, group accountability, giving, and acts of mercy.
Post a Comment