An Introduction To Lent
by Jonny Clarke, Senior Pastor of City Life Church
I am a Pentecostal Christian. I grew up in a church that taught me that God's presence shouldn't just be assumed but should be sought after with passion and fervency. I love and honour my Pentecostal heritage.
But if you're a Pentecostal Christian like me, maybe you have an ingrained aversion to the word tradition, especially as it pertains to the traditions of the church. Maybe you think we should leave Lent for the Anglicans or Roman Catholics and the sort of people that light candles and do incense. And we'll stick to what we're good at — like speaking in tongues.
But as I have grown less ignorant of church history, I have developed an appreciation of the wisdom of the Church calendar.
I will now list 5 of the benefits of embracing the annual seasons of the church, especially Lent.
Here's the thing: the church calendar offers wisdom for the whole church. Seasons like Lent serve as a helpful discipleship tool, guiding us into a focused time of prayer, fasting, and repentance. This is why we are encouraging our City Life Church family to consider embracing this season of Lent.
Several years ago, a mentor of mine, David Shearman, encouraged me that at a time when the institutional church in our nation is being swallowed up by progressive liberal ideology (the shorthand term is "woke"), church rhythms such as Lent give us who firmly hold to historic Christian orthodoxy (otherwise known as the tradition of truth) an opportunity to reclaim the church calendar.
Before we get into some practical ways we can grow in our faith during Lent, let me give you 5 reasons to observe Lent:
#1: Because you want to be biblical
The Scriptures must be our first and final authority in all things that pertain to faith and morals. But is Lent in the Scriptures? In principle and practice, yes.
Lent is the practice of fasting forty days before the celebration of Easter. In Matthew 4:1 it says that Jesus was "led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil", and it says he fasted "forty days and forty nights" (4:2).
Lent is simply the practice of following the pattern of Christ. Jesus fasted so that we could be inspired to fast.
In Matthew 9:15, Jesus explicitly said that "the days will come…" when he would leave his disciples and "they will fast." But beyond Christ's own words, we have the testimony of Scripture that says the purpose of fasting is "to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke" (Isaiah 58:6).
Do you have areas of weakness in your life? Do you have any strongholds of sin? Do you have any vices of evil that you are trying to master? Fasting is the way to destroy these snares.
#2: Because you want to grow
When we are born into the kingdom of God we become children of God, and, while being a child isn't evil, arrested development is. In other words, God wants us to mature.
Healthy Christians, like healthy children, grow. The Scripture says that Jesus "grew in wisdom and stature and favour with God and man" (Luke 2:52). Unfortunately, however, many modern Christians never grow to become spiritual mature. Many believers live in a perpetual state of spiritual infancy.
But how do we grow? By taking responsibility. The truth is that when we challenge ourselves through self-discipline we can see incredible growth. Self-denial must be self-imposed. No one can force us to grow; instead we must choose to grow.
What God wants is for us to truly want Him. You must choose to "turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning" and "rend your heart, and not your garments" (Joel 2:12–13).
#3: Because you value Church History
The Church is bigger than we can imagine, especially in its history. We can sometimes think (in our denominational bubble) that we are the only ones that have gotten Christianity right.
But the early church had many great leaders—from Irenaeus to Athanasius—who all agreed that there should be an annual season of prayer and fasting. The same men who wrote the Nicene Creed also wrote about a season of prayer and fasting. This is what Lent is: a call to the whole church to pray, fast, and repent.
When we participate in Lent, we are participating in a Christian tradition that spans over a thousand years and a practice that unites us to the historic cloud of witnesses for Christ.
#4: Because you love God
Paul said to the Corinthians "the love of Christ compels me" (2 Cor 5:14), and it compelled him to suffer in ministry for Christ. Love suffers. It suffers because it's a fighting thing.
As G.K. Chesterton said, "To love a thing without wishing to fight for it is not love at all; it is lust."
When we love God, we fight our flesh and war against the selfishness inside of us that wants to maintain mediocrity and bathe in comfort and heap up pleasure. But strengthening ourselves in the Spirit sometimes means weakening ourselves in the body.
It sometimes means experiencing a wilderness of want, where we take our eyes off the temporal and fix them upon the eternal. It sometimes means voluntarily restraining our physical appetites so that we can expand our spiritual appetite.
The truth is that the wilderness teaches us to depend upon God alone, and in doing so it strengthens our faith and amplifies our hope and magnifies our love.
#5: Because Lent makes Easter even more Christ-exalting, Christ-centred, and Christ-glorifying.
Celebrating Easter is the apex of our Christian calendar. It represents the spiritual New Year.
Easter is the crescendo in a symphony of suffering. Jesus knew he was born to die, and, in the same way, the mark of Lent is the surrender to suffering.
You cannot have Easter without Calvary. Lent is that "way of suffering". It trains us to "follow in His steps" (1 Pet 2:21), to unite ourselves to the cross of Christ, and, by the way of death, we experience the life of Christ.
Next Steps: How To Practice Lent
Now that we've explored why we observe Lent, let's look at the three practical pillars that will shape our Lenten journey together:
Lent is compromised of three categories.
Fasting
Prayer
Alms giving (giving to those in need)
Let's briefly explore these three categories.
#1: Fasting
Fasting always pertains primarily to food. There's a difference between abstinence and fasting. Abstinence can include not using social media or limiting consumption of television.
Options for fasting during Lent
No meat for all 40 days or just certain days
No meat or diary products for all 40 days or just certain days
No deserts, sweet drinks, alcohol, chocolate for all 40 days
No food at all for 24 hours during Lent for one day per week
One meal for 7 days in a row
As you can see, there are various options for fasting. Now, here are some ideas for abstinence:
Ideas for abstinence
No social media or YouTube
No listening to secular music
No selfies during Lent
Taking showers with lukewarm water
Less makeup or not getting your nails done
Having family devotions once a week
Reading more scripture
Staying off the internet for certain periods of the day
Reading a devotional book during Lent (Classics like: Pursuit of God by Tozer, Cost of Discipleship by Bonhoeffer or Confessions by Augustine)
Giving up complaining or negative talk for the duration of Lent
#2: Prayer
Remember, Lent is, in part, a call to deepen our prayer life. Below are some suggestions:
Ideas for incorporating prayer during Lent:
Pray for the Lords prayer three times a day (morning, lunch and evening)
Writing your own detailed personal prayer to God and pray that prayer everyday. Ask the Holy Spirit: What is a prayer list for my life for the next 40 days? Then after writing this personal prayer, pray it daily.
Ask your friends or family if they have any prayer needs and pray for them daily during Lent.
If you have the gift, speak in tongues for 5 or 10 minutes on a daily basis everyday for 40 days.
Memorise scripture. A good suggestion for Lent is to memorise a penitential psalm (E.g Psalm 6, 32, 38, 51). Penitential refers to something relating to repentance or expressing sorrow for sin. In the context of Lent, penitential psalms are prayers written as personal confessions to God, expressing remorse and seeking forgiveness.
This list isn't exhaustive, but it should give you ideas on how to deepen your prayer life during this season.
Here’s the thing: Fasting and prayer go together. If you’re fasting, you should be praying also.
#3: Alms Giving
Alms giving is primarily about helping those in need in various ways.
Some ideas for Alms Giving
Pay for someone else’s coffee (even someone you don’t know)
Give anonymously to someone in financial need at church or in your community
Volunteer at a foodbank or soup kitchen
Be intentional generous toward someone struggling at work.
Donate used clothes or household items to a local charity
Visit someone who is elderly, sick, or lonely and spend quality time with them
Prepare a meal for a family going through a difficult time
Send an encouraging note or care package to someone going through a challenging season
Buy essential items for a homeless person (toiletries, socks, food)
Invite someone who might be alone to share a meal with you and your family
A few final points to consider
Keep the spirit of the fast. Don't become legalistic about your Lenten commitments. If you miss a day of fasting or prayer, don't be discouraged—simply start again the next day. Remember, these are self-imposed disciplines meant to draw you closer to God, not burdens to weigh you down.
Choose wisely based on your circumstances. Consider your age, health, work demands, and personal temperament when deciding what to fast from or abstain from. Not everyone can handle the same commitments. For example, some people struggle significantly without food—it's better to eat than to be irritable all the time! Be honest with yourself about what will actually help you grow spiritually.
Focus on your own journey. Don't judge other people's Lenten choices. Your responsibility is to examine your own heart before God, not to play "Lent police" with others. What matters is your personal walk with Christ, not comparing your commitments to someone else's.
Write down your goals. This is important—put your Lenten commitments in writing. Writing them down helps clarify your intentions and gives you something concrete to refer back to throughout the season.
Summary
This Lent, we're inviting you to participate in a 40-day journey of spiritual growth and deepening faith. Beginning on Ash Wednesday (February 18th), this discipleship challenge centres on three key practices: fasting, prayer, and almsgiving.
Why observe Lent? Because Scripture calls us to seasons of prayer and fasting, because spiritual maturity requires self-discipline, because we're connected to centuries of Church history, because our love for God compels us to fight against spiritual complacency, and because Lent makes Easter even more meaningful and Christ-centred.
How to practice Lent: Choose commitments from the three pillars—fasting (from food or other things), prayer (deepening your relationship with God), and almsgiving (serving those in need). Remember to keep the spirit of grace, choose wisely based on your circumstances, focus on your own journey, and write down your goals.
This season is an opportunity to turn toward God with intentionality, to grow in spiritual maturity, and to prepare our hearts for the celebration of Easter. We're not pursuing legalism but genuine transformation through self-imposed discipline that draws us closer to Christ.
Thank You
Thank you for taking the time to read this ‘Introduction to Lent’.
We're excited to walk through these 40 days together as a church family. May this Lent be a time of genuine spiritual growth, deeper prayer, and greater love for Christ and others.
Grace and peace to you as you begin this journey
