Ash Wednesday
For centuries, Christians have dedicated time to prepare for the celebration of Jesus’s resurrection on Easter Sunday. Easter was the most important day of the year in the early church, and baptisms were performed exclusively on Easter Sunday! The early church believed that 40 days of fasting, prayer, and reflection were essential before baptism. By the middle of the fourth century, the church referred to this preparation period before baptism as Lent.
In time, Lent shifted from a season of baptism preparation to a season of remembering Jesus’s suffering and death. The church invited everyone to participate in forty days of contemplation, fasting, and repentance to ready their hearts for Easter. (The forty days is approximate; you do not count Sundays in the official tally.) Each year, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter.
People often voluntarily “give up something for Lent” in an effort to help them focus on Jesus in the days leading to Easter. While I think the practice of self-denial is helpful and useful, this year I want to focus on remembering for Lent. Lent is a season of remembering a God who chose to love, knowing that the cost of that love meant choosing the cross that Friday in Jerusalem. He chose that cross willingly, knowing the darkness of His death on Friday would give way to the victory of His resurrection on Sunday.
Creating space for this prayer experience will require you to say no to other things. A “yes” to Jesus always requires a “no” to something else. Where will you say no to create space for this prayer experience?
Once you have created space in your day, prepare your place. Make sure that you have what you need to be comfortable. Take a moment to eliminate anything that might distract you. Silence your devices. When you are ready to begin, sit silently and invite your Heavenly Father to meet you in this room.
Before we begin the prayer experience, we need you to look around your space and grab a few things. First, find any items you have that you can use to measure. Measuring cups, tape measures, scales; all are great! Then, find some things around the house that you can use to build things, such as hammers, nails, drills, tools, Lego, or building blocks. Finally, find exactly 30 of anything. It could be 30 coins, 30 toothpicks, or 30 mismatched socks. Just find 30 of one thing.
One last thing- you will need a way to read Scripture! We will provide the verses for you in this experience, but it would be better to look up them in your own Bible!
Please note: This experience is family-friendly. You can easily adapt this experience and the language to fit your family.
Read Luke 23:32-34
Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him. When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left.
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.
As the men crucified Him, Jesus said the unthinkable: “Father, forgive them.”
Look at the items in your pile. Start with the things we use to measure the cost of making something. Have you ever started a project and realized you didn’t have enough wood? Or that you ran out of flour? Or maybe you started looking at all the ingredients a recipe called for and realized it wasn’t worth the trip to the store? Turn your attention to the tools we often use to build. Think of the tools used that Friday we call Good. Hammers. Nails. Wood.
God knew what He would have to do to reach you and the cost of loving you before the dawn of time.
Pick up an item and hold it. As you hold it, say out loud:
“On Good Friday, God told me I am worth any cost.”
Finally, turn your attention to the “30.” The one who betrayed Jesus was paid 30 pieces of silver. When Jesus said, “Father, forgive them,” even that man was included.
Hold the “30” in your hands.
Close your eyes.
One by one, lay a single item down in front of you.
As you lay one down, name a way God has forgiven you.
Continue naming ways as long as you wish.
Say out loud:
“On Good Friday, God told me He loves me even when I am unlovable.”
Make a vertical line on your forehead with your finger, and as you do, say the following outloud:
“I am His.”
(Make a horizontal line over the vertical line you just made, forming a cross.)
How great is His love for me.