March 2015 – Pastor Anthony’s Letter

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, the 40 days of Lent have begun. But what does the season of Lent even mean? When you hear that we are now in the season of Lent, do you think, “Oh, now I have church twice a week”? Or, “There’s food at church every Wednesday night in Lent.” Or I bet most of you are thinking the same thing I am, “After Lent comes Easter, which means that spring will soon be here!” All of these are true statements, but the main focus in Lent is on our sins, how we have fallen short of the glory of God, and our need for repentance and God’s forgiveness of all of our sins.

The number 40 is an important number throughout the Bible. The rains fell on the ark for 40 days. The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Moses was with God on Mount Sinai for 40 days. God gave Nineveh 40 days to repent. Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness for 40 days. And after the resurrection, Jesus spent 40 days on the earth before his ascension into heaven. You see, 40 is an important number. So for the 40 days of Lent we focus on our sins just as Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by the devil. Lent is a good time for all of us to evaluate our spiritual lives and work on strengthening and deepening our relationship with God. During Lent many people give up something, or fast. If that practice helps you grow your spiritual life, then please give something up for Lent, but if fasting is more of a pride thing (“Hey have pity on me, I’m not eating chocolate during Lent.”), then you probably shouldn’t give something up for Lent.

What if, instead you would focus these 40 days of Lent on strengthening our prayer life? Prayer is an  important part of our life in Christ. To learn more about prayer, you can read my Ash Wednesday sermon at www.therestfortheweary.wordpress.com. Prayer is our way to communicate with God. If we aren’t praying, we aren’t communicating with God. Going all the way back to the Early Church, the very first Christians “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:42) “The prayers” most likely means a form of memorized prayers, like how today most of us have the Lord’s Prayer memorized.

Prayer is an important practice and disciple for all of us to focus on. So whether you are giving something up for Lent or not, how about spending a little more time each day in prayer. You can always pray the Lord’s Prayer if you don’t know what to pray for. Otherwise an easy way to remember how to pray is by using your hand. Each finger represents people to pray for.

Thumb: Pray for those who are closest to you, your family and friends.

Index Finger: Pray for those who teach you, instruct you, and heal you.

Middle/Tallest Finger: Pray for our leaders, those who govern, and those who have authority.

Ring Finger: Pray for the weak, sick, and those plagued with problems.

Smallest Finger: Pray for yourself and the needs that you have.

In Christ, Pastor Anthony