A LENTEN JOURNEY: RETURNING TO THE HEART OF GOD
“Return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” — Joel 2:12
On Ash Wednesday, we solemnly remember that from dust and ashes we were formed, and to ashes and dust we return…On Easter Sunday, we rejoice in amazement at the final defeat of death in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. In between is Lent, when we have the opportunity to confess and reflect on our helpless mortality — even as we prepare to embrace life everlasting in the free grace of our Lord.
Lent is not a spiritual obstacle course designed to test our endurance. It is a holy invitation—gentle, searching, and deeply personal. For forty days, the Church steps into the quiet wilderness, following the footsteps of Jesus Christ, who withdrew from comfort and familiarity to seek the Father’s will. Lent calls us to do the same: to step away from noise, excess, and self-reliance, and to rediscover the God who meets us in stillness.
Time in solitude means time with no other sensory inputs. After reading your Bible, take a stroll through nature, or just sit in a quiet place where there’s nothing distracting or calling at you (including undone chores). Maybe listen to some quiet music (without words). And think about God. Where is God in your story? Where should He be, that you haven’t let Him in? Where are you in God’s story?
At its core, Lent is about returning—returning to God, returning to truth, returning to the person we were created to be.
- The Wilderness Is Not Punishment, but Preparation
Before Jesus preached, healed, or went to the cross, He went into the wilderness (read Gospel of Matthew 4:1-11).
The Gospels don’t tell us exactly why Jesus does this — but he is clearly following the model set by the Scriptures. Moses fasted forty days and forty nights on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34). This wasn’t a dramatic trial with visible temptation—it was a long, silent endurance in God’s presence.
Forty days of waiting mirrors the Lenten journey…Moses descends changed, carrying God’s Word…It reminds us that transformation often happens slowly and quietly. Lent teaches us that not all spiritual battles are loud. Some are simply about staying where God has placed us long enough to be changed.
Elijah, after his greatest victory, collapses in exhaustion and despair (1 Kings 19). He flees into the wilderness, asks to die, and falls asleep. God does not rebuke him. God feeds him. Then sends him on a forty-day journey to Horeb before receiving the word of the Lord to return to Damascus.
Elijah’s experience speaks to burnout, fear, and spiritual fatigue. God meets Elijah not in fire or wind, but in a whisper. Lent is often when we realize how tired we truly are. Lent is not about proving strength—it’s about letting God sustain us when we have none left.
For Jesus, the desert was not a detour; it was preparation. In the wilderness, Jesus faced hunger, temptation, and solitude—and there, He chose obedience over ease… faith over fear…and trust over power.
Our own Lenten “wilderness” may look different. It may appear as silence where there is usually distraction…simplicity where there is usually indulgence…or honesty where there is usually avoidance. Lent strips away what is unnecessary so that what is essential can rise to the surface.
In any case, it seems clear that Jesus is preparing himself for what will obviously be a major adjustment to his lifestyle. It also indicates to his followers how important it is for us to be purified, centered in Him, before presuming to lead others.
God does not lead us into the wilderness to abandon us. He leads us there to meet us. So Lent is about growing closer to God. And one of the best ways to do that is to meet Him in His Word. You will have noticed in our Matthew reading, Jesus answered each of the devil’s three temptations with Scripture. All three are from the book of Deuteronomy. That might be a good place to start studying during this Lenten season.
Scripture is where we encounter the Holy Spirit, learn from Him, work with Him, and wrestle with Him. Along with prayer and communal worship, Scripture engagement is the very foundation of the Christian life.
If you don’t have a regular Scripture reading practice, there’s no better time than now to start one. Again, you can replace the time you would have spent doomscrolling with time spent reading and reflecting on Scripture.
And if the Bible is already a regular part of your daily routine, this might be a good opportunity to take the next step and go deeper in your studies. Try doing a deep dive on the passages we mentioned about Moses, Elijah, and Jesus in the wilderness!
- Fasting: Making Room for God
In modern Western culture we typically associate Lent with “giving something up” for 40 days. That comes from the traditional practice of fasting — giving up food — during this period, in emulation of Christ’s fasting in the desert. It’s a worthwhile practice — but it’s by no means the only one. Fasting is the most ancient and original method of preparation for communion with God. By depriving ourselves of the necessary means of our survival, we demonstrate our dedication to God and reliance on him — while reminding ourselves that we do not live by bread alone (Matt. 4:4).
Fasting during Lent is often misunderstood as mere self-denial. But biblical fasting is not about deprivation—it is about attention. When we fast, we intentionally loosen our grip on earthly comforts to strengthen our dependence on God.
Every hunger pang becomes a prayer…Every craving becomes a reminder.
Every moment of discomfort becomes an opportunity to say, “Lord, I need You more than this.”
The prophet Isaiah reminds us that the fast God desires is not empty ritual, but a transformed heart—one that seeks justice, mercy, and humility (Isaiah 58). Fasting that does not lead to love is incomplete. True fasting softens us toward God and toward others.
- Repentance: Turning, Not Just Regretting
Lent places repentance at the center, but repentance is far richer than guilt or shame. To repent is not merely to feel sorry—it is to turn around. We turn away from sin not because God is harsh, but because God is holy. We turn back to God not because we are rejected, but because we are loved.
After his sin is exposed, King David writes what may be the most Lenten prayer in Scripture: Psalm 51. “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” David’s prayer models confession without self-defense…focuses on inner transformation, not image management…and teaches us that repentance is about restoration, not humiliation. Lent gives us language for when we’ve failed—not to hide, but to come home honestly.
And in the New Testament Gospel of Luke (Chapter 15), Jesus tells the story of a son who hits bottom, rehearses a confession, and returns home expecting punishment. Instead, he finds a running father. Lent is the journey “back to ourselves.” Repentance begins when we realize where we truly belong. God’s mercy interrupts our shame. This story reframes Lent not as a march of guilt, but as a road home.
The story of Jonah and the people of Nineveh is one of Scripture’s most striking images of communal repentance (Jonah 3). From the king to the livestock, everyone fasts. No excuses. No bargaining. Just turning back to God. This story shows repentance as a community act, not just personal. God responds immediately with mercy. He challenges our belief that it’s “too late” to change. Nineveh reminds us that God’s mercy outruns our worst failures—and sometimes even our reluctance to forgive.
Ash Wednesday’s words echo throughout Lent: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” These words are not meant to crush us, but to humble us—to remind us that we are finite, fragile, and desperately in need of grace. And grace is exactly what God offers in abundance.
- Prayer: Dwelling With the God Who Dwells With Us
Lent invites deeper prayer, not longer prayers for their own sake, but truer ones. Prayer during Lent is less about eloquence and more about honesty. It is the prayer of the psalmist: “Search me, O God, and know my heart.” It is the prayer of surrender: “Not my will, but Yours be done.”
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, prayer is shown as the bedrock of relationship with God, so no matter what else you are doing to observe the season — even if it’s nothing at all — take it to God in prayer. If you are fasting or giving up something else, it’s customary and recommended to pray to God for help sticking with it.
When we slow down and listen, we discover that God has been speaking all along—calling us not to perform, but to abide.
- Spiritual Warfare
It’s easy to miss the quiet, corrupting influence of demonic forces when you’re going about your busy day. In fact, they’re counting on it. It’s likely this is why Jesus immediately ran off to the desert after being baptized and before entering the public eye. He needed to know — and needed us to know — and needed Satan to know — that he would not be led astray. He was tempted three times: to turn stones to bread (Mt. 4:3-4), to test God’s faithfulness to him (Mt. 4:5-7), and to worship the devil in exchange for earthly power and fame (Mt. 4:8-10).
Spiritual warfare is complex, often misunderstood, and can be dangerous. But at its most basic, it is simply the process of taking a hard look at where you are being tempted — not by other people, but by the whispers of the enemy in your own heart — to act selfishly, destructively, and contrary to God’s good design — and to put up a shield against him.
During Lent, root out those temptations, reject them, and tell that devil to go pound sand.
- The Cross in View
Lent is a journey that always moves toward the cross. As the days pass, we become increasingly aware that this season is not about self-improvement, but about self-offering. The disciplines of Lent prepare our hearts to fully enter Holy Week, where we witness love poured out completely.
The cross reveals both the seriousness of sin and the greatness of grace. It shows us how far human brokenness goes—and how much farther yet divine love goes. And Lent does not end in death. It ends in resurrection.
Living Lent Daily
As you walk through Lent, consider asking yourself: What is God inviting me to let go of? Where is my heart resistant, distracted, or afraid? How can my fasting lead to greater love? What would it look like to trust God more deeply this season?
Do not rush these questions. Sit with them. Pray them. Let them shape you.
Closing Prayer:
Gracious God, Lead us into the holy quiet of Lent. Strip away what is false. Heal what is broken. Soften what is hardened. Teach us to hunger for You above all else. Teach us to walk the way of the cross with humility and hope. And prepare our hearts for the joy of resurrection life. Amen.