The Meaning of Lent

Lent is the 40 day period in the Church calendar that begins on Ash Wednesday and finishes on Maundy Thursday. Because Easter is a movable feast, the dates vary from year to year.

Lent is really about denying yourself of something that you enjoy in order to be reminded that it's God that you depend on in life, that it's your heavenly Father that you most need in life - not Facebook or a favourite food! This is the real meaning of Lent. In this way Lent mirrors the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness. He voluntarily removed himself from the pleasures of life and company of people so that he could draw close to God, hear from Him, and prepare Himself for what was to come - an intense period of public ministry culminating in a gruesome death and extraordinary resurrection.

Further down this page is a prayer to say before receiving the ashes on Ash Wednesday, an inspiring daily prayer for Lent during 2021, and a modern Lenten prayer for young people to read in a church service or school assembly. There is also a short Children's prayer for lent, as well as some good Anglican and Catholic prayers for this season.

Before praying the prayer (below) with your Sunday school class or children, you may want to point out one or two things about Lent:-
• We don't just give something up for Lent. The reason we give it up is to get closer to God. For example, if we have given up chocolate for Lent, when we want some, we remember that we have given it up so we can pray instead.
• We can give anything up for Lent - it doesn't have to be food, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a "bad" thing or an "indulgent" thing. But it does need to be something that we will miss, and is important to us. So for children a favourite T.V. cartoon or a computer game might be a difficult (and good!) thing to give up.


Prayer for Fasting

An inspiring short film to watch as you fast and draw near to God during the Lenten season:-