Daily Devotionals

The church celebrates the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday, the

day before Easter. The act of abstinence and self-denial from worldly pleasures gives Christians

purposeful time to pray, repent, and focus on gratitude.

Lent is 40 days long - ending on the Saturday before Easter. You may wonder how Lent can be

40 days if Ash Wednesday is 46 days before Easter. That is because the Lenten fast does not

include Sundays, which are considered feast days (a celebration of the resurrection)—so the six

Sundays before Easter are omitted from the 40-day observance of fasting.

In the New Testament (Matthew, Mark and Luke) Jesus goes to the wilderness for 40 days and nights to rest before He began His ministry. While he was in the desert he fasted and Satan tried his very best to tempt Jesus. This is why many give up something for Lent. People give up, or fast, from certain foods, social media, TV, etc.

Christian fasting isn’t the same thing as dieting, or going on a hunger strike, or punishing our

bodies, or fasting for a medical procedure.

Christian fasting is not:

• A way to suffer for God
• A spiritual practice that demonstrates how pious or devout you are
• The same thing as repenting of sin (we don’t “fast” from sin, we confess it, receive forgiveness, and turn from it)
• An addiction treatment program (if you feel powerless to break a dependence, reach out for help! Our Celebrate Recovery Ministry meets weekly to help you)

As you fast ask yourself these questions:

• What cravings have a hold on me?
• What would be truly liberating to leave behind?
• hort of an addiction, have I become dependent on a particular food, drink, substance, on activity?
• What would be truly challenging for me to give up during Lent?
• What is Jesus asking of me?

A word of caution: although fasting can be a wonderful spiritual exercise, it is also an easy one

to abuse. Make sure that when you fast, you do not deprive yourself so much that you do harm to your body. Fasting should only be practiced by adults and mature teens. Also, take into account any medical conditions or nutritional needs when deciding what and how much to abstain from. On the spiritual front, Jesus warns us to guard against pride while fasting.

This year from Wednesday, February 14 to Friday, March 28 we are using this fasting schedule as a church.  

We will commit to drinking water only excluding Sundays. 

There's also a daily challenge

• Monday - no meat
• Tuesday - no TV
• Wednesday - worship & journal
• Thursday - no tech (social media, YouTube, etc)
• Friday - no fried foods
• Saturday - no sweets

Each day spend 15-30 minutes in prayer.

• Read or watch our daily devotional (go to www.thisispeace.org/lent )
• At least once a week join our daily prayer line call at 6:00am (678-496-7600 | 960607#)
• Read one of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) in a contemporary translation like The Message, and each week make worship a priority.

Alternative More Aggressive Fast:  

You are free to choose a more aggressive schedule like a 40-day Daniel fast or choose every Wednesday each week to do an absolute fast where you abstain from all foods and only drink water from 6:00am to 6:00pm.

This season may bring a lot of temptation, as Jesus was also tempted on His fast. Know that we are here for you!

Send a prayer request

Connect to a group

Sign up for a support group

Join us on our prayer line every morning at 6am

678-496-7600 | 960607#

Absolutely! However, 40 days can feel like an incredibly long time to children. Make this journey to Easter one they can enjoy. Here are a few ideas to make Lent a little more bitesize for them. Take up praying daily as a family

• Choose one thing to take up and/or give up each week leading up to Easter.
• Take up helping someone in need
• Take up reading the Bible together
• Give up screen time 1 day a week
• Give up snacks for 1 day a week
• Give up secular music and replace with Gospel

Our youth ministries will also be observing Lent as we near closer to Easter. More details to come.

Easter Sunday in March 31!

Join us for our worship service. There will be programming for babies, kids and teens. We cannot wait to worship with you and praise God for the ressurection of Jesus Christ!