How is it that Easter sneaks up on us every year?

Or maybe it doesn’t sneak up on you, but your heart never feels quite prepared to celebrate the most amazing of miracles. Somehow it just feels like another Sunday with nicer clothes and better music.

This is what Lent is for. Forty days set aside to help us prepare our hearts for Easter.

Aaron Damiani, pastor, and author of The Good of Giving Up: Discovering the Freedom of Lent, stumbled into practicing Lent years ago. He may have started with a half-hearted fast, but he quickly noticed his new church community was all in for Lent. He saw them not practicing Lent out of obligation but with hearts full of joy – especially on Easter.

Join Aaron and me as we discuss all things Lent: where it came from, how to practice it, and why we should try it.

Some highlights from our conversation:

• Where did Lent come from? While we don’t see Lent explicitly spelled out in Scripture, history tells us the very earliest followers of Jesus started with a communal overnight fast to mark the anniversary of Easter. This grew into what we now recognize as Lent.
• The three main practices in Lent are: fasting, prayer and almsgiving (generosity)
• Aaron tells us about his first Lent – and how it became a meaningful part of his journey with Jesus.
• We talked about what Aaron is giving up this year for Lent – and how you can discover what God might be inviting you to fast from for this season.
• Do you feel resistance to Lent? Aaron and I discuss this and he has some wise and pastoral words for us.
• Finally, Aaron prays over us. Here are the words he prayed written by Pastor Thomas Kramer: Heavenly Father, You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. So, look with compassion upon the heartfelt desires of your servants and purify our disordered affections that we may behold your eternal glory in the face of Christ Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. Amen.

You can connect with Aaron at: https://immanuelanglican.org/lent/

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/damiani6/

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/damianipage/

You can order Aaron’s book here: https://www.moodypublishers.com/authors/d/aaron-damiani/