There are certain days on the calendar that all of us prepare for. Sports fans circle days like Super Bowl Sunday on their calendars months in advance as they plan Super Bowl parties. Parents begin planning their child’s birthday parties long before the day of the celebration because they want to be ready for it. Brides and grooms spend countless hours and loads of money to ensure that their special day is a memorable one for them, their friends and family members. Big days involve preparation.
Easter is one of the most important days on the Christian calendar. While Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ entry into the world to, the Easter season allows us to focus on, and celebrate the reason that He came. His death allowed us to be forgiven of our sins and His resurrection ensured that we could accept the gift of eternal life with Him in Heaven. Just like sports fans, parents and couples planning a wedding, Christians spend time preparing themselves for Easter. While part of that preparation may involve getting new outfits for the entire family for pictures after Easter Sunday services or buying toys and candy to put in your child’s Easter basket, there is a much deeper level of preparation involved in the Easter season.
Preparing for Easter involves much more than new clothes, chocolate bunnies and toys. While there is certainly nothing wrong with making plans for your family’s Easter celebration, the most important thing is preparing your heart for the celebration of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. Allowing God to speak to you during Lent ensures that you have your heart prepared to get the most out of this year’s Easter celebration. Consider taking some or all of these steps to better prepare yourself for one of the most important days of the year for Christians.
Give Yourself to Consistent Prayer
One of the most important principles to apply to your life during Lent is prayer. It’s easy to treat prayer as the opportunity to tell God everything that you need or want, but that’s not the focus of Lent. While there is never a bad time to make our requests known to God (Philippians 4:6), Lent is more a time of self-examination and thanksgiving. Spend time during Lent in prayer simply thanking God for offering His only Son as the ultimate sacrifice for your sins. Consistent, prayerful thanksgiving allows you to shift your focus from the problems in your life to the goodness of God and His willingness to give the very best that He had to offer you salvation. Also, allow God to show you areas in your life that aren’t in total submission to Him. Some of these prayers may feel uncomfortable, but they are a necessary part of preparing your heart for Easter.
Fasting During Lent
The Bible is filled with countless examples of men and women who practiced fasting for a variety of reasons. While fasting is occasionally mentioned in the Old Testament as a sign of sorrow, it is much more common among those who were looking for a closer interaction with God. In Exodus 34, we read about how Moses fasted while he was waiting on a revelation from God on the mountain. For 40 days, Moses didn’t eat or drink because he was hyper focused on hearing from the Lord. In Daniel chapter 10, we read about how Daniel had received a revelation from God through a dream that he didn’t understand. While praying for clarity, Daniel went 21 days on a very limited diet, as he gave up meats, wines and other delicacies. In Matthew chapter 4, we see Jesus fasting as He began His public ministry. Even our Savior recognized the need for fasting in an effort to become even more full of the Holy Spirit. Take some time during this Lenten season to give up something as a sign to God that you want to become even more full of the Holy Spirit in preparation for Easter.
Study the Gospel Accounts of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection
It’s possible that your parents took you to church as a child, and the story of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection was a consistent part of your upbringing. Conversely, you may have never been exposed to the Gospel as a child and found the forgiveness of God much later in life. No matter how long you’ve been hearing the story of Christ’s arrest, crucifixion and resurrection, it’s important that we never reach the point of taking the story for granted. All four of the gospels provide a unique insight into the days that led up to the crucifixion and the events that directly followed it. Carve out time to take a deeper dive into each Gospel account. Instead of rushing through each one simply so you can say that you’ve read it, spend some significant time reading and meditating on the scriptures and what they mean. Allow God’s word to permeate your soul so the story becomes brand new to you all over again.
Give Yourself to Good Works
Our salvation is based on our faith in God’s grace and is not earned by any of our good works (Ephesians 2:8-9). However, James said that we can show our faith to others through good works (James 2:18). While there is certainly never a bad time to perform good works, the Lenten season allows us to “walk out” the faith that we have. What this looks like varies between each believer. Maybe you can commit to volunteering at a local soup kitchen once a week during the six weeks of Lent. So many of the people around us have suffered loss during the global pandemic and the recent storms that have ravaged large parts of the United States. There are opportunities all around us to offer hope to the less fortunate in our communities. Prayerfully ask God to show you where you can serve and find out how you can be a blessing to someone else. You may be amazed at the people that you interact with who need to hear about the goodness of God and the hope that is offered through His sacrifice. Taking part in good works isn’t about earning God’s grace, it is simply about finding a way to share that grace with those around us.
Journal Your Experience
Writing down the ways that you experience God during this Lenten season gives you a way to go back and revisit His goodness to you in the future. Your journal doesn’t have to consist of a minute-by-minute account of everything that you do in preparation for Easter. Instead, write down a particular verse that stood out to you during study with a note about what God revealed to you during a time of prayer and study. Make a note about an experience that you had while volunteering with a local charity so you can pray for the people that you interacted with in the future. A journal of your Lenten experience can give you something to look back on in the future when you’re facing a difficult situation. As you draw closer to God during this season, take some notes about how you see His blessings in your life. The truths that you experience during Lent can serve as a great way to recognize God’s goodness and provision in your life going forward.
Worship
While corporate worship with your church family is certainly an important part of preparing yourself for Easter, worship can also be a private experience. God doesn’t just want His children to praise and worship Him when we’re at church. Turn on some worship music in your home or in your car and spend time praising God, thanking Him for the gift that He gave when His son was crucified and resurrected. Worship shifts our focus to God and away from our circumstances and puts us in a position to better hear from Him.
A Closing Prayer:
God, I want this Easter season to be one of the most memorable of my life. Please, help me to focus more on You during Lent so I can walk even closer with You after this season ends. Speak to me through prayer and through Your word. Open my eyes to opportunities to serve others in Your name. Allow me to feel Your presence during my private times of worship. Thank You for everything that this season means. In Christ’s name, Amen!