Week: Lent
Welcome to Lectio for Families. Throughout the year, there are particular days and seasons that are important for Christians, for example; Advent, Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. This week marks the beginning of Lent, which is the 40 days that lead up to Easter, and millions of Christians around the world will be celebrating this season in different ways. This week, we’re going to explore what Lent represents and what it means to prepare our hearts and minds for Easter.
As usual, each day we will simply pray (P.R.A.Y.) together.
P: PAUSING to be still.
R: REJOICING with a Memory Verse and REFLECTING on some verses from the Bible.
A: ASKING God to help us and others.
Y: saying YES to God’s ways.
We start by pausing and taking a deep breath:
In and out.
In and out.
We remember that God is here, and so together we prepare ourselves to be with God.
Pause
Lord Jesus, You’re our champion, the one we want to follow and so we fix our eyes on You. As we draw near to You, would You draw near to us. Our faith depends on You, from beginning to end. (Hebrews 12:2)
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Jackson R
Psalm 42:1
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
Psalm 42:1 (NIV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Today, we’re REFLECTING on a passage from the book of Hebrews. Let’s listen closely to what the writer says about Jesus.
Read by Jackson R
Hebrews 12:1-3
Let us run the race that is before us and never give up. We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way and the sin that so easily holds us back. Let us look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect. He suffered death on the cross. But he accepted the shame as if it were nothing because of the joy that God put before him. And now he is sitting at the right side of God’s throne. Think about Jesus’ example. He held on while wicked people were doing evil things to him. So do not get tired and stop trying.
Hebrews 12:1b-3 (NCV)
The season of Lent focuses on three important things; prayer, fasting and giving.
It is a time to make space in our lives. Some people choose to stop doing certain things for a while – things that feel might be getting in the way of them following Jesus, giving them more time to focus on Him and others.
Later this week we’re going to think about what we might want to stop doing for a while – the Bible calls this ‘fasting’ – and we’re also going to think about what we might want to start doing too. But first, we’re going to do what today’s passage says… we’re going to ‘think about Jesus.’
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: What comes into our minds when we think about Jesus?
Jesus once asked his disciples – His friends – ‘Who do you think I am?’
Jesus, we offer You all the things that we’ve just been talking about. You are all of these things, but You are SO much more too! We ASK You to help us learn some new things about You this week, so that we can know You better.
Jesus, we know that You love everyone and that You want everyone to know You. As we quietly whisper the names of some of our friends who don’t yet know You, we ASK that they would want to know more about being your friend.
As we read the Bible again, let’s listen for a word or a phrase that the Holy Spirit might want to say to us from today’s verses.
Hebrews 12:1-3
Let us run the race that is before us and never give up. We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way and the sin that so easily holds us back. Let us look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect. He suffered death on the cross. But he accepted the shame as if it were nothing because of the joy that God put before him. And now he is sitting at the right side of God’s throne. Think about Jesus’ example. He held on while wicked people were doing evil things to him. So do not get tired and stop trying.
Hebrews 12:1b-3 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Lord Jesus, You know how distracted we get by the things that are going on in our lives. Sometimes it means that we forget about You, and we’re sorry about that. We say YES to fixing our eyes on You again this week, and trying our best to follow You each day.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
Psalm 42:1
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
Psalm 42:1 (NIV)
Let’s put a hand on our heart.
Father God, fill us with Your love. Help us to love You, and everything that You’ve made.
Let’s point to our eyes.
Lord Jesus, help us to see You, and to see others the way that You see them too.
Let’s point to our ears.
Holy Spirit, help us to hear You, and give us courage to do what You say.
Unathi lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, with her husband and 5 kids; and has a passion for seeing families thriving.
You’ll most likely find her homeschooling the tribe, reading, writing, or dreaming about the next DIY project.
She also loves good coffee, dark chocolate and hiking.
Jackson is 11 and lives with his younger brother and parents in Surrey. He loves pretty much all sport but his favourites are football, golf and jumping off high stuff into water! He enjoys gaming and is always ready to build something on Minecraft.
