Praying Our Way Through Lent

This time of year, we often sing "These 40 Days of Lent." This beautiful hymn compares our Lenten fast to Jesus' 40 days of fasting and prayer in the desert at the beginning of his ministry (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-15; Luke 4:1-13).

Most of us are pretty good at the fasting part—we give up something for Lent, and we generally stick to it. But fasting and prayer go hand in hand—by eliminating distractions, we free up time that can be spent in improving our prayer life.

When it comes to prayer, we all get a little bit rusty from time to time, as everyday cares keep us occupied. Sometimes we find it hard to get our conversation with God started. That's where the traditional prayers of the Church can help us. By reciting a prayer from memory, or praying it with the help of a prayerbook, we can "jump start" the conversation, before moving into the different types of prayer, expressed in our own words.