Lent 2025 – Fasting & Prayers for Repentance – Repenting of Pride – Purity 1609
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Good morning,
Today’s photo of an old rustic barn with a patchwork roof and its neighboring trees in the foreground of a magnificent sunset sky comes to us from yours truly as I captured this moment back on November 11th, 2023, while visiting the clearing at the end of “Freedom Road”.
Well, it is Tuesday, and as we move into the second week of Lent, beyond the weekend’s and yesterday’s St. Patrick’s Day feastings, I am celebrating the successful completion of the latest round of freedom appointments for this season’s Freedom in Christ course and am enthusiastically looking forward to the rest and relaxation that will come through repentance. Freedom Prayer Ministry can take a toll on the encourager’s soul, and when we pair it with an overindulgence of the flesh and overeating, we can really wear down our spirits. Ironically, one may think that eating an abundance of food would give you strength, but in the spiritual realm I think the opposite is true. When we overindulge our flesh not only are we weighed down physically, but I also believe gluttony is a sin, so we are weighed down spiritually and the only remedy is to give our bodies a rest with fasting and there is no better season to fast as Lent.
The question of whether or not we are to fast really isn’t a question at all as Christ indicated that after his earthly ministry was completed, his disciples would fast in Matthew 9:15 and gave advice on how we should fast in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:16-18).
I try to be transparent about my struggles with food addiction and during this season of my walk I am more and more convinced that fasting is supposed to be a regular practice for those of us who wish to follow Jesus and especially for those of us who lack self-control when it comes to eating. With that said, I realize that fasting has its dangers too.
One trap we can fall into, I know because I have been in this pit, is that we can think of fasting as a “quick fix” to weight loss and fast for the benefit of the body with little emphasis on the soul. That’s not what fasting is for and when we utilize fasting primarily for this purpose, we often don’t realize the transformative benefits of the practice and tend to enflame the flesh to snap back into overindulgence the moment the fasting has ended.
Another trap is that of pride, which Jesus warned us about in the Sermon of the Mount.
Matthew 6:16-18 (ESV) “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
As much as we should be warned about not to seek the approval or admiration of others when we fast, I think we also need to not think highly of ourselves when we are fast too. Thinking we are more spiritual or enlightened than others separates us from the body of Christ and Jesus certainly wouldn’t want that. Pride is a sin and as much as fasting can help us to be less prideful, we have to be sure that our spiritual practices don’t become an idol we take pride in.
Speaking of pride and repentance, I have been sharing the Steps to Freedom in Christ by Dr. Neil Anderson and the next step deals specifically with pride and I share it here to give us an opportunity to draw close to the Lord in prayer and to help us to grow in humility. Dr. Neil Anderson writes:
Pride vs. Humility
Pride kills. It says, “I don’t need God’s or anyone else’s help. I can handle it by myself.” Oh no, you can’t! We absolutely need God, and we necessarily need each other. The apostle Paul wisely wrote, “[we] worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3, emphasis added). That is a good definition of humility: putting no confidence in the flesh, that is, in ourselves; but, rather, being “strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might” (Ephesians 6:10, emphasis added). Humility is confidence properly placed in God.
Proverbs 3:5–7 expresses a similar thought: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.” James 4:6–10 and 1 Peter 5:1–10 also warn us that serious spiritual problems will result when we are proud. Use the following prayer to express your commitment to living humbly before God:
Dear Heavenly Father,
You have said that pride goes before destruction and an arrogant spirit before stumbling. I confess that I have been thinking mainly of myself and not of others. I have not denied myself, picked up my cross daily, and followed You. As a result, I have given ground to the devil in my life. I have sinned by believing I could be happy and successful on my own. I confess that I have placed my will before Yours, and I have centered my life around myself instead of You.
I repent of my pride and selfishness and pray that all ground gained in my members by the enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ would be canceled. I choose to rely on the Holy Spirit’s power and guidance so I will do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit. With humility of mind, I will regard others as more important than myself. And I choose to make You, Lord, the center of my life.
Please show me now all the specific ways in which I have lived my life in pride. Enable me through love to serve others and in honor to prefer others. I ask all of this in the gentle and humble name of Jesus, my Lord. Amen.
Having made that commitment to God in prayer, now allow Him to show you any specific ways in which you have lived in a proud manner. The following list may help you. As the Lord brings to your mind areas of pride, use the prayer following the list to guide you in your confession.
- Having a stronger desire to do my will than God’s will
- Leaning too much on my own understanding and experience rather than seeking God’s guidance through prayer and His Word
- Relying on my own strengths and abilities instead of depending on the power of the Holy Spirit
- Being more concerned about controlling others than in developing self-control
- Being too busy doing important things to take time to do little things for others
- Having a tendency to think that I have no needs
- Finding it hard to admit when I am wrong
- Being more concerned about pleasing people than pleasing God
- Being concerned about getting the credit I feel I deserve.
- Thinking I am more humble, spiritual, religious or devoted than others.
- Being driven to obtain recognition by attaining degrees, titles or positions
- Often feeling that my needs are more important than another person’s needs.
- Considering myself better than others because of my academic, artistic or athletic abilities and accomplishments
- Other ways I have thought more highly of myself than I should.
For each of the above areas that has been true in your life, pray aloud:
Lord,
I agree I have been proud in (name the area). Thank You for forgiving me for my pride. I choose to humble myself before You and others. I choose to place all my confidence in You and none in my flesh. In Jesus’ name, amen.[1]
Amen. It can be humbling when we consider all the ways we are prideful, but I guess that is the point. We need to know the things we are not aware of and see ourselves as we truly are if we wish to become more and more like the people God created us to be. So face the ugly truth about your pride and go to the Lord in prayer to begin the journey toward Christlikeness and humility. You can download these prayers as a free PDF download here: Pride Vs. Humility.
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For those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple encouragements provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/.
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Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By John G. Kruis.
(While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick Google search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late author’s work. (The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling By John G. Kruis on Amazon )
This morning’s meditation verse comes from the section on Loving and Serving Others.
Romans 15:3 (ESV) For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.
Today’s verse falls under the seventeenth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Loving and Serving Others.
17. Imitate Jesus.
Today’s Bible verse tells us clearly that Jesus’ mission on earth, to take the reproaches that were rightly to fall on us, was not about pleasing Himself. When we see Jesus as the suffering servant we realize that He put our needs above His own and not only suffered for not caring for His own needs but really suffered, to the point of death on the cross, to make us free.
With Christ as our example, we imitate His selflessness and seek to consider others’ needs to be more important than our own.
This attitude may be difficult to come to but as we meditate on the riches of grace that we received – that we are saved and have the promise of eternal life with God – we may realize that everything we really need has been met and thus we can be free to help others to receive what they need.
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.com where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from “Day by Day Along the Way” By Jay E. Adams.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase Adams’ books for your own private study and to support the late author’s work. This resource is available online for less than $20 at many sites.
Day 108
Eagerly aspire to live a quiet life and mind your own business … – 1 Thessalonians 4:11
Some in Thessalonica, possibly because of erroneous views of the second coming, had abandoned their work and were going about bothering other members of the congregation by sponging off them and, at the same time, spreading gossip. As a result, they were disturbing the peace and quiet of the church. God expects all who can to earn their own keep, and He expects others to refuse to support them when they fail to assume their rightful occupations. If one won’t work, he shouldn’t eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Laziness is often accompanied by gossip; slackers have time on their hands. The problem concerns all, not merely the offending believer: the peace of the whole church is at stake. Indeed, the matter can become so serious that, as in Thessalonica, by the time Paul composed his second letter, he had to call for church discipline. “Now, whoever doesn’t obey what we say in this letter, mark that person and don’t mix with him so that he may become ashamed of himself” (2 Thessalonians 3:14). An “entitlement society” mentality can lead to such disorder in a church. We must neither foster nor allow it in our midst.[2]
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[1] Neil T. Anderson, The Steps to Freedom in Christ, ed. Pam Weston and Patti Pennington Virtue, Revised (Gospel Light, 2001), 25–26.
[2] Jay E. Adams, Day by Day along the Way (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 116.
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