Blessings for Lent is a prayer for the forty days before Easter, when Christians slow down, examine their hearts and prepare for the resurrection. You can pray it at the start of the season, on Ash Wednesday, or any morning when you want to ask God to bless the work of this season in your life. It can be read aloud exactly as written or used as a starting point for your own words.
Blessings for Lent
Father, I come to you at the beginning of this season of Lent, and I ask for your blessing on the weeks ahead. Some of this time feels heavy already. I am tired from the ordinary demands of work, family and the constant noise of the day, and I know that my heart can wander even when I mean well. Meet me in the quiet places where I am honest about what I need to bring to you, including the habits I want to lay down and the people I have been slow to forgive.
Bless the small disciplines I take up for these forty days, whether that means giving something up, setting aside time to read your Word or choosing to speak more gently to the people in my home. Keep me from treating them as a performance. Let them be doorways back to you. Where I fail, and I will, let your mercy meet me again each morning so that shame does not have the last word. Teach me to trust that you are patient with me and that you are working even when I cannot see it.
Lord, bless the people I am walking with this season, the friend who is grieving, the child who is struggling at school, the coworker who needs kindness I have not yet offered. Draw all of us closer to Jesus as we move toward the cross and the empty tomb. Let this Lent prepare my heart to receive the joy of Easter. Amen.
A Shorter Version to Pray in a Moment
Lord, I am asking for your blessing on this season of Lent. Slow my hurry and show me where my heart has drifted. Give me the courage to lay down what gets in the way of loving you and others. Let every small act of discipline point me back to Jesus, and bring me to Easter with a heart that is ready to rejoice. Amen.
Scriptures to Pray Alongside
Psalm 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
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Lent often begins with honest confession, and this verse gives you words for it. Pray it as a request for God to make something new within you, not just to tidy up old habits. Ask him to renew the places where you feel dry or divided.
Joel 2:13
Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to the LORD, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.
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This verse calls for a heart that is torn open before God rather than outward displays of penance. As you pray it, ask God to help you turn toward him with sincerity, trusting that his character is merciful and generous.
Lamentations 3:22-23
22 It is because of the LORD’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail. 23 They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
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When you feel you have failed again during this season, these words remind you that God’s mercies are renewed every morning. Pray them over your day, thanking him for fresh compassion and asking him to help you receive it.
Matthew 6:17-18
17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face; 18 so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
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Jesus teaches that fasting is meant to be private, directed toward the Father who sees in secret. Pray this passage asking God to keep your devotion sincere and to free you from the desire to be noticed for your discipline.
Romans 5:3-5
3 Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: 5 and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
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Paul connects suffering with perseverance, character and hope, which fits the difficult stretches of Lent well. Pray this verse for the hard places in your life right now, asking God to form hope in you as you walk through them.
How to Pray This Prayer
Many people find it helpful to pray the full prayer in the early morning, before the day’s busyness begins. Sit at a kitchen table or in a chair by a window with a cup of coffee or tea in your hands, and read it slowly, pausing after each paragraph to let the words settle. If you are short on time, pray the shorter version while you wait for the kettle or during a red light on your commute.
You can also pray this prayer with your family or a small group from church. Read it aloud together at the dinner table during the first week of Lent, or let each person name one concern they are bringing to God before the group says the final amen. Praying together reminds you that the season is shared and that God hears the whole body of Christ.
A Blessing to Close
May the Lord bless you and keep you through these forty days. May he open your eyes to his nearness, steady your heart in his mercy, and lead you patiently toward the joy of the resurrection. May he who walked the way of the cross walk with you every step of the way.
