This year, February 25 in the church calendar is Ash Wednesday. It is the beginning of the season of Lent, a period that ends with Easter.  Lent is an old word that means spring.

If you had to pick a phrase that best captures what people think of Lent it’s this: giving up.

Not as in quitting a competition, but as in giving up something. People observing Lent give up meat on Fridays and some Wednesdays. They are also supposed to give up something else that matters to them.

Even older than the name Lent is the term ‘fasting.’  It’s also about giving up.

Why am I talking about this now? Because Jesus talked about fasting. Several times. (We looked how he fasted. We’ll look at another conversation in a week.) An important part of fasting is intentionality, choosing what to give up for a period of time so that attention and time and energy can be devoted to prayer.

And so I wanted to give us a heads up. What could you give up for a few weeks to have more attention to devote to listening to and for Jesus?  This isn’t about earning points. It’s not about proving how tough you are. It’s not about spiritual pride. It’s about attention and intention.

The reason we won’t get to that passage for a week is because we will be spending this coming week looking at prayer. More accurately, at the prayer most often known as “the Lord’s Prayer.” Jesus says, “When you pray, say this.”

Clearly it wasn’t the only way to pray. Jesus only does it this one time in all the time he spends talking with God. However, he offers it as a way to pray.

So try it this weekend. And we’ll look at it starting Monday.