A Prayer for Lent

Mar 21, 2026 | By Madison Wu UT Austin ‘27

Lord, 

You endured our suffering. The wage of our sin is death, and yet You give us new life [1]. Let your grace and steadfast love fill us with wonder and awe. During this season of Lent, we abstain from something good to direct our gaze to the Giver, from whom and through whom and to whom are all things [2]. Redirect our gaze from ourselves to Your cross. Bring us to repentance and show us Your glory. Apart from You, all is futile [3]. May we seek your righteousness alone.

We continue to strive, as if we could ever earn our salvation. We toil and indulge—finding comfort in entertainment, the pursuit of knowledge, the accumulation of possessions—attempting to fill our souls with distractions that cannot satisfy our longing for You. Bring to repentance. Remind our restless hearts that in You, we lack no good thing [4]. The gifts You bestow on us are mere reflections of the ultimate gift—Yourself. So use this season to quiet the world’s noise and amplify our hearts’ truest cry. We are wholly reliant on your grace. You alone are worthy. We bring nothing. 

Yet You allow us to know You, our Father. So in these moments of silence and solitude, sitting at Your feet, let us recognize our need. Sanctify us as we prepare for Your coming. Let us extol You, reliant on Your endurance, so that we may not grow weary [5]. Grant us the grace to praise You forever and ponder the magnitude of Your everlasting kindness. You perfect Your power in our weakness! [6]. You turn our  mourning into dancing! [7]. Your death and resurrection offer us newness of life. Therefore, it will always be well with our souls—now and forever.

Amen.

[1] Romans 6:23

[2] Romans 11:36

[3] Matthew 6:33

[4] Psalm 34:10

[5] Hebrews 12:3

[6] 2 Corinthians 12:9

[7] Psalm 30:11