40 Days of Prayer & Fasting: A Lenten Season of Faith

We are releasing a daily morning and evening prayer podcast throughout the season of Lent designed to guide you through 40 days of prayer according to the Psalms. We hope these podcasts will be a tool that will guide you into prayer as you begin and end each day.

Episodes available starting Monday, Feb 19

Lent Gatherings

Ash Wednesday

Gather with us on Ash Wednesday, which begins the Lenten season. We will be reflecting on our mortality, humanity, and lack, as well as the inevitability of death and our need for a Savior. Bridgetown Kids available for ages 0 - 5th grade at 5:30 PM.

Date: Weds, Feb 14

Times: 5:30 & 7 PM

Location: Bridgetown Church (2120 NE Tillamook St., Portland, OR)

Good Friday Gathering

Good Friday is the day we remember the crucifixion of Jesus, and we reflect on Jesus bearing the weight of our sin through suffering and perfect love. Gather with us as we worship and reflect on the cross. Bridgetown Kids available for ages 0 - 5th Grade at 5:30 PM.

Date: Fri, Mar 29

Times: 5:30 & 7 PM

Location: Bridgetown Church (2120 NE Tillamook St., Portland, OR)

Easter Sunday

The season of Lent concludes with Holy Saturday, giving way to resurrection celebration on Easter Sunday, when followers of Jesus celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. We rejoice in Jesus’ power over death and the hope of all things made new. Gather with us as we worship and celebrate. Bridgetown Kids available at 8 & 10 AM for ages 0 to 5th grade, and at 5 PM for ages 0 - 5.

Date: Sun, Mar 31

Times: 8 & 10 AM, 12 PM on the Eastside; 5 PM Downtown

Location: Bridgetown Church (2120 NE Tillamook St., Portland, OR); First Baptist Church (909 SW 11th Ave, Portland)

For dust we are and to dust we will return

What is Lent?

In Church history, Lent is observed during the 40 days leading up to Easter (not including Sundays) where followers of Jesus abstain from certain foods or comforts and reflect on their own mortality. We get the 40 days of Lent from Matthew 4v1-11, where we read about Jesus’ 40 day fast in the wilderness.

Ash Wednesday begins the Lenten season, where the imposition of ashes are given — ashes in the shape of a cross on the forehead — to symbolize our humanity, the limitations of our mortal bodies, suffering, mortality, and the inevitability of death. In this, we deeply feel our own lack and our need for a Savior.

But we are not without hope! The Lenten season of fasting and self-denial culminates on Holy Saturday, giving way to the Easter season of feasting and celebration on Resurrection Sunday. On Easter, we celebrate Jesus’ triumphant defeat over death. The hope of the resurrection is that we are being made new, and that all is being made new by the resurrection power of Jesus.

How do I fast for Lent?

Beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter (with the exception of Sundays), followers of Jesus abstain during the 40 days of Lent to temporarily resist whatever subverts the ability to live undistracted and attentive to God’s presence. We fast to live in touch with deep desire. We fast from neutral appetites that are taking up more craving in our inner lives than they can provide nourishment.

Traditionally fasting specifically refers to refraining from eating all food, while abstaining refers to refraining from eating a certain type of consumption. Many followers of Jesus fast, abstain, or both during the Lenten season. When deciding what to fast, ask the Spirit to bring to mind a neutral appetite that distracts from deep spiritual desires. If you are someone who practices fasting regularly, consider fasting for one 24 hour period a week during Lent. If you are newer at fasting, try giving up a food group (sugar, alcohol, meat, etc.) or giving up one meal a week. Some ideas for abstaining during Lent include TV, social media, shopping, sports, sleeping in, etc.

These 40 days of fasting are designed to help each of us listen prophetically, pray, and fast for God to increase our faith. As we do this, we sense that there are 4 expressions of faith, or 4 deep desires, that God could be stirring in us as a church family as we fast and pray: Dreams, Power, Family, & Direction.

  1. Dreams: Those of us who have followed Jesus for a long time may find ourselves dreaming less and less and are invited to make space for the Spirit to teach us to dream Kingdom dreams again.

  2. Power: Those of us longing for the Spirit to write adventure stories in the ordinary environments of our lives are invited to pray for moments that discomfort us, thrill us, and increase our faith. 

  3. Family: Some among us, particularly parents, have hopes that have never become prayers for a family member(s), and are invited to turn these hopes into prayers.

  4. Direction: Some are living at a decisive moment, and this is a time for seeking God’s direction, moving forward not only with wisdom but conviction.

Practicing the Way: Fasting

Gather with us for a 4 week discipleship course on Fasting, one of the most essential and powerful of all the practices of Jesus and, arguably, the single most neglected one in the modern, Western church. This course will train you in this ancient discipline, integrating your whole body into life with God. This class is practice-oriented and will provide space for interaction.

Dates: Wednesdays, Feb 21 - Mar 13

Times: 6:30 - 8 PM

Location: Bridgetown Church (2120 NE Tillamook St)

How do I pray during Lent?

Fasting without prayer is just living through prolonged discomfort and making it to the finish line. Prayer makes fasting fruitful because it is a way to say in harmony with soul and body: “God I am more hungry for _____, a deep hunger, than I am to satisfy this surface hunger.”

Pray in the discomfort left by denying an appetite you’ve grown used to gratifying. Fast to awaken and live in touch with deep desire, and pray that very desire into being.

We have also provided a twice daily Podcast that will guide you in Morning and Evening prayer through the Psalms.

Podcast available beginning on Mon, Feb 19.