Lent 2018: It is the Heart that Matters

Lent 2018

Name: Samuel Lee
Lenten Commitment: Keep a QT and prayer journal every day

For Lent this year, I decided to keep a Quiet-Time and Prayer Journal and write in them before I start my homework every day. For the QT journal, I write what the lesson was from the day’s scripture and how I could apply it to my life. In the prayer journal, I write down my prayer for each day – praying for my life, family, friends, DSYG, and the Praise Team. The reason I chose to do this for Lent was that I wanted to maintain my relationship with God through my junior year of high school which I knew was going to be the busiest year of my life up until now.

Before I started my Lent, I would do my QT 3 to 4 times a week, and I would just read the passage once, then read the explanations on the next page, and that would be it. Right after I read the text once and the explanations, I felt this satisfaction or feeling of accomplishment, but that moment/feeling would not last for long.

There were sometimes where I completely forgot about doing QT before my studies. I ended up doing it late at night, but even then, it was not with the right heart.

However, for the times I did QT with the right heart, I felt genuine satisfaction. I feel like I definitely improved at keeping up with my commitment this year compared to last year. Through this experience, my life has changed slightly, like changing my work schedule every day after school.

If I had not taken part in Lent, I would have missed out on a valuable opportunity to get closer and make a stronger relationship with God. Normally, I would miss QT because of laziness but during this season, God has given me the strength to do QT even though I was exhausted after school.

“Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.”

1 Samuel 12:24
English Standard Version

Through this Lent, I learned that doing my QT before schoolwork makes me happier and less stressed. I am also reminded of how I treated QT before Lent. I treated QT as some sort of homework, which I really did not want to do. Sometimes, I feel disappointed in myself because I can’t give up 20-30 minutes of my day for God when He gave up His one and only son for sinners like me.

Through the rest of Lent, I hope to continue to do QT every day with the right heart. For the those who did not participate in Lent this year, I strongly recommend you do QT every day. For QT to benefit you, you need the right heart and mindset. If you think about something else, you cannot get anything good, just wasted time. It is the heart that matters.

This post is a part of DSYG’s Lent Reflections series meant to educate and inspire readers on the season of Lent and its value in any Christian’s relationship with Christ. For more information on this series, click here.
To read more posts in this year’s series, click here.