Lent 2025
Making space for the Spirit through prayer, fasting & Scripture
Lent 2025
During the six weeks before Easter known as the season of Lent, BridgePointe's teaching series will focus on the Holy Spirit. Too often we find ourselves exhausted and defeated as we attempt to follow Jesus through earnest striving, as if our hard work and good intentions could ever be enough. But faith in Jesus starts and continues with a realization that we simply can't do it on our own. We need the Holy Spirit and the power, peace, and presence of God made available to us through Him.
We are excited to use this season to intentionally make more space for the Spirit in our lives through the practices of prayer, fasting, and Scripture reading – and we hope you'll use this guide to join us!
Traditionally, Lent is a time to pare down, strip away and re-prioritize. It is our hope that we can put down striving and our attempts to live the Christian life without the Spirit. Instead, if we commit to create space to draw closer to God, we can become more aware of the Spirit’s presence and live in close relationship with Him.
Making Space
Our lives are full. Full of work and deadlines, demands and anxieties. It is all too easy to fill our time with idle pursuits, escapism and distraction, leaving no room for the presence of the Holy Spirit. Creating a rhythm of spiritual practices, of prayer, fasting, and Scripture reading, helps us to carve out space in our lives, shift our focus off of ourselves and reorient our lives to what is eternal.
We invite you to make space for the Holy Spirit this Lenten season by committing to:
Prayer
Begin and end each day in prayer, prioritizing prayer when you wake and giving gratitude in the evening. Click here to jump to the Prayer section.
Fasting
Take away something you feel you need for a period of time. Let the absence of it turn your attention to God. Click here to jump to the Fasting section.
Fast from food once a week, either a 24 hour fast or one meal.
Fast from media or technology, creating silence to hear the Spirit.
Scripture
Spend time in Scripture each day, by using your own plan or using the guide below that accompanies our teaching series on the Holy Spirit.
Scripture Guide
Spending time in Scripture is one of the clearest ways we can hear from the Holy Spirit. The following Scripture guide was designed to accompany our Sunday teaching series on the Holy Spirit. If you do not have a habit of reading Scripture, here are a few tips:
Determine a time and place to read Scripture each day.
Choose the morning before breakfast, before you allow yourself to check social media for the day, your lunch break, or set an alarm for the evening. Pick a time that you can be consistent in.
Use a notebook or journal.
Write down the Scripture reference for the passage you are reading. Record any observations from the text, think through how the Scripture applies to your life, and write a prayer to God about what you read.
Week 1: Know the Spirit
This week’s Scriptures lay a foundation for who we know the Holy Spirit to be. He is fully God and has always had an active part of God’s work in this world. As you read these Scriptures, pay attention to the Spirit’s role in God’s activity here on earth. This can help you understand how important the Holy Spirit is to the work God wants to do in your life..
Genesis 1-2:7
Exodus 31:1-11
Joel 2:28-29
Matthew 3:13-4:1
Luke 4:14-21
Week 2: Receive the Spirit
The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to those who belong to Jesus and can only dwell in someone who has been forgiven and made new by Jesus. As you read these Scriptures, pay attention to correlation between faith in Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit. This can give you assurance that the Holy Spirit is always with you, if you have believed in Jesus and belong to Him.
John 3
Acts 1
Acts 2
Romans 8:1-18
Ephesians 1:1-14
Week 3: Desire the Spirit
We were created by God to find everything we need in Him. Whether we recognize it or not, our souls hunger for God. As you read these Psalms this week, pay attention to how the Psalm writer expresses desire for God in all kinds of circumstances. This can help you become more aware of your own desire for God and give you words to express that to Him.
Psalm 27
Psalm 42
Psalm 63
Psalm 84
Psalm 143
Week 4: Abide in the Spirit
Jesus told his disciples that it was actually for their good that He depart so that the Holy Spirit would come. As you read these Scriptures, pay attention to how Jesus explains the comfort and hope that come with the Holy Spirit. This can inspire you to be more aware of the Holy Spirit’s presence at all times.
John 14
John 15:1-25
John 15:26- 16:15
John 16:16-33
Reread all of John 14-16
Week 5: Listen to the Spirit
The book of Galatians was written to Christians who thought that faith was mostly about following rules. The apostle Paul wrote to introduce them to the life and power that’s theirs in the Holy Spirit. As you read these Scriptures, pay attention to how Paul contrasts the ineffectiveness of the law (rules) with the power of the Spirit. This can help you recognize your need for the Holy Spirit and be thankful for Him.
Galatians 1
Galatians 2
Galatians 3:1-14
Galatians 3:15-22
Galatians 3:23-4:7
Week 6: Work with the Spirit
This week’s Scriptures continue through the book of Galatians, with a focus on the Holy Spirit’s transforming work in our lives. We cannot overcome sin’s power on our own. But God has placed a greater power in us through the Holy Spirit. As you read these Scriptures, pay attention to the difference the Spirit makes in those who let Him work. This can convict you to surrender to the Spirit and work with Him as He makes you more like Jesus.
Galatians 4:8-20
Galatians 4:21-31
Galatians 5:1-12
Galatians 5:13-26
Galatians 6
Prayer
We build intimacy with God when we pray. When you enter a time of prayer, pause to be still, breathe slowly and focus your senses on the presence of God. Renew your mind and heart through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, and ask for His guidance and help.
As you prioritize prayer during Lent, we hope you can create a rhythm of prayer that lasts long after the season is over.
Morning Prayer
Begin your day with prayer. You can do this bedside on your knees, at your table with a cup of coffee, or wherever you can focus best. You can pray through the themes of the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), or over your daily schedule, or for the people closest to you. You can also use a prayer app like Lectio 365. However you practice this, you’ll notice that giving your first moments to God will change every other part of your day.
Evening Prayer
The end of the day, over dinner or right before bed, is a great time to express gratitude to God. God’s mercy is new every day for those with eyes to see it. This rhythm will prompt you to see God’s goodness and mercy in ways that you would otherwise take for granted. Whenever and wherever you do this, slow down and sit in silence and give God thanks for the good He has done for you
each day.
Fasting
Fasting is a Christian practice in which we choose to abstain from food or something else for a specific period of time in order to concentrate on God. Choose from the fasting approaches below and commit to fasting through the season of Lent. .
Fast from Media or Technology
Give up social media, watching the news, TV shows, YouTube or listening to podcasts, talk or sports radio. Instead of filling the time you normally would fill with content and noise, practice silence.
• Let your mind be quiet and listen to the Holy Spirit.
• In the quiet, pray the prayer from 1 Samuel 3:10,
Speak Lord, your servant is listening.
Prayer of Commitment
Write a prayer to tell God how you plan to fast and ask for his help.
Fast from Food
Fasting is a way for us to turn from our physical appetites and recognize our greater hunger and need for God. You can skip one meal for your fast, or try a 24 hour fast (for example, from after dinner Tuesday until dinner on Wednesday). Here are some other helpful suggestions while fasting:
Drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated. If you need to, drink juices or other liquids. Remember that keeping a strict fast is not the goal.
Don’t give up too quickly. Press through, and let your body feel the hunger.
Decide ahead of time when you will begin and break the fast,
and commit to wait.
Fast from Media or Technology
Give up social media, watching the news, TV shows, YouTube or listening to podcasts, talk or sports radio. Instead of filling the time you normally would fill with content and noise, practice silence.
Let your mind be quiet and listen to the Holy Spirit.
In the quiet, pray the prayer from 1 Samuel 3:10,
Speak Lord, your servant is listening.