Lent is a Christian religious practice intended to inculcate the habit of fasting, exercising self-examination, pleading for forgiveness, almsgiving, and acknowledgment of Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection before Easter.
Lent is also a period of remembrance of certain events engulfing the life of Jesus Christ, his teachings, doctrines, and laws that set the foundation of Christianity. Many Christian churches observe Lent to commemorate the life of Jesus Christ by following certain principles, rules, and practices.
40 Days of Lent in the Bible
The Lent period of 40 days issues the Christian sect into a season of reflection and preparation to usher in the Easter period, which is the celebration of the glorious death and victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Christians embark on fasting during the Lent period to portray faith, allegiance, and loyalty to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary to redeem the world.
Christians observe the 40 days of Lent to repeat the actions of Jesus Christ by intentionally withdrawing into the (desert) solitary moments to pray and fast to be filled with the Holy Spirit and be humble to do the work of God and fulfill the purpose of Christianity.
Bible Verses for the Beginning of Lent
Christians would need Bible Verses to aid and solidify their Lent activities when engaging in Lent activities.
Having a Biblical foundation for Lent’s activities will help strengthen the faith and give the proper directives.
Here are 49 Bible Verses to support your faith during the Lent period.
2 Corinthians 6:2 (ESV) – Day Of Salvation
For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
John 17:17 (ESV) – Word Of Truth
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
Mark 7:7-9 (ESV) – The Commandments Of God
In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!
Acts 26:20 (ESV) – Keeping With Repentance
But declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.
John 1:1 (ESV) – The Word Was With God
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Matthew 28:20 (ESV) – The End Of Time
Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV) – Training In Righteousness
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
1 Corinthians 10:23 (ESV) – All Things Lawful
“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.
Acts 1:3 (ESV) – The Kingdom Of God
He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
Matthew 16:24 (ESV) – Take Up Your Cross
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Genesis 2:5 (ESV)
When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground,
Matthew 17:17 (ESV)
And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.”
Isaiah 54:17 (ESV)
No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”
Bible Verses for Lent
Some people wonder and ponder if there is Lent in the Bible, and they often come up with a question; Is Lent in the Bible? So many Bible Verses attest that there is Lent in the Bible even though there is no Biblical record of the observance of Lent by the Disciples of Jesus Christ or in the Early Church.
Lent was recently adopted by the Christian community as inspired by Jesus’ 40 days and 40 nights of fasting and prayers in the Wilderness as recorded in the Books of Matthew, mark, and Luke.
Various Bible Verses are compiled to prepare the hearts of those embarking on fasting and prayers for the 40 days. Get engrossed in the Scriptures as you reflect, celebrate, and anticipate the coming of Christ.
Matthew 6:16-18 (ESV)
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Joel 2:12-13 (ESV)
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
1 Peter 5:6 (ESV)
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
1 Timothy 4:1-5 (ESV)
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
Isaiah 58:6-7 (ESV)
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
Colossians 2:16-17 (ESV)
Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
John 3:16 (ESV)
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Mark 1:15 (ESV)
And saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in (ESV)the gospel.”
Isaiah 43:25 (ESV)
“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
1 Peter 1:3 (ESV)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Genesis 3:19 (ESV)
By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Acts 15:9 (ESV)
And he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.
John 13:1(ESV)
Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper.
He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. …
Daniel 9:3 (ESV)
Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
Luke 13:3 (ESV)
No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
Matthew 9:15 (ESV)
And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
Ezekiel 18:21 (ESV)
“But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
Joel 2:1-2 (ESV)
Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations.
Psalm 22:1(ESV)
To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.
Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. …
John 19:28 (ESV)
After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”
Romans 1:16-17 (ESV)
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Matthew 4:8-11 (ESV)
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Matthew 4:25 (ESV)
And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
Bible Verses About Giving Up Something for Lent
On discussing this topic, some questions cross your mind; Is it mandatory for Christians to give up something for Lent? Several other questions might ensue; some answers may be affirmative, while others are the other way around.
Some people perceive Lent as a valued sacred religious tradition; others see it as an imposed practice of the religious sect, while others feel that it is Biblical. Some are not sure of the origin of Lent and, therefore, easily ignore its practices.
Whether it is one of all or none of the suggestions, the crux is that the message encircling Easter is the life available for everyone based on the willful death and redemptive blood of Jesus Christ.
Apostle paul reiterated that so long as we are new creations in Christ, the life we see is not ours but is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave his life for us.
It is, therefore, pertinent to give up something for Lent just as Christ did for us. If we use the Lent period to cultivate the act that makes our new life impactful to others, we are honoring and emulating the Risen Christ.
Genesis 3:19 (ESV)
By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Job 42:5-6 (ESV)
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
Ezekiel 9:4 (ESV)
And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.”
Genesis 2:7 (ESV)
Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Ecclesiastes 3:20 (ESV)
All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.
Joel 2:12 (ESV)
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning
Psalm 69:10 (ESV)
When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach.
Matthew 6:16-18 (ESV)
When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Daniel 10:3 (ESV)
I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks.
Acts 14:23 (ESV)
And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
Isaiah 58:6 (ESV)
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
1 Corinthians 7:5 (ESV)
Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
Acts 13:2 (ESV)
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
Conclusion
We believe these Bible Verses would help your Lent journey as you draw closer to God through fasting, prayer, repentance, and self-denial.
