5 Prayers for Ash Wednesday

In Job 2:8, Job cuts himself with pottery and sits in ashes. His world is broken around him. We’re also reminded of the words of Christ about fasting. Why didn’t His disciples fast? Because Christ was present with them. This is a reminder that someday fasting will be over because all of the brokenness (which Job epitomizes) will be over. 

Lord Jesus, we know that someday you will return and set all things right. Yet, today we sit in ashes. There are so many broken things in our world and even in our own life. We hold on to the promise today that there is a day in which every tear will be wiped away from our eyes, and there will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain. But we are not there yet. And so today, we remember the ashes. We also believe in hope, knowing that these ashes do not get the last word. Beauty will spring from these ashes. Come, Lord Jesus. 

In Genesis 3:19, we read that part of the curse upon humanity is death, “for dust you are and to dust, you will return.” We are created from dust, and it is to this dust that we will return. The ashes upon the forehead are a reminder of our mortality. But Psalm 103 also reminds us that we are valuable—we are “but dust,” and yet God remembers us. 

Father, we are so insignificant. We are only dust. As David marveled, “what is man that you are mindful of him?” So too, we marvel. We know that someday death will be destroyed. We know that we are more than dust because of your grace. But we are also aware of our own mortality. Until Christ returns, we will all return to dust. Teach us, then, to number our days. May the life that we have been given be used for your glory. And may these bodies of ours be sown in resurrection hope. We are but dust, and yet so much more because we are created in your image.

There is no mention of Ash Wednesday in the Bible. There is certainly repentance, mourning, and mention of sackcloth and ashes. But the Lenten season is not something that is prescribed for us in Scripture. There is no indication in Acts that this was something in which the first disciples engaged. 

Because of this, many who follow the regulative principle of worship will not observe Ash Wednesday. The regulative principle teaches that only that which is expressly prescribed in Scripture should be done within the local assembly of believers. Yet, many denominations and people of faith do engage in Ash Wednesday. 

Personally, I would not say that you should or must participate in Ash Wednesday. It’s not something that Scripture speaks of, and so there isn’t the authority to bind your conscience in participating. But I would also argue that repentance and fasting are certainly biblical. And there are certainly prescribed seasons within Scripture for engaging in such activity. 

If this is the only time of the year when you engage in repentance and lament, then this might only be a formal ritual for you. But these seasons can also serve as reminders. It can direct our hearts toward a season of lament. And it can help us as we prepare for the hope of Resurrection Sunday. 

The Puritan, Thomas Watson, once said, “Until sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.” That is part of what we do with Ash Wednesday. We are sitting in the ashes, lamenting sin, acknowledging the darkness, mourning loss, etc., to prepare us for celebrating the wonder and beauty of the resurrection. When we consider the magnitude of our depravity, the depth of our active sin, and all that is broken around us, we are prepared to celebrate when we enter into a season of resurrection. 

You don’t have to participate in an Ash Wednesday service, but it could be a helpful prompt to engage your heart in worship. But even if you don’t participate in an Ash Wednesday service, it is still important to have penitent hearts that are longing for redemption and rescue.

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