Lent began on Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2026, and concludes on Holy Saturday, April 4, 2026, leading to the celebration of Easter on April 5, 2026. Throughout these forty days, we will provide daily devotionals—including Scripture, meditation, and prayer—to help you walk more intentionally with Christ. May this sacred season deepen your hunger for God and your desire to be conformed to the image of His Son. These devotionals came from one of our many resources, Once a day, 40 Days to Easter. You can find this book on our website at www.kenboa.org. In the 40 days of Lent, Sundays are not included so there will no devotionals on these days.
Day 11 (March 2)
Judges 2:18-19
Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
Psalm 18:2-3
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.
Psalm 68:20
Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.
Matthew 1:20-21
An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
John 8:34-36
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Colossians 1:13-14
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
2 Timothy 4:4
The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Meditation
God has always had a plan to save his people and deliver them from their sins. The judges first modeled the role of deliverer, but their ministry was always temporary. Judges had no long-term ability to deliver the people from their enemies in any final sense. They could not keep people from sinning (or even keep from sinning themselves). But Jesus could. His name, in Hebrew, means “Yahweh saves.” There could be no clearer message. God is a saving God. The problem the people in Jesus’ time had in receiving Christ is the same problem we face now. We all want a Deliverer, someone to help us out of our financial struggles, our troubled relationships or our sickness. But none of us seems quite so desperate to be saved from the dominion of darkness, from sin. Daily, we break God’s greatest commandment to have no other gods before him and love him with all our hearts. We seek to earn our own righteousness, because we cannot face the fact that we require the blood of a sacrificial death for turning our backs on him. Sin has a power that leads to bondage to self, to idols and enemies. But let us not forget during this season that our God (who has control over all powers and authorities, the spiritual forces in the world, and all of the rebellious people throughout the course of history) hears our cries for help and will bring us safely into his heavenly kingdom. And nothing will stop him from saving us except a foolish rejection of the Deliverer himself.
Prayer
God of mercy and grace, until you intervened, I was on a path that led only to disappointment, emptiness and death. But, because you are merciful, you brought me to see the true nature of my condition and the depth of my real need. You opened my eyes to see my spiritual bankruptcy. As I became aware of my brokenness, inadequacy and the futility of my best efforts, I cried out to you for deliverance, and you saved me. Only then could I see clearly enough to reach out and lay hold of your grace and transforming power. Thank you for the people and circumstances you used to bring this about. I give thanks for your my salvation, knowing full well that I could never have hoped to accomplish it on my own. You are my deliverer and my hope for this life and for the life to come. In your Son’s name I pray. Amen.
Day 12 (March 3)
2 Samuel 7:4-5a, 12-13, 16
That night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying: “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.... Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”
Isaiah 9:6-7
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
Luke 1:30-33
But the angel said to [Mary], “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
Matthew 12:22-23
Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
Revelation 11:15
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
Meditation
The title “Son of David” carried weighty significance for the Jews of Jesus’ time. They had long awaited a Messiah who would fulfill the promises of Isaiah and would come from David’s line. David was a great and beloved king. He was humble, valiant, and zealous for God, but his sin was well-known. There were more morally upright men in the Bible whom God could have chosen: Daniel or Joseph. But David signified something, which could not be represented by anyone else: the glory of Israel. During David’s reign, Israel was the best it had ever been. Under David, the Israelites were unified and free. David led the kingdom to liberation from their enemies, to prosperity and greatness, and in devotion to God. For generations, no one in Israel would ever forget what it was like when David was king. Not long after came a divided kingdom, captivity, exile, and recurrent oppression by enemies. By the time of Jesus’ coming, Israel’s glory was long gone. But they would never forget it. While Jesus lived on earth, many scholars and religious authorities failed to recognize him as the fulfillment of this Davidic promise, because they missed something in the line that was drawn from David to Jesus. But Matthew did not miss it. He put it right at the front of his gospel. Those 17 verses that put many of us to sleep when we read through the Bible in a year contain some unusual names for a genealogy, names like Boaz and Ruth, Judah and Tamar, Rahab and Bathsheba, women, sinners, outsiders. And now we, too, women, sinners and outsiders can come to Jesus and find the freedom, the unity and the glory too.
Prayer
God and Father of Abraham and David and our Lord Jesus Christ, your wisdom confounds the brightest minds. All glory, honor and praise are due to you alone not merely because of who you are but because of what you have done. You have destroyed the yoke of sin and slavery that held me captive. Wherever your good news has been preached and accepted, people have been transformed. Walls of distinction have been knocked down. In Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for we are all united in Christ Jesus, the Son of David. I praise you for this gift of acceptance that overcomes the bondage of sin and unites us all together now into one Body, of whom Jesus is the head. I pray this in his name. Amen.
Day 13 (March 4)
Isaiah 53
Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life until death, and he was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Meditation
The human condition is desperate. It is for this reason that Jesus had to suffer. Like foolish sheep wander off, we, too, turn our backs and walk away from God to our own detriment. All of us do it. This is why it was important for Jesus to bear the sin of “us all” on his shoulders. But suffering was not the end of his story. Isaiah speaks in the future tense as well, beyond the excruciating torment of the cross, about a time when Jesus would “see the light of life” and satisfaction in seeing his reward: our justification. Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of this Old Testament prophecy (like he is of so many others). It was Jesus’ clear purpose in coming to this earth that he would not be served, but do the serving himself and to give his life as a ransom for us - ransom, because we were held in captivity, wandering sheep penned up by an evil captor, but now freed by a gentle Savior. Jesus did not suffer on the cross in spite of who he was, but rather precisely because of who he was. Our redemption was his mission. Service and sacrifice were (are) part of his nature, as they should become part of ours. The example Jesus set of servanthood transcends any example man has ever seen or ever will see. This other-centeredness, as it was so clearly modeled by our Savior is now our foremost calling. And he promises, this is how we will find true life for ourselves.
Prayer
God of eternity, you see the beginning from the end and no one can attempt to counsel you. Your plan has always been good, though, because of our finite and fallen minds, we often fail to recognize it as such. You are incomprehensibly transcendent and yet startlingly immanent. As I learn to reverence you in holy love and awe, I also learn to view my circumstances and challenges in this life with courage, knowing that you have my destiny in your hands and nothing you purpose can fail. My confidence is in your promises, and though I know they will not be fully manifested until the King of glory returns, I know that my future is secure in you. I ask for a greater vision of your brilliance and a growing desire to share that vision with the people I encounter during this earthly pilgrimage toward my eternal home with you. I pray this in the name of the One who loved me and gave himself for me. Amen.
Day 14 (March 5)
Psalm 22:1-8, 11, 14-19, 22-24, 26-31
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.
In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.
To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
“He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”
Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me.
My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.
Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet.
All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me.
They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.
But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.
You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.
The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him -- may your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.
All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him -- those who cannot keep themselves alive.
Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord.
They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!
Meditation
God never promised his children that we would be exempt from affliction; rather, suffering is part of our lot in a fallen world. However, there is hope, because, though he does not always deliver us from suffering, he promises to deliver and transform us through it, if we will rely on his resources instead of our own. And we can know for sure, in these times, that we are not alone. In one holy and mysterious moment, the three-hour darkness that fell upon the land in the middle of the day that Jesus died, the Son of God bore the sins of the world, walking with everyone on whom the world has heaped its scorn. In the midst of our pain, God promises to never leave us or abandon us. Therefore, when we grieve, we do not grieve like the world does; we grieve with hope, knowing that God is often revealed most clearly in the midst of our trials. Unlike other fair-weather friends, God will never despise us or hide his face from us. When we cry for help. he will hear, and he will enable us to endure. The certainty of his companionship in the midst of our afflictions allows us to view them as a means to a greater end rather than an end in and of themselves. Our suffering is accomplishing something in us, forging within us the character of the One in whose image we are made. Because of Christ, even our catastrophes have purpose. God is preparing our character for the time we will see him face to face.
Prayer
Lord of all creation, you have shown me that I will have tribulation in this world. But you have counseled me to take courage, because you have overcome the world and have promised to never leave or forsake me. Grant me the grace to hold fast to the truths of the gospel, to the Person and work of Christ, and to the power of the Spirit. May I hope in your promises, confessing that I am but a stranger and exile in this world, reveling in the love you have shown me and extending that love for others. Teach me to exult in my tribulations, knowing that such difficulties bring about perseverance, character and a hope that does not disappoint. And may I always remember that I am headed for a glorious and eternal future with you that cannot be compared to the temporary struggles of this world. In your steadfast name I pray. Amen.
Day 15 (March 6)
Lamentations 1:1-2, 5-6; 2:11; 3:21-23
How deserted lies the city [of Jerusalem], once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations! She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave. Bitterly she weeps at night, tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.
Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. The Lord has brought her grief because of her many sins. Her children have gone into exile, captive before her foe. All the splendor has departed from Daughter Zion. Her princes are like deer that find no pasture; in weakness they have fled before the pursuer.
My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within; my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Luke 19:41-42
As [Jesus] approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace -- but now it is hidden from your eyes.”
2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.
Revelation 21:3-4
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Meditation
Jesus promised his followers many things: peace, joy, abundant life, forgiveness of sins, a secure union with him. One thing he did not promise, however, is a pain-free life here on earth. Rather, he assured us that we would have trouble in this world. That may not be fair, but life stopped being fair when Eve took that forbidden fruit off the tree in the Garden of Eden. The ripple effects of sin continue with us to this day. Since then, life has been filled with pain. Sometimes we bring that pain on ourselves; sometimes pain just happens. It is a part of life. But one of the most remarkable things about the Christian faith -- one of the things that sets Christianity apart from other world religions -- is that our God feels our pain with us. He weeps with us. Our tears matter to him. But one day, his promise to us is that we will not weep any longer. Death will disappear and no one will feel pain. Until then, Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to be our Comforter. Now, when we endure trouble of all kinds, his comfort is available to us here and now. Our task is to remember his presence in our suffering so as not to miss out on the comfort he offers. It is only as we seek his face in the midst of our trials that our sorrow, even now, may be turned to joy.
Prayer
Faithful Father, as I reflect on the stories in the Bible I see so many surprising setbacks and breakthroughs. Your wisdom beckons me to view the events of my own life with a long-term perspective. When I only see the here and now it is easy to get muddled in the pain I feel. This leads me all too often to confusion and doubt, because I allow my immediate circumstances to shape my understanding. But when I place this life in the context of your life, my story becomes a sentence in a paragraph in a chapter of the story you have been writing since before the beginning of time. Only in that light can I see that you are indeed causing all things to work together for good to those who love you and are called according to your purposes. Give me that perspective to see that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in your children in Christ. In his name I pray this. Amen.
Day 16 (March 7)
Matthew 26:36-39
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Luke 22:43-44
An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
Matthew 26:40-46
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” He went away a second time and prayed, “My father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed a third time, saying the same thing. Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
Hebrews 5:7-9
During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
Meditation
Jesus said, “Keep watch with me.” If you have ever sat with a loved one while waiting for that person to die, perhaps you know something of how the three men who waited with Jesus might have felt. He had told them, repeatedly, that he was going away. But now they see him in anguish, and they can see that it was all starting to happen, in perhaps a more terrible way than they had imagined. They could not understand what would come in the days to follow, so the waiting was full of dread, the dark kind of sadness that feels unbearable. Jesus said, “My soul is overwhelmed to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” But instead they fell asleep. Still, if we disparage the disciples for their inability to stay awake at this time, maybe we have not spent enough time thinking about this scene, and maybe we have never before prayed to the point of exhaustion. Some have, and they can see it in this moment. There is a point at which circumstances cannot be examined any longer. There is a point after which a person can pray no more. This is when the Holy Spirit must take over for us “with wordless groans,” perhaps even while we sleep. Jesus asked God three times to take away the suffering that was coming, not just the torture and ridicule, but the unbearable thought of facing all of God’s wrath at once, the Father’s hatred for sin all falling at once on the head of his innocent Son. But Jesus followed his request with “may your will be done.” When we ask God for something three times, and he does not give us what we want, we are often angry and begin to question his goodness. And when our friends fail us, we may want to go find new friends. But Jesus, even in the middle of this, the beginning of the most terrible time there ever was on earth, went back to encourage the friends who had failed him and to face his mission before God: the price of our salvation.
Prayer
Loving Father, I find that I am often tempted to gripe and grumble when I encounter painful circumstances. I may complain about bad luck or about not getting the breaks in this life. Ultimately, though, these are just indirect ways of challenging your goodness in my life. I confess that I wonder why you allow such pain to occur to me and to others, and I readily confess that I can come up with nothing approaching a good answer. But I know that I can take my grievances directly and openly to you. I can admit my confusion and my disappointment to you. When I am open and honest with you, I know I am approaching the only One who can really do something in such times of need. Thank you for your patience and kindness to those who bring their sorrows to you. In your name I pray. Amen.
Thank you for those meditations, 🙏🙏🙏