The intention came to me little by little as I prepared for Lent.

I felt drawn to offer my Lenten sacrifice alongside intentional prayer for a specific woman. She had been aching and longing for something that had not yet come to fruition.

But what should the sacrifice be, I thought?

Peanut butter came to mind.

It had become one of my go to favorites.

Peanut butter on toast.

Peanut butter on apples.

Peanut butter on rice cakes.

Peanut butter on bananas.

In fact, I had even just bought 2 new containers of my favorite brand - one for home and one for the office.

I decided that I would take it a step further and set the parameter that I would not replace it with anything. Instead it would be dry toast, dry rice cakes...

Originally, I was going to offer it for her desire to come to be, but then I realized it was actually about holding her ache in my heart with a Thy will be done disposition, as well as the greater need--that she might grow closer to the Lord through those very circumstances regardless of how it all unfolded.

Before Lent even started, I realized it would be about the capacity for growth through prayer and sacrificial love--without the other person even having to know.

I could not think of any other Lent where I had offered my intentions in a similar way but recognized how offering a sacrifice for another was obviously very fitting, even with something as small and silly as peanut butter.

I wrote a prayer and tracked praying it for her daily, while also knowing that the cravings that were sure to come would be reminders to pray for her.

The fruits of those prayers for her were not visible. The good desire of her heart never came to be and I am not aware of any noticeable shifts in her relationship with the Lord.

Yet, this I know. Sometimes the fruits are visible, and sometimes they are veiled. Those prayers were efficacious. They had meaning and purpose.

Implications:

• As we prepare to begin Lent this month, I invite you to consider the idea of pairing your Lenten intentions with intercession. For whom might you intercede?

• Alongside the explicit intention - a specific need, hope, or desire for the person, pray for the person's relationship with the Lord.

• Pray with a Thy Will Be Done heart. As you sacrifice throughout the season, intercede for the person, while also surrendering the outcomes to the Lord.

• Trust with confidence that whether you see an answer to your prayers or not, the Lord is at work. He knows the bigger picture and what is best.

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