The purpose of Have Mercy on Me is to highlight and help you experience a powerful time in the Christian year: the season of Lent. Now, what is "Lent?" Is Lent that stuff in your dryer (or belly button )? No, that's "lint." Lent is a season of forty days, not counting Sundays, which begins Ash Wednesday and ends the Saturday before Easter Sunday. Lent comes from an ancient word meaning, "spring." The season is a special time of preparation for celebrating Jesus' triumphant resurrection from the dead - Easter. Have Mercy on Me can be used for personal study and devotion as you move though the forty days of Lent towards the cross and empty tomb. It can also be used for small group study, and we have included a study guide in the back that can help focus and facilitate your group discussions when you gather together each week.