This description of Lent is from the Ash Wednesday service in the (Episcopal) Book of Common Prayer:

The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

The service also includes reading of Psalm 51, which not only confesses sin but also looks forward to the new way of living that begins with repentance:

​Create in me a clean heart, O God,
     and renew a right spirit within me.
​Cast me not away from your presence,
     and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
     and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
     and sinners will return to you. (verses 10–13)

     A good question to think about on the day after Ash Wednesday might be: How can the renewed life of repentance be protected? The fundamental need then is this request in the Lord’s Prayer: “Lead us not into temptation.” The meaning of that request might be gained by thinking of it literally: “Don’t send me, God, to any of the places where I used to go in order to sin!” And a positive request can be added to the negative: “Lead me, God, to the places that will confirm and strengthen my repentance!” Or, from Psalm 61:

²Lead me to the rock
      that is higher than I,
³for you have been my refuge,
      a strong tower against the enemy.
⁴Let me dwell in your tent forever!
      Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings!
⁵For you, O God, have heard my vows;
      you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
      . . .
⁸So will I ever sing praises to your name,
      as I perform my vows day after day.

• Psalms 51 and 61 are quoted here from the English Standard Version (2011).
• These posts on the Psalms are in aid of the reading of the Psalms—one a day through the first five months of 2022—by members, attenders, friends, et al. of Together Church, Wyoming, MI.
• The Book of Common Prayer is online here. The Ash Wednesday service is here.