LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS

Day 36: Tuesday

Mark 8:27-30

Jesus, we know You only because You have revealed yourself to us.  You have called us to walk with You, and we have walked beside you for days and weeks and months and years.  We have watched as You have demonstrated your power and authority in many ways: healing the lame and blind, releasing those who were captives of oppressing spirits, declaring forgiveness, and announcing joyful news so the poor would know that God has come near in your own presence and action.

Because You have revealed yourself to us, we acclaim You as God’s Anointed One.  You are our Sovereign.  You enact God’s reign among us.  You generate hope.  You create new realities.  You transform us into fully human beings.  You promise your abiding presence.  

We walk beside You gladly.  We trust You wholly.  We praise You without ceasing.  Amen.

WALKING WITH JESUS

LENTEN PRAYERS 2015

There is rest along the way!  

Lorraine basking at the edge of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, Arizona, 

after an eleven or twelve mile hike.

WEEK 7

      This journey of prayer has not ended even though we have come to the end of the season of Lent.  Our journey with Jesus has not ended either. 

     The journey with Jesus goes on and on, but there is rest along the way—Sabbath rest—that gives us opportunity to reflect and worship in ways that are different from the reflection and worship that take place while we are in motion and laboring to make progress along the trail (real or imaginary).  It also gives us an opportunity to share fellowship in ways that are different from those we share on the trail.

     We’ve had an opportunity to walk together, and I hope, in this time, that we’ve drawn closer to Jesus, so that we may follow him even more energetically than we have in the past. 

     For now, rest and rejoice in Christ, and find the renewal that comes in celebration of the resurrection.  It is by the same power with which God raised Jesus that the Holy Spirit energizes us for the journey that resumes the day after the resurrection.

Day 35: Monday

Mark 8:22-26

Healing Christ, we rejoice that when people of compassion brought a blind man to You, You also acted with compassion.  You took him by the hand.  You led him.  You touched and healed him by restoring his sight.

You have taken us by the hand.  You have led us away from the clamor around us in order to focus your attention on our needs.  You have touched and healed our vision so that we may see You more clearly.  You have opened our eyes to your healing purpose for all people and all of creation.  

Yet our vision often seems blurred.  We do not see with the clarity that we wish, and so we stumble and act confused as we attempt to follow You.  Heal the blind spots that remain and that keep us from seeing all that You would have us see.  Enable us to follow You with sure-footed, confident trust, as we keep our eyes on You, on the glory of God’s reign through You, and on the world of need that awaits your touch.  Amen.

Prayer for March 29-April 4, 2015

Sermon Text: (Mark 14:1-15:47)

That we may turn from fickle and perverse ways

Jesus, how fickle and even perverse we can be.  You come among us bearing the marks of leadership and acting in sovereignty in order to bring God’s reign of peace among us.  We extol you.  We shout our praises to God.  We rejoice at what appears to be the greatest thing that has ever happened among us.

In just a few days, the story changes.  We are among those who plot against You as your enemies.  We are among those who criticize the extravagant use of resources for your benefit.  We are among those who betray You and deny You.  We are among those who curse You and hurt You and mock and revile You.  We are among those who testify falsely about what You have said and done.  We are among those who scream for your death, lead You to your crucifixion, and taunt You as You hang dying before our eyes.  

But we are also among those who are deeply saddened by their own acts of denial, their own failures to stay close and act loyally in the midst of trial.  We are among those who tend your body and lay it to rest.  We are among those who watch what seems like the final page of your drama with mixed emotions.  We are among those who hope, beyond hope, that your story has not ended.  Amen.

LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS

6^th Sunday  

Take a walk, or walk in your imagination.  Remember times when the path you were traveling with Jesus seemed to disappear due to one cause or another.  What did you do?  How long did it take to get back on track?  How did Jesus help and guide you?  Thank God for helping you get back on the path and for the ways that Christ intervened on your behalf.

LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS

Day 34: Saturday

Mark 8:14-21

Jesus, give us eyes to see the truth that You reveal to us.  Give us ears to hear your instruction and obey your command.  Give us hearts that are receptive to your presence and leadership.  Freshen our memories so that we remember all that You have done for us and trust You as we encounter similar challenges to the ones You have already guided us through or delivered us from.  Remind us that You are able to act with authority and power in every circumstance, including the new challenges that arise unexpectedly before us.

Teach us how to recognize and resist leadership that would guide us away from the generous, forgiving, just and peaceful reign that You are creating on earth as in heaven.  

We have watched as You generated abundance among us.  We have received your strengthening nurture.  Enable us to practice bold generosity from gratitude, humility and love.  Amen.

LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS

Day 33: Friday

Mark 8:1-13

Jesus, how quickly we forget what You are able to do.  How  quickly we forget the depths of your compassion and your concern for your people.  But as we walk with You, You keep demonstrating your compassion and power in ways that nourish and strengthen those who seek You.  You repeatedly create and reveal an abundance of resources where we could perceive only their absence.

Open our eyes so we may see more clearly.  Give us understanding of your ability to enact your good will among us.  Give us faith to trust You for what we need and for resources to minister to many others who seek You in hope.  

Use us to demonstrate your love to many people.  Enable us to share the resources You provide with glad generosity.  We know that You are able to work through us in ways that exceed our own resources and expectations, and we trust You to do so.  Amen.

LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS  

Day 32: Thursday

Mark 7:31-37  

Jesus!—Giver of hearing to the deaf, Giver of speech to the mute—hear our prayer.  Touch us and heal us!  Open our ears so that we may hear your word clearly and obey You with gladness.  Loosen our tongues so that we may give You praise and testify of your goodness and mercy to our families, neighbors, and all with whom we interact.

We rejoice in the ways that You have already healed and empowered us.  We rejoice that You are continually present with us and that You are responsive to our needs as we walk with You.  We are frequently awed in your presence because You do all things well.   

Because You have opened our ears, we hear and obey.  Because You have given us speech, we constantly praise You with joy.  You are worthy of all our devotion!  Amen. 

LENTEN PRAYERS 

WALKING WITH JESUS

Day 31: Wednesday

Mark 7:24-30

Christ Jesus, as we walk with You, we see that many people are drawn to You for many reasons.  Some are merely curious about You, but many seek You when they are confronted with an overwhelming crisis or need, confident that You are able to heal and liberate. 

You enter into dialogue.  You listen and speak.  You make yourself available and vulnerable.  You respond to each one as a unique individual.  You speak words of challenge.  You elicit faith….

And you do heal.  You do liberate from spiritual bondage.  You exercise authority, compassion and power that exceed our imagination.  You bring new life out of chaos.  But you do not always heal quickly and on the spot or in ways that seem magical to us.  You do not always act as we expect.  

We follow You, with the faith that You have brought to life in us, even though we do not always understand what You are saying to us or what you are doing within, among and through us.  Amen.

LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS

Day 30: Tuesday

Mark 7:1-23

Jesus, as we walk beside You, give us understanding of the things that really pollute and diminish our lives.  Help us to see the danger that lurks within us and that propels us to act in ways that exploit, harm, deceive and defraud our neighbors. 

Work within us to purify and transform our thoughts.  Enable us to practice obedience from deep devotion to God and God’s instruction.  Eliminate our tendency to judge others based on our notions of faithfulness. 

Turn our hypocrisy to truthful speech and action.  Turn our judgment to encouragement and thoughtful guidance.  Turn our violence to deep compassion.  Turn our anxious cravings to grateful thanksgiving.  Turn our covetousness to generosity.  Turn our pride to humility.  Turn our folly to wisdom.  

Transform us so that the speech and action that flow from our lives demonstrate your loving presence and bear fruit for your generous reign.  Amen.

WALKING WITH JESUS

LENTEN PRAYERS 2015

Flooded trails at Montrose Beach Dunes, Chicago, Illinois, November 1, 2014.

WEEK 6

     Occasionally the trail disappears.  Deluge, rock slide, and avalanche may hide the way forward.  But when we are on the trail, we seldom have the option of simply staying put.  At some point we have to move on. 

     When the trails on the front cover were swamped by damaging waves from a fall storm, the simplest thing would have been to give up on getting to the shoreline and seeing the birds that were there.  I could have waded through the knee high water easily enough, but I threaded my way around and eventually reached a few of the higher spots.

     When we are journeying with Jesus, he typically shows us a way around the obstacles that confront us.  “He leads us in right paths” as Psalm 23 tells us (paraphrased).  We can trust Jesus to get us where Jesus leads and sends us. 

Day 29: Monday

Mark 6:45-56

     

Jesus, we are not quick learners.  We often fail to understand your capacity to generate abundance.  We often fail to perceive how You are sovereign in the circumstances of our lives. 

We tend to become fearful in many situations, especially those that we find difficult to comprehend.  When we are fearful, and confused, we often fail to see your presence and your action among us and become more afraid.

We fear that we will lose our grip on the things that provide our security.  We fear that You are just an expression of overblown imaginations that has no bearing on our real lives.  We fear that You will lead us into greater dangers than the ones You have already overcome.  We fear that You will make demands that are beyond our ability and that we find unappealing. 

We fear that, in the end, our faith will fall flat and we will prove to be unworthy of the time You have spent with us, your careful instruction, and your many gifts.  

Do not give up on us!  Keep leading.  Keep teaching.  Keep showing us your ability to provide and to heal.  Open our eyes.  Calm our fears.  Soften our hearts that we may walk with You in confidence.  Amen.

Prayer for March 22-28, 2015 

Sermon Text: Jeremiah 31:31-34

That knowledge of You will generate fruit for your reign among us    

God, like some in Israel, we have often been unfaithful to You.  You have revealed yourself to us and enabled us to know You.  You have taken us by the hand and led us out of various forms of bondage.  You have led us into broad places where we have lived in new freedom and enjoyed the abundance of your provision.  You have created a new covenant with us through Christ Jesus.  You have placed your law in our minds and written it on our hearts.  You have provided all that we need for a life of fidelity and fruitfulness.

Yet we have gone our own ways.  We have chased after empty pleasures and pursued false gods.  So, we have diminished ourselves and fogotten who we are, and find ourselves in need, again, of instruction about who You are, that we may walk with You in faithfulness each day.  

Do your work of renewal in us again.  Rewrite the words that have become obscured by our poor choices.  Restore our memory of who You are and who we are in relationship with You.  Let all of us know You in ways that generate fruit for your reign among us. And may we help spread knowledge of You among our neighbors and among the nations.  Amen.

LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS

5^th Sunday  

Take a walk, or walk in your imagination.  Remember times when walking with Jesus seemed easy.  Remember other times when walking with Jesus seemed difficult (or worse).  Which was easier to remember?  What did you learn during the times when walking with Jesus was most difficult?  How were you changed or strengthened?

LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS

Day 28: Saturday

Mark 6:30-44

Christ Jesus, as we walk with You, we discover that You are resourceful and that what we perceive as scarcity is turned to abundance by your compassionate care for those in need.  What we perceive as impossible, or at least impractical, You are able to accomplish.

You act beyond our small thoughts.  You act beyond our perceived lack.  You act with compassion, creativity and power.  You take, bless, break and distribute an abundance that leaves us puzzled, but adequately provided for in the midst of many others.

Christ Jesus, give us a clearer vision for what You can do when all of our resources are given to You for your use.  Give us compassion for those in need so that we are not afraid to share, but generous and willing even when it seems we have little to share.  Give us faith that no situation is out of your control, but that You are able to enact your good will for all who will receive it from You.  

We walk with You in joyful anticipation.  Amen.     

LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS

Day 27: Friday

Mark 6:14-29

Christ Jesus, enable us to walk with You in faithfulness even when there is widespread misunderstanding about who You are and noisy opposition to your agenda of forgiveness, healing and liberation.

Give us courage to act fearlessly, even when powerful people and powerful systems do everything in their power to carry out an agenda of control, through violence, that injures, enslaves and destroys many people.  

Help us to do good without growing weary, even when progress is slow and we encounter heartbreaking setbacks.  Help us to speak truth to power, without wavering, even when the powers that be demand our silence.  Help us to act faithfully, and without anxiety, because we are not walking alone.  We trust You to walk with us and work through us for the fulfillment of your mission.  Amen. 

LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS

Day 26: Thursday

Mark 6:6b-13

Jesus, our journey with You often requires that we go places that we had not thought to go, and do things that we had not thought to do, in order to carry out your mission and share your good news on a broad scale.  

We rejoice that we do not go on our own initiative in order to display our abilities (however much we may be impressed with ourselves), but that we go with your authority, energized by your command and your Spirit, to show God’s nearness and God’s sovereignty to those who long for healing, forgiveness, and freedom from spiritual oppression.  

May we be agents of your healing, forgiveness and liberation.  May we bear your peace to many people in many places.  May we go without anxiety, trusting in your provision, and alert for every opportunity to serve God’s reign of justice and peace.  Amen.

LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS

Day 25: Wednesday

Mark 6:1-6a

Jesus, we imagine that we would never question the source of your authority.  We imagine that in our familiarity with what we have heard and known of You, we would never become inattentive or dismissive of your instruction to us.  Yet many of us live many of our days as though we do not know You, have no faith that your promise of God’s nearness is true, and have no confidence that your teaching guides us into life that is full and fruitful.

Forgive us when we are unmoved by your presence and power.  Forgive us when we find You offensive because You do not meet our expectations or seem too familiar to us.  Forgive us when our unbelief stymies your ability to work among us and accomplish your desire for us.  

Restore a sense of awe in us.  Enable us to see the extraordinary life that You live among us and to which You call us.  Enable us to follow You in hope and obey You with joy as we walk with You day after day.  Amen.

LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS

Day 24: Tuesday

Mark 5:21-43

Jesus, when we walk with You daily and stay alert for all that You are saying and doing among us, we discover that even those moments when our journey is interrupted or disrupted may turn into moments of awesome wonder.

Walking with You, we have many opportunities to observe and enact your compassion.  We see the fullness of your authority over all things.  We see your power for new life through which many find healing and peace.  We see your utter clarity about the people You encounter and your ability to carry out your mission as Agent of God’s reign.  

As we walk with You, enable us to act in healing, life-giving ways.  Show us what your compassion and power can do through us, and energize us to act boldly for your glory.  Amen.

WALKING WITH JESUS

LENTEN PRAYERS 2015

A covered walkway at the Alhambra, in Grenada, Spain.

WEEK 5

      Most of us like a smooth, wide place to walk most of the time.  The bowered walkway in the photograph on the front is appealing because it is such a place.  It even provides some shade.  But Jesus warned, in Matthew 7:13-14:

        Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide

       and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and

       there are many who take it.  For the gate is narrow

       and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are

       few who find it.

     Following Jesus can be very difficult.  Jesus does not lead us away from the tough trails and the places of shadow and danger.  But we do not walk those paths alone.  Jesus walks with us.  Jesus leads us.  Jesus takes us by the hand.  Jesus strengthens us.  Jesus points out the pitfalls.  Jesus urges us on even when we think we cannot take another step.  Jesus lifts us when necessary.  And Jesus always has the destination in mind, even when we forget where we are going.

Day 23: Monday

Mark 5:1-20

Jesus, we rejoice that by your compassion and power You are able to overcome even the most dominating forms of spiritual oppression.  You are able to intervene when we have lost our sense of identity and lost all self-control.  You are able to heal when pain and despair makes us want to do ourselves more harm.  You liberate us and enable us to be our true selves.

Because of all You have done for us, we want to stay as close to You as we can during our walk with You.  But, at your command, we readily go to our homes or go to unfamiliar places in order to tell about You and carry out your mission.  

Wherever we are on our way with You, we remain attentive to your word and action because we have seen and experienced your liberating power for new life.  Amen.

Prayer for March 15-21, 2015

Ephesians 2:1-10

God of resurrection, we rejoice that You have raised us from death to new life in Christ Jesus.  We rejoice that You have freed us from the control of sin and from constant cravings that made us anxiously desire more. We rejoice that though we deserved your judgment, You have acted graciously toward us and renovated our lives so thoroughly that in Christ Jesus we have received a taste of heaven and of all the riches of grace that You have prepared for us in your renewed creation.

Thank You for saving us from demonic power, from sin, and from our own diminishing and destructive choices.  Thank You for acting for us when we were completely unable to act for our own good.  Thank You for shaping us so that our lives could be an expression of your goodness.  

We are your handiwork, your poetry.  As we live our faith each day, may the beauty that You have restored to our lives testify to the world about your generosity and love.  Amen.

Lenten Prayers

Walking with Jesus

4^th Sunday  

Take a walk today, or walk in your imagination.  Remember familiar signs and landmarks that have been important in your life.  Remember those things that have been landmarks in your faith and that have provided You with a sense of assurance that You are or have been where Christ has led you.  Give thanks for those signs and landmarks.

LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS

Day 22: Saturday

Mark 4:35-41

Jesus!  We are so often terrified by circumstances that buffet and toss us in ways that are beyond our ability to control.  We panic!  We imagine that You are threatened by that which frightens us.  We imagine that chaos will drown everything.  Or we imagine that You don’t even care about the threats that surround us, even as we try to rouse You to action with our fearful cries.

You do not share our fear.  You do not panic.  You do not lose your equilibrium when we are buffeted.  But you are able to act.  You are able to speak a word that calms the chaos of our lives.  You remind us that You are sovereign over all things and we are not. 

In the aftermath of storm and stillness, your questions penetrate our hearts: “Why are you afraid?  Are you without faith?”  We do not know why we are afraid.  We do know that our faith is small.  Extinguish our fears.  Increase our faith.  

We continue to walk with You In spite of our fears and our little faith.  As we see You act among us, You leave us in awe.  Amen.     

LENTEN PRAYERS
WALKING WITH JESUS

Day 21: Friday

Mark 4:26-34

Jesus, as we walk with you each day, in places both familiar and new, let God’s reign grow within us, among us, and around us.  Enable us to see and participate in its fruitfulness.  Enable us to act in hopeful confidence because we know that You are able to achieve what You desire.

We perceive, now, that the mustard seed You planted has grown much larger than its small beginning.  But there is still room for it to extend its branches and many who have yet to come to its shelter.

Enable us to bear witness and work with energy and enthusiasm in order to point others to You and what You have begun.  Free us to be joyful participants in the reign of God that You initiated among us.  

As we walk with You, keep teaching us.  Keep telling us your tantalizing stories, give us understanding, and help us to follow your lead in every act of goodness.  Amen.

LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS

Day 20: Thursday

Mark 4:21-25

Jesus our Teacher, we rejoice that as we walk with You, You expose us to the truth.  You show us who God is.  You show us God’s nearness.  You show us God’s desire to reign over and heal all of creation.  

You also reveal the truth about us and who we are in relationship to God, to each other, and to creation.  All that we would suppress or hide, you expose to light.  You uncover our pride and our sins and offer forgiveness.  You see our wounds and offer healing.  You reveal our gifts and enable our worship, witness and service.  You give us clarity about the needs of our neighbors so that we may act with compassion.  

We rejoice in You!  And we ask that You will give us a deeper measure of understanding, wisdom and compassion, so that we may give as You have given with deepening gladness.  We do not seek more things.  We do not wish to accumulate thrills.  We seek more of You and more of your light, so that as we walk with You others will see You more clearly.  Amen. 

LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS

Day 19: Wednesday

Mark 4:1-20

Christ Jesus, as we walk with You, enable us to receive your word so that our faith blossoms and bears fruit for God’s reign.  Help us to see and perceive!  Help us to listen and understand!  Help us to turn to You repeatedly for the forgiveness that we need so that we may walk in joy, freedom, and peace with You. 

Do not let the evil one snatch your word away from our ears and our minds.  Enable us to sink our roots deeply in the word so that we are able to endure every challenge to our trust in You.  Do not let us become so focused on wealth, on the things we need, the things that we imagine we need, or on any other concerns, that our faith is strangled and rendered barren and useless.  

We long to bear abundant fruit for God’s reign!  Help us as we walk beside you and keep our eyes on You.  We cannot do it on our own.  But we trust in You who are fully one with the God who can do all things.  Amen.

LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS

Day 18: Tuesday

Mark 3:31-34

Christ Jesus, we tend to perceive our families as that to which we are most fully and deeply committed.  We commonly allow nothing to get in the way of our dedication to our families.  But You call us to place dedication to God’s reign among us above every other form of allegiance, whether familial, corporate, religious, racial, ethnic or national. 

You command us to love our neighbors and our enemies.  But You demand absolute loyalty only to God, with love of our neighbors and enemies flowing forth as a glad expression of our total devotion to God.  

We cannot achieve such devotion on our own.  We count on your companionship and guidance in order to walk in this direction.  Let us walk closely beside You, as your sisters and brothers, learning wisdom and obedience to the will of God as we walk.  We will follow as long and far as You lead us.  Amen.

WALKING WITH JESUS

LENTEN PRAYERS 2015

Sometimes we are cheered by familiar signs along the way.  Lorraine photographed this one for our friends at St. Nicolai.

WEEK 4

     When we travel to familiar places, we often look for landmarks and signs to give us a sense of progress and estimate how far we have to go.  Familiar landmarks can encourage us and reassure us that we are going the right way.  Occasionally we notice landmarks that we had missed before and they become new features in our memory.

     As Lorraine and I walked a short section of the El Camino, in Lisbon, we ran across a sign “Rua de São Nicolau,” which reminded us of one of the places to which Jesus has led us and where we feel most at home.

Day 17: Monday

Mark 3:19b-30

     Jesus, it is clear that your way of doing things often looks crazy to those who are opposed to the demanding, yet liberating life You enable and to which You call us.  Like those who confused You with satanic power, we often confuse You with the things we fear and the things we wish without seeing You for who You truly are.  We often fail to see the holy power and authority by which You act as God’s agent among us, even when we are trying to walk closely with You.  Help us to see You more clearly!

We rejoice that your presence and action did not represent the kingdom of death and destruction divided against itself.  We rejoice that You are the one able to bind and subdue oppressing and demonic powers in order that God’s reign may spread throughout the earth.

As we look around, we do not see a world that is fully transformed or fully released from bondage to destructive powers.  But we hope in You.  We believe that You are able to accomplish your purpose.  We believe that because of You God’s reign will come on earth as in heaven.  We believe, but ask that when we waver You will help our unbelief.  

We follow You with eyes wide open.  Show us your way.  Amen.

Prayer for March 8-14, 2015

Psalm 19

God, we rejoice that you have revealed yourself to us in both your creation and in your instruction to us. 

We delight in the beauty of the heavens: the cycles and colors of sunrise and sunset; the glow of planets and the twinkling of stars; the surprise of comets, meteorites and auroras.  How often we have gazed and caught our breath and acknowledged that these beauties reflect your glory.

God, we rejoice too, that You have revealed yourself to us through your instruction, your law.  Through it we find enlightenment, refreshment and enrichment.  Through it You give us wisdom and cause us to rejoice.  Through it we discover that You are Sovereign over all creation and in the daily details of our lives.  

Protect us from pride and hidden sins whose slow creep might control our lives.  We rejoice that You have given us guidance and commanded us to walk with You in faithfulness.  We treasure your word!  Amen.

NOTE: In this prayer I see Torah, God's instruction, as a valuable resource for us, though not the source of our salvation.  What do you think?

Lenten Prayers

Walking With Jesus

3^rd Sunday  

Take a walk today, or walk in your imagination, and consider this: Who have been your closest companions in your walk with Jesus?  Who helped you find the way when you could not find the trail markers?  Whom have you imitated and grown in faith by doing so?  Breathe a prayer of thanks for those companions on the journey.

LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS

Day 16: Saturday

Mark 3:13-19

Jesus, Son of God, how we rejoice that You came to renew Israel.  How we rejoice to know that our own well-being as your people is linked to God’s promises for Israel.

We are blessed because You came to bless Israel.  We are forgiven because You are the agent of Israel’s forgiveness.  We are healed because of the healing You did in Israel.  We are liberated from many forms of spiritual bondage because You rebuked and vanquished spirits that had held many captive in Israel.

Thank You for the twelve who answered your call, who walked beside You for many weeks, and who were sent to declare and enact the liberating reign of God that came close in your own person.  Thank You for all of those who have continued the chain of responsiveness and ministry that You initiated, and to which You called them.  Thank You that we, too, have become part of your movement, your reign, because we have heard and experienced your message of forgiveness, healing and liberation through others. 

Enable us to declare your word and enact your healing as we walk with You.  Amen.

LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS

Day 15: Friday

Jesus, as we walk with You, soften our hearts that are so often hardened against the healing of our neighbors and the healing of your creation.  Open our eyes to your life-giving ability.  Open our thoughts to the great healing work that You have done, but also to the great work of healing that remains.  Overcome our skepticism.  Banish our cynicism.  Free us from the need to control the ways in which You act among us.

Energize us to be agents of change and enable us to welcome the change that You are bringing among us.  Energize us as servants who extend the impact of your reign into places and in lives that seem bereft of hope, paralyzed, calcified, and deeply resistant to the vibrant, fruitful life that You generate in your power and authority.  

We walk in hope because we walk with You.  Unleash your healing power in and through us.  Amen.

LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS

Day 14: Thursday

Mark 2:23-28

Son of Man, walk us into a deep appreciation and practice of Sabbath.  Help us to remember that we are unable to create lives of faithfulness and fruitfulness entirely by our own initiative and energy.  Help us remember that You are Sovereign and we are not.  Help us to celebrate that which sustains life and share it, even as we discover that You are our True Source and our True Rest.

We do not wish to cast off all restraint.  Our hope is that we may follow You in ways that lead to our truest freedom and our deepest healing, even as they contribute to the healing of the world that You have loved so completely. 

We are watching You as we walk behind You.  We are listening to your words of instruction.  We are pondering everything in our hearts so that our hearts may be fully attuned to You.  Let us receive your Sabbath rest and lead others into that rest.  Amen. 

LENTEN PRAYERS

WALKING WITH JESUS

Day 13: Wednesday

Mark 2:21-22

Jesus, we frequently attempt to patch up our old lives and our old structures with new materials.  We consistently try to contain what is new, dynamic, and growing in containers that have served their purpose, but which cannot hold the new thing that You are doing.

Built on the foundation of God’s covenants with Israel, the new reign of God and the new humanity that You brought to light could not come to fullest expression in the structures that were valued and cherished by so many.  You offered an alternative to threadbare garments and deflated wineskins.  You offered new life.

How often we find, as we walk with You, that we must let go of what has become worn and torn and empty in order to participate in the robust new life into which You are leading.  We follow gladly, learning as we go, taking in all that we can receive of your vitality and sharing it all around.  Amen.

Lenten Prayers

Walking With Jesus

Day 12: Tuesday

Mark 2:18-20 (see also Isaiah 58)

Jesus our Teacher and Leader, we celebrate your presence among us.  We rejoice that we are able to walk with You each day.  We rejoice that You lead us into lives that are full of surprise and delight, lives that we could not have predicted or imagined apart from your presence and guidance.  We feast, in delight, with those whom You have gathered to yourself as servants of God’s reign.

Yet, we seek discernment for those times when we must fast, when we must wait upon You by setting aside our most urgent needs so that your will may be done among us in fresh ways.  Enable us to put the demands of your reign before our own comforts.  Enable us to fast in ways that hasten the work of justice among us. 

As we fast in glad service, may we offer the oppressed release from their varied chains and cells; may we provide the hungry with nourishing food; may we welcome the homeless into loving homes; may we clothe the naked with sturdy clothing; and may we help those who are afflicted to find satisfaction in You.  We follow your lead in hope for the full revealing of your healing reign among us.  Amen.

WALKING WITH JESUS

LENTEN PRAYERS 2015

  

Yellow arrows (flechas amaraillas) were common

on the few miles of the El Camino that Lorraine

and I walked in Lisbon, Portugal.

(Photo by Lorraine Antieau)

Week 3

  

     When we are walking with Jesus, we look primarily to Jesus in order to learn from him and follow well.  But many other people serve as markers who help us find the way and follow more closely when we lose sight of Jesus, or seem uncertain about what Jesus wants from us. 

     The apostle Paul had the audacity to say, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”  The author of Hebrews instructs, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.“

     It is an act of wisdom to walk closely with others who have grown familiar with Jesus’ ways and follow him with gladness and joy.  Sometimes those people are in official leadership roles, but it is just as likely that they are not.  Their help is invaluable, which is why the walk we take with Jesus is in the company of many others.

Day 11: Monday

Mark 2:13-17 (see also Romans 5:6-11)

Christ Jesus, we rejoice that You walked, talked and dined with sinners and enemy collaborators like tax collectors, even though the most devout people of the day questioned your actions and your devotion to God when You did so.  We rejoice, for if you had not welcomed and called sinners and enemies to yourself, there would have been no hope for us. 

Correct us, now, when we are critical of those who minister among those who are known as sinners.  Correct us, now, when we hold back from ministering to sinners and assume that we need You less than they do.  Forgive us for our pride.  

Direct us to those who need You most.  Direct us to the sick and sinful, not as their superiors, but as those who may offer your healing care, your forgiveness, your release, and your rescue, because these have been freely given to us.  We are ready to follow where You lead us.  Amen.

Prayer for March 1-7, 2015

Psalm 22:23-31

That your acts of deliverance will draw forth our greatful praise

You who hear our most desperate cries, we rejoice that You have listened to us when we called out in despair, anger and abandonment.  We thank You for rescuing us as You rescued David, overcoming the suffering and pain that we endured.

We rejoice, also, that You rescued Jesus, who suffered deeply because of us and for our benefit.

We offer praise before your people because of your great deliverance.  We honor You!  We revere You!  We thank You!  We give the best of our resources for your glory and praise!  Our talents, gifts, time, energy, money and other resources are all at your disposal. 

We give You all that we are as we wait for the day when the whole earth will turn to You and bow down in worship before You.  

We rejoice in You, for You are ever able to save!  Amen.

Lenten Prayers

Walking With Jesus

Second Sunday 

If you are able to do so, take a walk.  If you are unable to walk, take a walk in your memory and imagination.  Consider this: What trail markers has God provided that have helped you to follow Christ Jesus with enthusiasm, faithfulness and joy.  These markers may have been specific scriptures, specific people or groups of people, dreams, books, songs, art works, unusual experiences, and the like.