Lent – Week #2

READING FOR TODAY:

Genesis 12:1-4
The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”

So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.

Prayer
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you and I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.
And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road although I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death, I will not fear, for you are ever with me and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

READING FOR EVERY DAY:

Draw us into your love, Christ Jesus, and deliver us from fear.

Prayer
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
when there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand,
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Scripture
Psalm 61

Hear, God, my song,
listen close to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I call You.
When my heart faints, You lead me to a rock high above me.
For You have been a shelter to me,
a tower of strength in the face of the foe.
Let me dwell in Your tent for all time,
let me shelter in Your wings’ hiding-place.
For You, God, have heard my vows,
You have granted the plea of those who fear Your name.
Days may You add to the days of the king,
his years be like those of generations untold.
May he ever abide in the presence of God.
Steadfast kindness ordain to preserve him!
So let me hymn Your name forever
as I pay my vows day after day.

A Poem
excerpt from “The Word Answer” by Mark Jarman

That’s all it wants: a prayer just wants an answer,
And twists time in a knot until it gets it.

There’s the door. Will anybody get it?
That’s what he’s wondering; the bath’s still warm;
And by the time he towels off and puts on
His pajamas, robe, and slippers and goes down,
They’ll be gone, won’t they? There’s the door again;
And nobody’s here to answer it but him.
Perhaps they’ll go away. But it’s not easy,
Relaxing in the tub, reading the paper,
With someone at the front door, ringing and pounding,
And — that sounds like glass — breaking in.
At least the bathroom door’s securely bolted.
Or is that any assurance in this case?
He might as well go find out what’s the matter.
Whoever it is must really want … something.

We ask for bread, he makes his body bread.
We ask for daily life, and every day,
We get a life…

Praying with Jesus
from Matthew 6:9-13

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

Closing Prayer
Like children, we ask many things of You.
We come to You, hands open with requests.
We often come distressed and at our end,
acknowledging that You are the beginning.
As each prayer crosses our mind
let it be tinged with thanks
for the answer it will receive of You.
We praise you for hearing and helping,
answering us daily.
In the strong name of Christ we pray,
Amen.