Monday, February 29, 2016

A Prayer for Monday, February 29, 2016

Seventeenth Day of Lent

O God,

Jesus told us that he is the way.

Help us to remember that the
life of a disciple is indeed a life.

Help us to remember that the
way is a path to be followed
and a road to be travelled.

Let us notice

when we are following the wrong
path so we can find the right one,

when we get slightly off
course so we can correct it, and

when we are walking in the right
direction so we can keep heading that way.

Through your grace,
through your Son,
through your Spirit,
through your Word, and
through our experiences,

show us the way we should go.

Help us to follow Jesus in the way of

obedience,
love,
grace,
mercy,
forgiveness,
peace,
service, and
sacrifice.

Amen.

Sunday, February 28, 2016

A Prayer for Sunday, February 28, 2016

Third Sunday in Lent

O God,

We praise you today for

your grace,
your mercy, and
your forgiveness,

all of which we need so much, and
all of which we have received in abundance.

We praise you today for how

your grace,
your mercy, and
your forgiveness

have changed our lives.

We ask you today to let

your grace,
your mercy, and
your forgiveness

cause us to become

ever more gracious,
ever more merciful, and
ever more forgiving.

Amen.

Saturday, February 27, 2016

A Prayer for Saturday, February 27, 2016

Sixteenth Day of Lent

O God,

Help me to turn inward so I can be
aware of and turn away from my sins.

Help me to turn upward so I can be
aware of and turn toward your grace.

Help me to turn outward so I can be
aware of and turn toward people’s need.

Amen.

Friday, February 26, 2016

A Prayer for Friday, February 26, 2016

Fifteenth Day of Lent

O God,

Thank you for your grace
in which we find forgiveness.

As we encounter people who need
our forgiveness, help us offer it to them.

Let our offer of forgiveness help
them find your forgiveness as well.

Let the way we live and forgive
be a witness to your forgiveness.

Amen.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

A Prayer for Thursday, February 25, 2016

Fourteenth Day of Lent

O God,

We are creatures of habit.

We tend to commit the same sins over and over.

We fall into patterns

of acting,
of talking,
of thinking,
and
of feeling

that fall far short of who and how we should
be as your children and as followers of your Son.

Forgive us.

And this time, help us break the pattern.

Help us find new and better ways to be and to do.

Let those new and better ways become our pattern.

Help us turn and go in the direction that Jesus is leading us.

Then help us keep going that way . . .

Amen.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

A Prayer for Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Thirteenth Day of Lent

O God,

Help us embrace our humanity.

Help us accept

our sinfulness,
our brokenness, and
our neediness.

Thank you for embracing us in our humanity.

Thank you for accepting us in

our sinfulness,
our brokenness, and
our neediness.

Help us confess who we are
and affirm who we can be.

Thank you for hearing our confession and
for helping us grow toward who we can be.

Amen.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

A Prayer for Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Twelfth Day of Lent

O God,

Sometimes we wander away from you.

When we do, help us return.

When we return, let it be to a different place in our relationship with you than where we were when we left.

Let us return to a better place, to a more mature place, and to a more aware place.

If we must wander, let it be for good reason, with good results, and to good effect.

Amen.

Monday, February 22, 2016

A Prayer for Monday, February 22, 2016

Eleventh Day of Lent

O God,

Make us ready

to hear what you want us to hear,
to go where you want us to go,
to accept what you want us to accept,
to abandon what you want us to abandon,
to embrace what you want us to embrace,
to change what you want us to change,
to celebrate what you want us to celebrate,
to mourn what you want us to mourn, and
to do what you want us to do.

Amen.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

A Prayer for Sunday, February 21, 2016

Second Sunday in Lent

O God,

We praise you for Jesus Christ, in
whom we find forgiveness for our sins.

We praise you for your grace, in
which we find grace to forgive.

We praise you for our lives, in
which we have the opportunity to
experience and to share your forgiveness.

Amen.

Saturday, February 20, 2016

A Prayer for Saturday, February 20, 2016

Tenth Day of Lent

O God,

Let your forgiveness so permeate our lives
that our first response is to forgive others
rather than to hold a grudge against them.

Amen.

Friday, February 19, 2016

A Prayer for Friday, February 19, 2016

Ninth Day of Lent

O God,

When it comes to repentance, let 180° be our goal.

Let it be our sincere intent to turn completely around and go the other way.

If it can be a once-and-for-all sudden complete reversal, that’s great.

But give us grace to accept the incremental turning that we must sometimes do.

If our turning sometimes has to be 1° at a time, so be it. Keep us from beating ourselves up about it. Keep us turning a little bit at a time.

But let 180° always be our goal . . .

Amen.

Thursday, February 18, 2016

A Prayer for Thursday, February 18, 2016

Eighth Day of Lent

O God,

Help us to stop

doing things we shouldn’t be doing,
talking ways we shouldn’t be talking,
thinking ways we shouldn’t be thinking,
feeling ways we shouldn’t be feeling, and

being motivated by things by
which we shouldn’t be motivated.

Help us to repent in ways that
go deep beneath the surface.

Help us to repent in ways that go all
the way down to who we really are.

Amen.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

A Prayer for Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Seventh Day of Lent

O God,

Help us be serious about

facing our sins,
acknowledging our sins,
confessing ours sins, and
repenting of our sins.

Then help us live in the
joy of your forgiveness.

Let our sins cause us to frown.
Let your forgiveness make us smile.

Amen.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

A Prayer for Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Sixth Day of Lent

O God,

Let the way we walk
always lead us closer to you.

If we are walking in a direction that
leads us anywhere other than closer
to you, help us change our direction.

Keep us aware that, since you are love,
we’ll know we are moving away from you
as our love decreases and that we’re
getting closer to you as our love increases.

Let our love always be increasing . . .

Amen.

Monday, February 15, 2016

A Prayer for Monday, February 15, 2016

Fifth Day of Lent

O God,

Help us learn and remember that
repentance means more than
saying we’re sorry for our sins.

Help us learn and remember that
repentance means committing
to turn around and go in the other
direction than we were going.

Help us learn and remember that
repentance comes not in our strength
but through your grace and your Spirit.

Amen.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

A Prayer for Sunday, February 14, 2016

First Sunday in Lent

O God,

Thank you for the opportunity this Lord’s Day
provides for us to pause during these days of
repentance and to remember and to celebrate
that we are forgiven through the crucifixion
and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Help us to do so with great gratitude.

Amen.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

A Prayer for Saturday, February 13, 2016

Fourth Day of Lent

O God,

Help us not to think that
we’re worse than we are.

Help us not to think that
we’re better than we are.

Help us instead to know
that we are what we are.

And that’s what we bring
to you in repentance …

Amen.

Friday, February 12, 2016

A Prayer for Friday, February 12, 2016

Third Day of Lent

O God,

Help us repent of the sin of
not paying enough attention
to the condition of our hearts.

Remind us

that motives and motivations matter,

that why we do what we do is as
important as—and maybe more
important than—what we do,

and

that it is possible to do the right thing
for the wrong reason and to do the
wrong thing for the right reason.

Help us grow toward always doing
the right thing for the right reason.

Give us hearts

that are driven by the right reasons,

that are filled with love, grace, and mercy,

and

that think of others more than of self.

Amen.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

A Prayer for Thursday, February 11, 2016

Second Day of Lent

O God,

Don’t let us listen to voices,
whether they come from
outside us or within us,
that tell us we’re no good.

Those voices will lie to us.

Do let us listen to your voice
when it tells us we need to repent.

Let us listen to it when it tells
us we need to change our
attitudes and our actions.

That voice never lies to us.

And give us discernment
not to confuse your voice
with those other ones.

Amen.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

A Prayer for Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Ash Wednesday

O God,

We reflect today on our mortality.

Some of us need to be reminded.
Some of us never forget.

We repent today of our sins.

Some of us need to be reminded.
Some of us never forget.

We are mortal. But we are alive.
We are sinners. But we are forgiven.

Remind us that we can
and should serve you

in our humanity.

Remind us that we can
and should serve you

in your forgiveness.

Amen.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

A Prayer for Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Yes (Part 2)

O God,

Help us say “Yes” to trust.

Help us trust you in any
and all circumstances.

Help us trust you

when things are going right and
when things are going wrong,

when we understand what’s happening
and when we don’t have any idea,

and

when we can see the way we should go and
when we can’t see any possible path.

Let our trust lead us to
keep moving forward,
believing that you will light
our way and guide our steps.

Amen.

Monday, February 8, 2016

A Prayer for Monday, February 8, 2016

Yes (Part One)

O God,

Help us say “Yes” to grace.

Help us say “Yes” to your grace.

Help us accept your acceptance of us.

Help us accept that you
come to us just as we are.

Help us know that you are
for us in all that we go through.

Help us say “Yes” to
extending grace to others.

Help us accept others as they are.

Help us not stand in
judgment over anyone.

Help us be there for
others when they need us.

Thank you for the grace you extend to us.

Give us grace to extend it to others.

Amen.

Sunday, February 7, 2016

A Prayer for Sunday, February 7, 2016

The Lord’s Day

O God,

Help us to worship the Lord Jesus Christ

in the glory of his resurrection and ascension,
as the fulfillment of your promises to your people,
and as the one to whom we should always listen.

Then, let our lives demonstrate that
we know who he is and who we are.

Amen.

Saturday, February 6, 2016

A Prayer for Saturday, February 6, 2016

No (Part 5)

O God,

Help us say “No” to excess.

Give us a desire to be successful and
self-sufficient, but protect us from a
desire always to want a lot more than
we have. As long as we have enough,
let us be satisfied with what we have.

Help us not to want things just
for the sake of having things.

If and as we do end up with an excess, help
us to make good use of it. Help us to use
it to help others in the best ways we can.

Amen.

Friday, February 5, 2016

A Prayer for Friday, February 5, 2016

No (Part 4)

O God,

Help us say “No” to arrogance.

Help us

not to think more of
ourselves than we ought,

not to think that
we’re always right,

and

not to think that our ways are
necessarily better than other ways.

Lead us instead

to listen eagerly to others,

to learn all we can from others,

and

to consider that others may be right.

Amen.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

A Prayer for Thursday, February 4, 2016

No (Part 3)

O God,

Help us say “No” to despair.

It’s easy for us to look at the world and
conclude there’s no hope. There are so
many problems, so much evil, and so
much suffering. There are so few people
who try to do anything about any of it.

Don’t let us give up.

Help us instead to live in hope.

Help us to live in the assurance that you
are working your purposes out. Help us to
be among those who do all they can to help
make things better here and now. Help us
to see and celebrate the good—and there
is much of it—that exists in this old world.

Amen.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

A Prayer for Wednesday, February 3, 2016

No (Part Two)

O God,

Help us say “No” to self-centeredness.

We have to take care of ourselves.

We must think of ourselves in order
to be responsible for ourselves.

But don’t let us think about ourselves more
than is necessary or more than we should.

Help us instead to think of others
more than we do of ourselves.

Help us to put the needs of
others ahead of our own.

Help us to want what is best for others
as much as we want what is best for us.

Amen.

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

A Prayer for Tuesday, February 2, 2016

No (Part One)

O God,

Help us to say “No” to fear.

Help us to be realists. Don’t let us
pretend that everything is fine when
it isn’t. Don’t let us be unconcerned when
there are things to be concerned about.

But don’t let us be afraid. Don’t let fear dominate
our thoughts and determine our actions.

Instead, fill us with assurance that knows
that everything is going to be all right someday.

Instead, fill us with trust that knows that no
matter what happens, we are ultimately safe in you.

Instead, fill us with grace that knows that all things
work together for good for those who love you.

Help us to say “No” to fear.

Help us to say “Yes” to that which is
greater than and more helpful than fear.

Amen.

Monday, February 1, 2016

A Prayer for Monday, February 1, 2016

Touch

O God,

Touch me with your grace, your love, and your Spirit.

Let me touch others with your grace, your love, and your Spirit.

Let them touch others with your grace, your love, and your Spirit.

And so on . . .

Amen.