Lent Week2 Monday

 Deuteronomy 2:7

The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.

All sorts of things can lead us to a barren, wilderness place and our days can often feel long, dark, and extremely difficult - physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Maybe you find yourself in a place where everything feels as though it is being stripped away and you hunger and thirst for something more. Tell God about it.

Lent Spiritual Prompt

Can you describe a time in vour life that vou would identify as

"wilderness"?

Have you ever encountered a wilderness experience? A place where perhaps you found yourself discouraged, uncertain, tired, weary, and fed-up.

Pray

Loving God let me tell you about my wilderness experience.

Father, you've led me to this wilderness to heal me, change me, and reveal yourself to me. I trust in your plan for me as well as your willingness and ability to provide for me here.

I don't want to self-protect, isolate, or place my heart high on a shelf out of reach. I want to bring you my whole heart. I want to uncover so vou can cover and heal. I want to hold nothing back, Jesus. I don't want to doubt your love. I want to grow deeper in my understanding of your love for me, but I know I need your help to even grasp how long, how wide, and how deep your love truly is.

Lent Week 2 Sunday

 Mark 1:12-14

The Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

James 1:3 The testing of your faith produces perseverance.

As we step into Lent, we are reminded that Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness before starting His ministry.

Throughout scripture we read of many characters who experienced the wilderness, usually before they stepped into a significant calling.

We all walk through wilderness times, those spiritually dry places where God teaches us to trust Him. It's often in the middle of the bleakest desert that God heals us and sets us free from false narratives that hold us captive.

Lent Spiritual Prompt

Why do you think the Spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness to be tempted?

In the desert of daily routine can you learn to find value in the humblest tasks?

Pray

Father, you've led me to this wilderness to heal me, change me, and reveal yourself to me. I trust in your plan for me as well as your willingness and ability to provide for me here. I don't want to grumble.

I want to thank you for all the gifts you have given me. Whatever happens to me in life, dear Lord, even when the road is rocky and leads me through wild or frightening passes, help me to hold on tight to you.

Thank you for the endurance and courage of Jesus, and his steadfastness in temptation. May I learn from him, may my faith in him never fail, and may I grow more like him as I follow - slowly, stum-blingly - after him. Amen.

Lent Week 1 Saturday

 What to Give Up ...

Give up complaining.

... focus on gratitude.

Give up pessimism .. become an optimist.

Give up harsh judgments

... think kindly thoughts.

Give up worry . trust Divine Providence.

Give up discouragement

.. be full of hope.

Give up bitterness ... turn to forgiveness.

Give up hatred

Give up negativism

... return good for evil.

. be positive.

Give up anger

be more patient.

Give up pettiness ..become mature.

Give up gloom ... enjoy the beauty that is all around you.

Give up jealousy ... pray for trust.

Give up gossiping.

... control your tongue.

Give up sin.

.. turn to virtue.

Give up giving up ... hang in there!

Lent Spiritual Prompt

Think of a person with whom you have a strained relationship and make some gesture toward improving that relationship.

Pray

Direct my actions, Lord, by your holy inspiration and carry them forward by your gracious help, that all my works may begin in you and by you be happily ended.

Lent Week 1 Friday

 Isaiah 55 'Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters ... listen, listen to me ...

Psalm 37 'Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.

Lent Spiritual Prompt

What part does humility play in your daily life and actions?

What steps can you take to make sure your words and actions are motivated by a desire to serve and help others rather than seek attention and praise for yourself?

Praver for Lent

I pray that Lent, for me, is not just about giving things up or taking things on, but that I would give you glory through Lent, Lord.

May my actions reflect You, and may I worship You through all that I say and do throughout the weeks to come.

May my praise for You never cease in this season.

May my worship be unending.

May this season of Lent bring new hope and new healing to me.

A Journey through Lent Prepares Us for Joy

The journey through Lent leads to Easter, symbolising joy, freedom, and life.

By going through the hard, honest work of Lent, we can experience deeper gratitude, joy and a closer relationship with Our God.

Lent week 1 Thursday

 Matthew 11:28 'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened..!

Quiet prayer is a time to rest and wait in God's presence, it is a time to listen and receive. As we draw close to God, He promises to draw close to us. We can be deeply encouraged, strengthened, and healed as we take time to be still before God.

Prayer Spotlight

During Lent lift up specific requests to God:

Pray for your family.

Pray for opportunities to share your faith.

Pray for opportunities to love and serve others.

Prayer For Lent

During this Lent please God bring me closer to you.

May I quiet the noise that pulls me from you and attracts my attention on lesser things.

May I see your goodness and your glory in new ways throughout this season of Lent.

May I know the depths of your love for me more fully.

Draw me closer to you, that I might know you better and understand you more completely.

A Journey through Lent Builds Compassion

Lent is about generosity and connection caring for others, sharing resources, and becoming more aware of injustice or suffering in the world.

Through Lent, you might ask:

Who needs my help?

How can I live more compassionately?

Ash Wednesday

 Genesis 3.19

You are dust, and to dust you shall return.

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent. As the ash is placed on our foreheads in the shape of the cross, those words from Genesis are spoken: "Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return." It is a day to lament our disconnectedness from God. It begins a time where we consider those failures in our own lives which separate us from God. The sign of the cross reminds us that in Jesus, our failure is overcome by his resurrection. We can use Lent to meet with God and ask God to bridge the distance we put between him and us.

Lent Spiritual Prompt

As humans we all fail, in some way, every day. Ask yourself honestly where have you failed in your Christian faith? If you have no answer now, then roll this question over in your mind during the coming days of Lent and try to answer it before the end of Lent.

Prayer for Lent

During this Lent please God bring me closer to you.

Please God show me those failures in my life that separates me from you.

Please God show me how to bridge the distance between us.

May I be at peace this Lent

May I surrender what has been burdensome to you this Lent

May I repent and turn back to you.

On our inner journey through Lent we should recognise God in the ordinary, in the joy and sadness of life.

Our relationship is about knowing that God cannot be separated from whatever we experience.

Blessing

Lord, be a bright flame before us

Be a guiding star above us

Be a smooth path beneath us

Be a kindly shepherd behind us.

Waiting for the Lent Journey 3

 

Joel 2:12-14

"Even now," declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning."

Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in

love...

Today is the last day before Lent and a time in which we repent for our sins and turn away from our destructive patterns. In order to do that, we must understand and admit those sins and patterns, which is why this day is sometimes called Shrove Tuesday from an old word meaning 'forgiveness.'

Lent Spiritual Prompt

Write down the good things in your life that God has given to you.

Write down the things in your life that pleases God.

Write down the things in your life that does not please God.

A Journey through Lent Draws You Toward Renewal

Lent mirrors a universal pattern: death leading to resurrection. The metaphor of "letting go to be made new" is deeply human.

It offers hope that change is possible.

Prayer For Lent

Thank you loving God for the gift of this season of Lent.

Thank you for drawing me into a closer relationship with you throughout the coming days of Lent.

Please walk with me in my wilderness during Lent.

May these weeks leading up to Good Friday and the glory of Resurrection Sunday remind me of who you are and how you love me.

May I walk through this season intentionally, please remove distractions that take my gaze away from your glory.

Show me what is in my life that pleases you and show me those aspects of my life that I need to change.