Tag: Lent

The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go” (John 11: 38-44).

Lord, Your miracles remind us of how powerful you are. You are a powerful God who leads all of us out of bondage, who delivers us from the grips of the evil one, who feeds the five thousand with one loaf and two fish, who heals the sick and raises people from the dead.

You are more powerful than oppressive governments, dictatorial authorities, extreme sickness, and evil itself. Forgive us for not remembering Your miracles found in the Bible. We pray, increase our faith. Your awesome power is at work in our daily lives. You make the impossible, possible. You are worthy to be praised when the impossible happens, our lives are changed forever. Your great miracles come only from Your loving hands. We glory in your Name. Amen.

~~ India B. Davis

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me (Mark 8:34 ESV).

Lord, we need your grace to bear this Cross that you have placed before us. You call us to take up the Cross, but so often we walk the other way. So many other things seem more pressing, more appealing. We are not good with self-denial. Give us grace to see every situation as an opportunity for you to manifest your life in us. Open our ears to hear your voice saying to us, “This is the way, walk in it.” Take away the sinful attitudes and desires that cause us to choose short-term pleasure over the abundant life that you offer us in Christ. We cannot carry the Cross in our own power, we need you to live your life through us.

~~Nicholas Beckham

I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy (Psalm 116:1). 

We love You, O our God, and our only desire is to love You until the last breath of our lives. We love You, O our infinitely lovable God, and we would rather die loving You, than live without loving You. We love You, Lord and the only grace we ask is to love You eternally. Our God, if our tongues cannot say in every moment that we love You, we want our hearts to repeat it to You as often as we draw breath. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. 

–Prayer of St. John Vianney (modified to plural pronouns)

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life (John 8:12, NLT). 

Dear Father in heaven, our refuge for this day and for each day to come, touch us with the finger of your power. Be our protection and strong defense against all attacks of darkness. Where people look to you out of the darkness, let their eyes grow shining bright with the light from your eyes. Let your light shine within us and around us. Let your light bring your cause to victory, to the final great day of Jesus Christ. Amen.

–Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt, Lift Thine Eyes

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us (2 Cor. 4:7 ESV). 

Precious Jesus, Lord of grace and mercy, we pray flood our souls with your Holy Spirit that we might minister your abundant life. So penetrate our hearts and fill our spirits that our lives may utterly and completely be yours. Lord, we love you and praise you for working through weak jars of clay like us. Pray, convict us of our stubborn ways and selfish actions. Forgive us for being insensitive to others’ needs and for disregarding your holy will and express commands. Lord Jesus, we pray you, come and transform us into your image. We desperately need your power. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

~~Fr. Glenn E. Davis

 

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak (Isa. 40: 28-29).

Lord, we are tired and weary. Some days, we groan in our weakness. Our financial battles, daily responsibilities, and worn-out bodies weary us to the bone. But you, O’ God, do not grow tired and weary. Your Holy Spirit is always with us. You do not sleep or slumber. Your eye is always on us and your presence is always with us. You are never absent.  You never forsake us.

Lord, you give us strength and courage to face our on-going struggles.  You bring us great joy in our darkest hours. O’ Lord our God, we pray for your joy today in knowing that your strength will carry us through our trials. We declare that our hope in you will never be found wanting. In Jesus’s name. Amen!

–India B. Davis

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse (Rom 1:20 ESV).

Father, we thank you for your creation. You spoke the heavens and earth into existence by the Word of your mouth. Thank you for stars and planets and moons. Thank you for the warmth of day and the cool rest of night. You are good, and you made your creation good. Thank you for the sea and the land and for all the delightful, frightening, and adorable creatures that inhabit them. Thank you for establishing order and structure and beauty. You have not left us without a witness to your power and presence.

Forgive us for ignoring and desecrating your witness through our wasteful consumption of creation. Thank you that you have not abandoned this world to bondage and corruption, but that you will one day redeem both it and us. Pray, make us more appreciative of the good things of creation and more careful in how we use them. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

~ ~Nicholas Beckham

 

“’And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:29-31 ESV).

Father, you know I am afraid of rejection, of being seen as one of those weird Christians, but I know that so many around me need Jesus as I need Him. Open my eyes to opportunities to tell people about Him, to share how He has been my help in times of need, my healer and friend. Give me boldness and words to speak when these opportunities come. And show yourself strong on their behalf by healing, providing, encouraging and meeting them in their deepest needs. In Jesus’s name, Amen. 

~~Fr. Scott Howard

SaveSave

And [Jesus] is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent (Colossians 1:18 ESV). 

We praise you precious Jesus, glory and honor be to you. Blessed Christ who for our sake condescended from your heavenly throne, you came into our fallen misery and became God incarnate in human flesh–one with us. We seek you, make our hearts a precious dwelling place for your presence, adorn our lives with your fruit, replenish our ministries with your gifts, and possess our hearts fully and completely.

You are Jesus our Savior, be our complete and total deliverer and rid us of the sin that so easily ruins the sweet fellowship of your presence. Grant us committed hearts full of affection and devotion, give us compassion for others’ pain, trials, and struggles. Pray that we may love others as you have loved us, that we may forgive as you forgave us and that we may show mercy to the merciless. In your blessed name, we pray. Amen.

~~ Fr. Glenn E. Davis