daily lent meditation and prayer

Monday

"Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare

your praise."

♥ Opening Prayer:
God our savior,bring us back to you and fill our minds with your wisdom.May we be enriched by our observance of Lent.Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,one God, for ever and ever.

♥Bring us back to you.
We repeat our desire that God bring us home from our wandering.We know that in the confusion that surrounds us and can fill us,we need the gift of Wisdom.It is fitting that our very first "lesson" in our faith,is the last judgment scene that Jesus paints for us.We will be judged on whether we fed the hungry welcomed the stranger clothed the naked,comforted the sick visited the imprisoned.It is powerful to re-learn this wisdom -Jesus identifies with each of these "least" cared for.Who might we feed, welcome, clothe, comfort or visit this week? As my heart might "resist" this mission,I might beg to be brought back, with all my heart.

♥ Bible Verse:
The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; Psalm 19:8,

Tuesday

♥ Opening Prayer:
Father, may we receive your forgiveness and mercy as we celebrate the passion and death of the Lord,who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit one God, for ever and ever. Amen

♥ Let me receive your forgiveness and mercy:
The second Servant song shapes our reflection today as we watch that amazing dinner scene on Tuesday of this passion week. We experience the pain of his knowing that he will be betrayed and denied. Yet, the hour he is about to face is the hour of his Glory. And he promises that where he is going, we will surely follow. Our desire is to celebrate the gift being offered us.

♥ Bible Verse:
And now the LORD says,
Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,To bring Jacob back to Him,So that Israel is gathered to Him(For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the LORD,And My God shall be My strength), Indeed He says,It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob,And to restore the preserved ones of Israel I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles,That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.Isaiah 49

Wednesday

♥ Opening Prayer:
Father, in your plan of salvation your Son Jesus Christ accepted the cross and freed us from the power of the enemy. May we come to share the glory of his resurrection, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit
one God, for ever and ever.Amen

♥He freed us from the power of the enemy:
This is the last day of Lent.It is "Spy Wednesday," remembering the day Judas asked,
"What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?"We read the third song of the Servant who suffers.And we sense the acceptance, the surrender and the peace of Jesus.I can imagine the treachery and tranquility of this day,as I go through the real life drama of my day.I can begin to feel the joy of the liberation being offered me.If I haven't done so already,this can be a wonderful day to pray through the Stations of the Cross.

♥ Bible Verse:
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”Matthew 20:28

Thursday

♥ Opening Prayer:
Father,without you we can do nothing.By your spirit help us to know what is right
and to be eager in doing your will.We ask this through our Lord, Jesus Christ, Your Son,who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,one God, for ever and ever.

♥Help us to be eager in doing your will.
In today's lesson we learn more about prayer.We are touched by the bold, full-hearted prayer of Esther.We hear with a freshness how sincerely Jesus invites us to:Ask and receive, seek and find, knock and find the door opened.
Dependence is not a virtue we ordinarily admire.Today we grow in our sense that we need God's grace very much even to know what is right ,but certainly to fan our desires into a flame.

♥ Bible Verse:
In the day when I cried out, You answered me,And made me bold with strength in my soul.Psalm 138:3

Friday

♥ Opening Prayer:

Lord,may our observance of Lent help to renew us and prepare us to celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ,who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,one God for ever and ever Amen.

♥Renew us and prepare us.

Our lesson today is about reconciliation.Our Lord forgives us all our sins nothing can separate us from the love of God for us in Jesus.And we are called to forgive others with the same compassion, mercy, patience and love given to us.
Our Lenten practices help us to experience the renewing love of God,and they prepare us for our journey to Easter to celebrate the mystery of our death to self and rebirth in the new life Jesus won for us.

♥ Bible Verse:
I do not wish the sinner to die, says the Lord,but to turn to me and live.Ezekiel 33

Saturday

♥ Opening Prayer:

Eternal Father,turn our hearts to you.By seeking your kingdom and loving one another,
May we become a people who worship you in spirit and truth.Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,one God, for ever and ever.Amen

♥Turn our hearts to you.
The Saturdays of Lent have a grateful and uplifting tone to them.Our lesson today reminds us of the covenant God made long ago:you be my people and I will be your God.
In the new covenant, without condition,God is faithful to us, even if we are not. Jesus calls us to a new way of being loving others as we have been loved which includes loving those who do not love us.We are to be as pure in our love,as God is pure in loving us.

♥ Bible Verse:
God loved the world so much,he gave us his only Son,that all who believe in him might have eternal life.John 3:16

Daily lent prayer and Bible Getaway

FC
Shydub of Simple Happy Life.