Circle Prayers

In “The Circle Maker” (page 15) Mark Batterson invites us to dream big and pray boldly.  He says, “The greatest moments in life are the miraculous moments when human impotence and divine omnipotence intersect—and they intersect when we draw a circle around the impossible situations in our lives and invite God to intervene.”  Lent is a time of prayer when we invite God into our lives.  What would you like Jesus to do for you?  Take time to circle it in prayer, resting on the promises of God.

Great and loving God, we thank You for teaching us to know You through Your written and living Word. Empower us to look beyond the things that surround us to the wonders of the heavens above and to the miracle that is each of us. We thank You for providing us with our daily needs.  Empower us to look beyond our own needs to the needs of all who live on this earth and to care and share in the Spirit of Your Son, our forgiving Savior and Servant Lord. We give You thanks that You have prepared an eternal home for us, and pray that You will keep us in faith so that we might live with meaning and eventually bid farewell to life in this world with peace, joy, and sure hope. In the name of Jesus, in Whom we have seen You and through Whom we belong to You. Amen.  (“Heaven's Name” by Dr. Harry Wendt, Leaders Manual, Page 11)

TWO WORDS

TWO WORDS stand out for me during Lent – SILENT  &.  LISTEN

It is difficult to listen if we are not silent

And it is difficult to be silent if we are not ready to listen.

Listening is being fully present to another.

Listening means letting go of control to another. 

Listening is hearing God’s Word to us – “Be still and know that I am God.”

It is in the “still small voice” that we hear God speak to us.

Listen and Silent have exactly the same letters.

The letters in the words “silent” and “listen” can be rearranged …

Lent Is Silent

Ash Wednesday

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely,^] and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,  looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake o^] the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.                                                                                                                                                     (Hebrews 12:1-2, NRSV)

It is Ash Wednesday and I want to encourage each of you in your prayer walk through Lent this year.  This text, my grandmother’s favorite, provides a wonderful roadmap for Lent.  Oma would often remind us to “keep your eyes on Jesus.”  We do that by “laying aside every weight and sin that clings so closely.”  Take time to confess your sins and receive the forgiveness Jesus so generously offers.  Let go of anxiety and the burdens of life and let Jesus carry them for you.  Take comfort in the words, “who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross.”  These words remind us that Jesus looked through the cross that awaited Him and He saw me and each one of you, and that brought Him great joy.  Finally, because He is “seated at the right hand of the throne of God,” we can be assured of His promise to “be wth us always and everywhere.” 

We come to You, O God, though we are but dust and ashes.  We come to You for  forgiveness, strength, and new life.  Breathe into us your life-giving Spirit that we might live with our eyes focused on You in Your joy and peace.  Amen.

Lent

With the arrival of Ash Wednesday, the season of Lent is upon us.  The ashes remind us of our mortality and sackcloth, an ancient symbol of repentance, helps us to reflect upon our lives and walk more closely with the Lord.  This is a good time to take stock of our lives and ask God to forgive us and help us remain faithful as His disciples.

But Lent (“lengthening of days” or “spring”) is also a time of joy and hope.  During Lent we journey alongside Jesus to the Cross in repentance and on to the open tomb in celebration of new life, His life and ours.  In the light of our Lenten journey, I invite you to pray with me ….

Preserve our souls, establish our bodies, upraise our senses, direct our conversations, compose our manners, bless our actions, perfect our prayers, inspire holy meditations; the sins done aforetime forgive, the present correct, the future prevent. Amen. (prayer by Lanceot Andres,1555-1626)

Signs & Wonders

The first century Church did not live at the foot of the empty Cross, but rather it was under the throne of Jesus Christ. They did not linger at the empty tomb, nor did they stand peering at the clouds. They stood firmly under the throne of Christ and moved in His power. Because they knew the authority of Jesus and the role they had as true ambassadors of His Kingdom, they went out in power and Jesus worked with them confirming the message with signs, wonders and miracles. This early band of men and women moved not in their own power and strength, but in the authority of the name of Jesus. There is no evidence in Scripture that signs, wonders and miracles ceased with the last breath of the last apostle. On the contrary there were viable reports during the next 300 hundred years by Church fathers that miracles continued.  No man can heal another man, but the Holy Spirit can work signs, wonders, miracles and His gifts through any willing vessel.

                                                                            (Paul Teske, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Westport, Conn., LCMS)