Lent: Day 37 (Wednesday of Holy Week)

Scripture: John 14

". . . I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. . . . Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. . . . Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. . . ."

Hymn: "Hymn of Promise," UMH 707
Natalie Sleeth, 1986

". . . In our end is our beginning;
In our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing;
In our life, eternity.
In our death, a resurrection;
At the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season,
Something God alone can see."

Prayer:

Send your Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, for I know it will be impossible to face life without your presence. I need the comfort of knowing that this coming anguish is not the end, but the beginning of new life.

Speak past the darkness of my doubt, and teach me about the coming resurrection.

Lent: Day 26

Scripture: Luke 15

". . . 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost. . . . 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I lost.' . . . 'And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "

Hymn: "Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy," UMH 340
Joseph Hart, 1759

". . . Let not conscience make you linger,
Nor of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness he requireth
Is to feel your need of him.

I will arise and go to Jesus;
He will embrace me with his arms;
In the arms of my dear Savior,
O there are then thousand charms."

Prayer:

Savior Jesus, Seeker of the lost, I am both lost and found. Though you never leave me, I go my own way over and over again. Like the son who demanded the wealth only to squander it, I waste and spoil the priceless gifts you entrust to me.

I want to come home, Lord Jesus! Just as you found me and rejoiced over me when I first turned to you, open the gates of heaven for me now, and let me feel your arms of welcome embrace my sin-sick heart.

Messed it up!

I'm filling in in our church office (since yesterday, actually) and didn't get today's readings and prayer posted before leaving for the day. Here's a hymn quote for now, and early this evening I should be able to post the actual reading.

". . . What though my joys and comforts die?
I know my Savior liveth.
What though the darkness gather round?
Songs in the night he giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that Rock I'm clinging.
Since love is Lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?"

from "My Life Flows On (How Can I Keep from Singing)"
Robert Lowry, 1860
The Faith We Sing, 2212

Lent: Day 24

Scripture: Isaiah 45

" 'Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. . . . You are my witnesses,' says the LORD, 'and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. . . . Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing . . . I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. . . .' "

Hymn: "How Firm a Foundation," UMH 529
"K" in Rippon's Selection of Hymns, 1787

". . . 'Fear not, I am with the, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I'll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.' . . ."

Prayer:

Called by name! O loving God, you know my name!

I want to follow you, dear God, wherever you lead me. I give you myself, including my darkest fears, and trust you to use my life in the way that pleases you most.

I ask only that you keep calling my name, God. I belong to you.

Lent: Day 6

Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:1-9

". . . Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. . . ."

Hymn: "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing," UMH 400
Robert Robinson, 1756

". . . Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above."

Prayer:

Holy God of the Covenant, you created me to give you glory. I belong to you. My heart, my soul, and my strength are all to be reserved for you.

Yet you know, and I know, that I give my heart away to other things. Sometimes, God, I wonder if even you can find my poor, dry, shriveled soul. I waste my energies on things that just don't matter, and I come to you empty-handed.

Forgive me, O Lord. As you commanded your people so long ago, help me to inscribe these words on my heart and to keep them close to me and those I love. Let me never again forget that I belong first, foremost, and always, all of me, to you alone.