40 Prayers of Lent 7 Prayers for the Sundays in Lent Write Your Own Prayers a Lenten Prayer Experience! Repent and Believe the G

40 Prayers of Lent

7 Prayers for the Sundays in Lent

Write Your Own Prayers

A Lenten Prayer Experience! Repent and Believe the Gospel! February 16 – April 4, 2021

February 16, 2021 – Fat Tuesday—Mardi Gras—Shrove Tuesday—Pancake Day!

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

Mardi Gras (French for Fat Tuesday), Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day, is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday which is the beginning of the 40 Day Season of Lent…Lent is a time of Giving Up Something, fasting, self-sacrifice that will have a spiritual significance in your life, bringing you closer to God and closer to the people of God…Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, Pancake Day, is the last day before the fast on which each household rids itself of the items to be fasted, often referred to as the last feast before the fast (often sugars, fat, eggs, as well as non-food items to be fasted) hence many folks have a festival meal of pancakes on Fat Tuesday as a symbolic final preparation for the Fasting and Discipline of the Lenten Season…Shrove Tuesday is another name given to Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Pancake Day, which brings to light the need for self-examination, confession, and repentance, and the taking on of spiritual practices that help us turn back to the ways of God…Indeed, Confess, Repent and Believe the Gospel…May our Fat Tuesday yield to the Holy Season of Lent, which guides us to the Foot of the Cross of Good Friday, which will carry us to the Empty Tomb and Resurrection of our best Easter, yet! What will you give up for Lent?! May you give up “Not Praying!” What will you take on for Lent?! May you take on “Praying!”

"Repent and believe in the gospel.” “God! Please hurry to my rescue! GOD, come quickly to my side! GOD, don’t lose a minute.” "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." “Let every living, breathing creature praise GOD! Hallelujah!” (Mark 1:15 NKJV; Psalm 70:1,5 MSG; Luke 18:13 NIV; Psalm 150:6 MSG)

Write your own prayer for Shrove Tuesday:

______

Let’s Play/Pray: Almighty God and Loving Father, God of Shrove Tuesday…thank you for this final day of preparation before the Season of Lent…forgive me, God, have mercy on me, a sinner…help me praise you with resounding Hallelujah…God of Shrove Tuesday, Loving Father and Almighty God, I Love You! Amen, Make It So, Love All Around, Hallelujah…

February 17, 2021 – (Ash Wednesday)

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

[Jesus proclaims] "Repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15 NKJV) Today is Ash Wednesday and begins our 40-day Season of Lent (not counting Sundays) …Our Lenten Journey is a pilgrimage of faith with fellow believers toward the Cross of Good Friday concluding on Waiting Saturday…Then with the dawn of Easter Sunday morning we will declare “Christ Is Risen! He Is Risen, Indeed!...

The Season of Lent invites you and me to be intentional about growing our relationship with God, furthering our commitment to loving and serving the people of God, and maturing in our faith…The Season of Lent invites you and me to self-discipline and self-sacrifice in matters of the spirit which will heighten our experience of Easter…

Lent invites us to “give up” something for 40 days (self-sacrifice) that will help us experience life and living abundantly (i.e. Give Up: Fear of Failure, Your Comfort Zone, Feelings of Unworthiness, Impatience, Retirement, People Pleasing, Comparison, Blame, Guilt, Over Commitment, Lack of Counsel, Impurity, Entitlement, Apathy, Hatred, Negativity, The Spirit of Poverty, Going Through the Motions, Complaint, The Pursuit of Happiness, Bitterness, Distraction, Giving up, Mediocrity, Destructive Speech, Busyness, Loneliness, The Quick Fix, Worry, Idolizing, Resistance to Change, Pride, Small View of God, Envy, Ungratefulness, Selfish Ambition, Self-Sufficiency, Sorrow, My Life…you get the idea)…

Lent invites us to “take on” something for 40 days (self-discipline) that will become part of our being as a child of God (i.e., Take On: Luxurious Prayer, daily…Leisurely Bible Reading, daily…Lovingly Worship, Personal Meditation Daily; The Gathered Community, Weekly…Lifetime Learning, Daily…Laughingly Play, Daily…Lavishly Serve, Daily…Liberally Give, Daily…again, you get the idea) …

Contemplate that if these self-disciplines and self-sacrifices can work for 40 days, what if they become part of who we are for a lifetime, and indeed we become like Jesus growing in wisdom and stature…However, if we try to do these things on our own, it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, but, with God’s help all things are possible, even our Lenten “Giving Up” and “Taking On”…

Today, may we choose wisely what we will “Give Up” and “Take On” and we will travel this Lenten Pilgrimage Path together, our long obedience in the same direction toward God, to the Cross of Good Friday and the Empty Tomb of Easter, and experience our best Easter yet!!! Consider giving up “Not Praying” and taking on “Praying!” Then immerse yourself in prayer and praying, guided by the prayers and scriptures that will follow on these days of/in Lent…Indeed, let us pray!

Let us Play/Pray: Almighty God and Loving Father, God of Ash Wednesday…thank you for reminding me of my mortality and my need for a savior…forgive me when I think I can “pull off” saving myself…help me submit to you in all my self-sacrifice and self-discipline…God of Ash Wednesday, Loving Father and Almighty God, I Love You! Amen, Make It So, Love All Around, Hallelujah…

February 17, 2021 – (Ash Wednesday) Prayer #1

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#1) UMH #268 – Lent:

“O God our deliverer, you led your people of old through the wilderness and brought them to the promised land. Guide now the people of your church, that, following our Savior, we may walk through the wilderness of this world toward the glory of the world to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #1: ______

February 18, 2021 – Prayer #2

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#2) The Lord’s Prayer:

“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #2: ______

February 19, 2021 – Prayer #3

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#3) John Wesley – UMH #607 A Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition (Modern):

“I am no longer my own, but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you, exalted for you, or brought low for you; let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have nothing: I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal. And now, glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are mine and I am yours. So be it. And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #3: ______

February 20, 2021 – Prayer #4

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#4) Lift Every Voice and Sing – UMH #519:

“Lift Every Voice and Sing, till earth and Heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of liberty; Let our rejoicing rise, high as the listening skies, let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, let us march on till victory is won.

Stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod, felt in the days when hope unborn had died; Yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet, come to the place for which our fathers sighed? We have come over a way that with tears has been watered, we have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered; Out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, Thou Who hast brought us thus far on the way; Thou Who hast by Thy might, led us into the light, keep us forever in the path, we pray. Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee. Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee. Shadowed beneath Thy hand, may we forever stand, True to our God, true to our native land.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #4: ______

February 21, 2021 – (1st Sunday in Lent, Prayer)

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

King David – Psalm 51:1-17 New King James Version A Prayer of Repentance:

“Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, you only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight—That You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise. For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, you will not despise.”

Write your own prayer for the 1st Sunday in Lent: ______

February 22, 2021 – Prayer #5

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#5) Nelson Mandela:

“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #5: ______February 23, 2021 – Prayer #6

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#6) Richard Rohr:

“Authentic spirituality is always about changing you. It’s not about trying to change anyone else.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #6: ______

February 24, 2021 – Prayer #7

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#7) BOW #530 – A Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas:

Give us, O Lord, steadfast hearts, which no unworthy thought can drag downward, unconquered hearts, which no tribulation can wear out, upright hearts, which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside. Bestow upon us also, O Lord our God, understanding to know you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #7: ______February 25, 2021 – Prayer #8

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#8) Robert Frost:

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both / And be one traveler, long I stood / And looked down one as far as I could / To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair, / And having perhaps the better claim, / Because it was grassy and wanted wear; / Though as for that the passing there / Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay / In leaves no step had trodden black. / Oh, I kept the first for another day! / Yet knowing how way leads on to way, / I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence: / Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #8: ______

February 26, 2021 – Prayer #9

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#9) St. Francis of Assisi – UMH #481:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. "Repent and believe in the gospel.” “God! Please hurry to my rescue! GOD, come quickly to my side! GOD, don’t lose a minute.” "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." “Let every living, breathing creature praise GOD! Hallelujah!” (Mark 1:15 NKJV; Psalm 70:1,5 MSG; Luke 18:13 NIV; Psalm 150:6 MSG)

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #9: ______

February 27, 2021 – Prayer #10

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#10) Philip Yancey, “Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?”:

“I know Christians who yearn for God's older style of a power-worker who topples pharaohs, flattens Jericho's walls, and scorches the priests of Baal. I do not. I believe the kingdom now advances through grace and freedom, God's goal all along. I accept Jesus' assurance that his departure from earth represents progress, by opening a door for the Counselor to enter. We know how counselors work: not by giving orders and imposing changes through external force. A good counselor works on the inside, bringing to the surface dormant health. For a relationship between such unequal partners, prayer provides an ideal medium.

Prayer is cooperation with God, a consent that opens the way for grace to work. Most of the time the Counselor communicates subtly: feeding ideas into my mind, bringing to awareness a caustic comment I just made, inspiring me to choose better than I would have done otherwise, shedding light on the hidden dangers of temptation, sensitizing me to another's needs. God's Spirit whispers rather than shouts and brings peace not turmoil. Although such a partnership with God may lack the drama of the bargaining sessions with Abraham and Moses, the advance in intimacy is striking. . . The partnership binds so tight that it becomes hard to distinguish who is doing what, God or the human partner. God has come that close.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #10: ______February 28, 2021 – (2nd Sunday in Lent, Prayer)

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

2 Corinthians 12:7-9 New Revised Standard Version:

“Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.””

Write your own prayer for the 2nd Sunday in Lent: ______

March 1, 2021 – Prayer #11

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#11) Desmon Tutu, adapted from an original prayer by Sir Francis Drake:

“Disturb us, O Lord when we are too well-pleased with ourselves when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little, because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, O Lord when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the water of life when, having fallen in love with time, we have ceased to dream of eternity and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of Heaven to grow dim.

Stir us, O Lord to dare more boldly, to venture into wider seas where storms show Thy mastery, where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. In the name of Him who pushed back the horizons of our hopes and invited the brave to follow. Amen”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #11: ______

March 2, 2021 – Prayer #12

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#12) Martin Luther:

Behold, Lord, an empty vessel that needs to be filled. My Lord fill it. I am weak in faith; Strengthen thou me. I am cold in love; Warm me and make me fervent That my love may go out to my neighbor. I do not have a strong and firm faith; At times I doubt and am unable to trust thee altogether. O Lord help me. Strengthen my faith and trust in thee. In thee I have sealed the treasures of all I have. I am poor; Thou art rich and didst come to be merciful to the poor. I am a sinner; Thou art upright. With me there is an abundance of sin; In thee is the fullness of righteousness. Therefore, I will remain with thee of who I can receive but to whom I may not give. Amen.

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #12: ______

March 3, 2021 – Prayer #13

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#13) BOW #529 – A Prayer of St. Patrick:

“Christ be with us, Christ before us, Christ behind us, Christ in us, Christ beneath us, Christ above us, Christ on our right, Christ on our left, Christ where we lie, Christ where we sit, Christ where we arise, Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of us, Christ in every eye that sees us, Christ in every ear that hears us. Salvation is of the Lord, Salvation is of the Christ, may your salvation, O Lord, be ever with us.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #13: ______

March 4, 2021 – Prayer #14

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#14) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

I heard the bells on Christmas Day / Their old, familiar carols play, / And wild and sweet The words repeat / Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come, / The belfries of all Christendom / Had rolled along / The unbroken song / Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way, / The world revolved from night today, / A voice, a chime, / A chant sublime / Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth / The cannon thundered in the South, / And with the sound / The carols drowned / Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent / The hearthstone of a continent, / And made forlorn / The households born / Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head; / “There is no peace on earth,” I said; / “For hate is strong, / And mocks the song / Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

Then pealed the bells louder and deeper: / “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; / The Wrong shall fail, / The Right prevail, / With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #14: ______

March 5, 2021 – Prayer #15

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#15) UMH #466 – “An Invitation to Christ” by Dimitri of Rostov, Russia:

“Come, my Light, and illumine my darkness. Come, my Life, and revive me from death. Come, my Physician, and heal my wounds. Come, flame of divine love, and burn up the thorns of my sins, kindling my heart with the flame of thy love. Come, my King, sit upon the throne of my heart and reign there. For thou alone art my King and my Lord. Amen.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #15: ______

March 6, 2021 – Prayer #16

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#16) “Do It Again, Lord”! by Max Lucado (Prayer after the terrorist attack of 9/11):

“We’re still hoping we’ll wake up. We’re still hoping we’ll open a sleepy eye and think, “What a horrible dream.”

But we won’t, will we, Father? What we saw was not a dream. Planes did gouge towers. Flames did consume our fortress. People did perish. It was no dream and, dear Father, we are sad.

There is a ballet dancer who will no longer dance and a doctor who will no longer heal. A church has lost her priest, a classroom is minus a teacher. Cora ran a food pantry. Paige was a counselor and Dana, dearest Father, Dana was only three years old. (Who held her in those final moments?)

We are sad, Father. For as the innocent are buried, our innocence is buried as well. We thought we were safe. Perhaps we should have known better. But we didn’t.

And so we come to you. We don’t ask you for help; we beg you for it. We don’t request it; we implore it. We know what you can do. We’ve read the accounts. We’ve pondered the stories and now we plead, “Do it again, Lord. Do it again.”

Remember Joseph? You rescued him from the pit. You can do the same for us. Do it again, Lord.

Remember the Hebrews in Egypt? You protected their children from the angel of death. We have children too, Lord. Do it again.

And Sarah? Remember her prayers? You heard them. Joshua? Remember his fears? You inspired him. The women at the tomb? You resurrected their hope. The doubts of Thomas? You took them away. Do it again, Lord. Do it again.

You changed Daniel from a captive into a king’s counselor. You took Peter the fisherman and made him Peter an apostle. Because of you, David went from leading sheep to leading armies. Do it again, Lord, for we need counselors today, Lord. We need apostles. We need leaders. Do it again, dear Lord.

Most of all, do again what you did at Calvary. What we saw here last Tuesday, you saw there that Friday. Innocence slaughtered. Goodness murdered. Mothers weeping. Evil dancing. Just as the smoke eclipsed our morning, so the darkness fell on your Son. Just as our towers were shattered, the very Tower of Eternity was pierced.

And by dusk, heaven’s sweetest song was silent, buried behind a rock. But you did not waver, O Lord. You did not waver. After three days in a dark hole, you rolled the rock and rumbled the earth and turned the darkest Friday into the brightest Sunday. Do it again, Lord. Grant us a September Easter.

We thank you, dear Father, for these hours of unity. Christians are praying with Jews. Republicans are standing with Democrats. Skin colors have been covered by the ash of burning buildings. We thank you for these hours of unity.

And we thank you for these hours of prayer. The Enemy sought to bring us to our knees and succeeded. He had no idea, however, that we would kneel before you. And he has no idea what you can do.

Let your mercy be upon our President, Vice President, and their families. Grant to those who lead us wisdom beyond their years and experience. Have mercy upon the souls who have departed and the wounded who remain. Give us grace that we might forgive and faith that we might believe.

And look kindly upon your church. For two thousand years you’ve used her to heal a hurting world.

Do it again, Lord. Do it again. Through Christ, Amen.

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #16: ______

March 7, 2021 – (3rd Sunday in Lent, Prayer)

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

2 Chronicles 7:14 New Revised Standard Version:

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #16: ______

March 8, 2021 – Prayer #17

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#17) Martin Luther King, Jr.:

“Thou Eternal God, out of whose absolute power and infinite intelligence the whole universe has come into being, we humbly confess that we have not loved thee with our hearts, souls and minds, and we have not loved our neighbors as Christ loved us. We have all too often lived by our own selfish impulses rather than by the life of sacrificial love as revealed by Christ. We often give in order to receive. We love our friends and hate our enemies. We go the first mile but dare not travel the second. We forgive but dare not forget. And so as we look within ourselves, we are confronted with the appalling fact that the history of our lives is the history of an eternal revolt against you. But thou, O God, have mercy upon us. Forgive us for what we could have been but failed to be. Give us the intelligence to know your will. Give us the courage to do your will. Give us the devotion to love your will. In the name and spirit of Jesus, we pray. Amen.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #17: ______

March 9, 2021 – Prayer #18

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#18) Walter Brueggeman:

“The prophetic tasks of the church are to tell the truth in a society that lives in illusion, grieve in a society that practices denial, and express hope in a society that lives in despair.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #18: ______

March 10, 2021 – Prayer #19

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#19) BOW #565 – (TRADITIONAL GAELIC PRAYER):

“May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, may the sunshine warm upon your face, may the rains fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand. Amen.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #19: ______

March 11, 2021 – Prayer #20

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#20) Maya Angelo:

“Father, Mother, God, Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days. For then we have you to lean upon. Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days, for then we can share that which we have with those who have less. And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days, for then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends. For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak. For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness. For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing. For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company. For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope. Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most—Peace.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #20: ______

March 12, 2021 – Prayer #21

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#21) UMH #489 – For God’s Gifts – Howard Thurman:

“O Holy God, open unto me light for my darkness, courage for my fear, hope for my despair. O loving God, open unto me wisdom for my confusion, forgiveness for my sins, love for my hate. O God of peace, open unto me peace for my turmoil, joy for my sorrow, strength for my weakness. O generous God open my heart to receive all your gifts. Amen.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #21: ______

March 13, 2021 – Prayer #22

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#22) Garrison Keillor – A Parent’s Prayer Original Publish Date: June 29, 2010:

A perfect shiny summer day and a crowd of jittery children in clusters on the corner, about to board a yellow bus, their backpacks in a pile, their mothers giving urgent last-minute reassurances, and I stop and stare at this Large Life Event. Kids from nice homes being abandoned by their mothers in broad daylight and sent off to summer camp and God Knows What. The sweet fragility of the kids, especially the gawky boy with glasses. And the elaborate cool of the college kids in charge. The vast love of the mothers, who are on the verge of tears, watching their pups board the bus. (Do the brakes work? Who is the driver? Is he licensed? Sober? Might he be carrying a pistol? Are the wheels securely fastened to the hubs? Two days from now, will I think back to this moment and wonder, why didn’t I go around and check the lug nuts?)

There is more drama on this corner than on the silver screen, and I see it from three angles at once: I am the geek (when I was 12, I imagined the word was meant for me personally since my initials are G.E.K.), and I was at one time the cool camp counselor with the shades and the enigmatic smile, and now I am a parent and quite familiar with trauma.

Three protagonists in the play and I am each one of them. In my geek years, I was a solemn boy with pipestem arms, wire-rim glasses and a homemade haircut, and attended summer Bible camp where we learned about the total depravity of man and then came home and picked potatoes at a nearby truck farm. I assumed I’d grow up and live alone in a tiny room over the bus depot and earn my living by walking around with a sandwich board (EAT AT THE BANDBOX CAFE).

Instead, I went to college, became a cool counselor, and once took 18 young boys in canoes across Lake Vermilion in northern Minnesota in a major thunderstorm, along with another counselor who had smoked dope that morning and basically cut his ties to earth and lay in his canoe singing “A Whiter Shade of Pale” as lightning tore the sky and we plowed across a mile of whitecaps. I yelled at the boys to steer into the storm and keep paddling no matter what. We made it to shore and pitched four tents in a downpour, and then the boy who had been constipated all week because he could not bring himself to drop his drawers and grab hold of a tree and squat, went tearing into the woods and crapped, and then was too embarrassed to come back for paper, and wiped himself with leaves, and chose the wrong ones. Of all the leaves that God provided in the forest, these were the exact ones God did not intend us to use for that purpose. And of course, it was the fat kid. I made him come down to the lake and wash his butt with a special soap and anoint himself with lotion. His crack was neon red. He tried to be brave, but he desperately needed his mother, and I was not her. I woke up that night to hear him weeping.

I can still hear him and the trees dripping and Roger sitting by the fire exploring the frontiers of consciousness, though years have passed, and I have a 12-year-old daughter, who can go through exaltation, hilarity, despair, all in the space of a minute, and when I send her off to school in the morning, I say, “Lord, have mercy. God, have mercy.” Over and over. It is a parent’s prayer.

And here they are, on one street corner, the three great strands of life — Defenselessness, Cluelessness and Helplessness — and now the innocent children are on the bus, it swings out into traffic: Oh God, no seat belts!! Have mercy.

Some people believe that God has revealed Himself to us and not to the others, the barbarians, and it is His Will that our tribe vanquish the others and rain death and destruction on them. Others believe that our understanding of God is incomplete but that He has bestowed this beautiful world on us, and other gifts, which should be shared, and we should walk softly and praise His Name. I walk softly to the cafe and order a large mocha and pray for the forgiveness of incompetence and for mercy to children. And thanks for the day, which happens to be perfect.

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #22: ______

March 14, 2021 – (4th Sunday in Lent, Prayer)

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

Micah 6:8 New Revised Standard Version:

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8 The Message:

“But he has already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and don’t take yourself too seriously—take God seriously.”

Write your own prayer for the 4th Sunday in Lent: ______

March 15, 2021 – Prayer #23

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#23) Thomas Merton:

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I Think I am following your will does not mean that I am doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.” [Amen.]

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #23: ______

March 16, 2021 – Prayer #24

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#24) Timothy Keller, (“The Songs of Jesus,” page 96):

“Lord, I feel so vulnerable – to disease and injury, to financial loss, to political betrayal, to professional failure. But in [Psalm 46] you say that even earthquakes and mountains melting can’t take away my inheritance of infinite love, resurrection, new heavens, and new earth. As I praise you for this, my anxiety ebbs. Thank you. Amen.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #24: ______

March 17, 2021 – Prayer #25

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#25) BOW # 504 – (WALTER RAUSCHENBUSCH, U.S.A., 20TH CENT., ALT.):

“O God of all times and places, we pray for your Church, which is set today amid the perplexities of a changing order, and face to face with new tasks. Baptize her afresh in the life–giving spirit of Jesus. Bestow upon her a great responsiveness to duty, a swifter compassion with suffering, and an utter loyalty to your will. Help her to proclaim boldly the coming of your kingdom. Put upon her lips the ancient gospel of her Lord. Fill her with the prophets' scorn of tyranny, and with a Christlike tenderness for the heavy-laden and downtrodden. Bid her cease from seeking her own life, lest she lose it. Make her valiant to give up her life to humanity, that, like her crucified Lord, she may mount by the path of the cross to a higher glory; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #25: ______

March 18, 2021 – Prayer #26

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#26) Charles Wesley:

“A charge to keep I have, A God to glorify, A never-dying soul to save, and fit it for the sky. To serve the present age, my calling to fulfill; Oh, may it all my powers engage To do my Master's will! Arm me with jealous care As in Thy sight to live, and now Thy servant, Lord, prepare A strict account to give! Help me to watch and pray, and still on Thee rely, Oh, let me not my trust betray, but press to realms on high.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #26: ______

March 19, 2021 – Prayer #27

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

“(#27) UMH #456 – For Courage to Do Justice:

“O Lord open my eyes that I may see the needs of others; open my ears that I may hear their cries; open my heart so that they need not be without succor [comfort, relief, help]; let me not be afraid to defend the weak because of the anger of the strong, nor afraid to defend the poor because of the anger of the rich. Show me where love and hope and faith are needed and use me to bring them to those places. And so, open my eyes and my ears that I may this coming day be able to do some work of peace for thee. Amen.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #27: ______

March 20, 2021 – Prayer #28

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#28) Amanda Gorman – Inauguration Poem Transcript, ‘The Hill We Climb’:

Americans and the world, when day comes, we ask ourselves where can we find light in this never- ending shade? The loss we carry asea we must wade. We have braved the belly of the beast. We have learned that quiet isn’t always peace. In the norms and notions of what just it isn’t always justice. And yet, the dawn is ours before we knew it. Somehow, we do it. Somehow, we have weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken, but simply unfinished. We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president only to find herself reciting for one.

And yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that does not mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect. We are striving to forge our union with purpose. To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters, and conditions of man. And so, we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us. We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside. We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another. We seek harm to none and harmony for all. Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true. That even as we grieved, we grew. That even as we hurt, we hoped. That even as we tired, we tried that will forever be tied together victorious. Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division.

Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree and no one shall make them afraid. If we are to live up to her own time, then victory will not lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we’ve made. That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb if only we dare. It is because being American is more than a pride we inherit. It is the past we step into and how we repair it. We have seen a forest that would shatter our nation rather than share it. Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy. This effort very nearly succeeded.

But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated. In this truth, in this faith we trust for while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us. This is the era of just redemption. We feared it at its inception. We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour, but within it, we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves so while once we asked, how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe? Now we assert, how could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

We will not march back to what was but move to what shall be a country that is bruised, but whole, benevolent, but bold, fierce, and free. We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation. Our blunders become their burdens. But one thing is certain, if we merge mercy with might and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change our children’s birthright.

So, let us leave behind a country better than one we were left with. Every breath from my bronze- pounded chest we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one. We will rise from the gold- limbed hills of the West. We will rise from the wind-swept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution. We will rise from the Lake Rim cities of the Midwestern states. We will rise from the sunbaked South. We will rebuild, reconcile and recover in every known nook of our nation, in every corner called our country our people diverse and beautiful will emerge battered and beautiful. When day comes, we step out of the shade aflame and unafraid. The new dawn blooms as we free it. For there is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it. [Amen.]

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #28: ______

March 21, 2021 – (5th Sunday in Lent, Prayer)

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time! Matthew 11:28-30 The Message:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you will recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #28: ______

March 22, 2021 – Prayer #29

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#29) BOW #562 – (TRADITIONAL NAVAHO PRAYER):

“Before us it is blessed, behind us it is blessed, below us it is blessed, above us it is blessed, around us it is blessed as we set out with Christ. Our speech is blessed as we set out for God. With beauty before us, with beauty behind us, with beauty below us, with beauty above us, with beauty around us, we set out for a holy place indeed. Amen.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #29: ______

March 23, 2021 – Prayer #30

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#30) Len Sweet (The Well-Played Life, page197):

“The Godplay life is one of simplicity of will (“Thy face, Lord, will I seek.”); simplicity of desire (“Delight yourself in the Lord; and he will give you the desires of your heart.”); simplicity of heart (“One thing remains: love.”); simplicity of mind (“Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.”); simplicity of joy (“The joy of the Lord is your strength.”); simplicity of devotion (“Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”); and simplicity of action (“Do all to the glory of God”.)”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #30: ______

March 24, 2021 – Prayer #31

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#31) BOW # 567 – (JOHN HUNTER, SCOTLAND, 19TH CENT.):

“Grant, O Lord, that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts, and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #31: ______

March 25, 2021 – Prayer #32 Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#32) Eugene Peterson (As Kingfishers Catch Fire, page 71-72):

(Charity is the granddaughter of Brenda and Charity has just experienced a visit from her other grandmother a devotedly Christian grandmother who takes her grandmotherly responsibilities of faith very seriously…this is a conversation between Charity and Brenda upon Brenda’s arrival for a visit.)

“The morning after Brenda’s arrival, Charity came into her bedroom at 5:00 A.M., crawled into bed with her, cuddled up, and said, “Grandmother, let’s not have any God-talk while you’re here, okay? I believe that God is everywhere. Let’s just get on with life.”

“I [Eugene Peterson] like Charity. I like her very much, and I think she is onto something. What she is onto is that life is at the center of what we are all about as Christians. And what she is also onto is that life leaks out of what we say when we use language impersonally, when we fail to be in relationship with the person with whom we are talking. It is especially noticeable when we are using words like God, Jesus, prayer, believe. We are left with nothing but god-talk – talk about God but with all the God left out.”

“This salvation life, this Christian life, is a life to be lived, not just talked or written about. If the life leaks out of our words, if the Holy Spirit is no longer praying in and through us as we speak, we will most certainly offend or betray Charity and her many long-suffering friends with the dreaded god- talk. Charity missed something in her first grandmother’s conversation that she was hoping her second grandmother would supply: “Let’s just get on with life!””

“Charity was asking for a relationship with her grandmother in which God is not depersonalized into god-talk but is a personal presence alive in their dailiness, a dailiness in which God and life are organically one in both speech and action!” [Amen.]

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #32: ______

March 26, 2021 – Prayer #33

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#33) UMH #669 – The Apostolic Blessing:

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all (all y’all). Amen.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #33: ______

March 27, 2021 – Prayer #34

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#34) J. Ellsworth Kalas:

“I love growing older. But I do not want to grow old. Growing older is a process. Growing old is a conclusion. Growing older means that you are going somewhere, and that in God’s kindness and in your cooperating with God you are taking more of life’s conquests every day. Growing old means that you have reached somewhere and that’s it. Older is a journey. Old is a destination. Mind you, I believe in a destination, but my idea of a destination for life is heaven. I want everything prior to heaven to be part of my preparation for that destination. If I settle for old as my destination, I will rob myself of some of the best years of preparation for the big exit, the grand eternal journey.” ― J. Ellsworth Kalas, “I Love Growing Older, But I’ll Never Grow Old!”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #34: ______

March 28, 2021 – (6th Sunday in Lent, Prayer) – Palm/Passion Sunday

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

Proverbs 31:8-9 The Message: “Speak up for the people who have no voice, for the rights of all the misfits. Speak out for justice! Stand up for the poor and destitute!”

Proverbs 31:8-9 New Revised Standard Version: Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Proverbs 31:8-9 New Living Translation: Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.

BOW #340 – (Palm Sunday)

“Almighty God, on this day your Son Jesus Christ entered the holy city of Jerusalem and was proclaimed King by those who spread their garments and palm branches along his way. Let those branches be for us signs of his victory and grant that we who bear them in his name may ever hail him as our Lord and follow him in the way that leads to eternal life. In his name we pray. Amen.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #28: ______

March 29, 2021 – Prayer #35 – (Holy Monday)

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#35) Harold Kushner:

“Do things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #35: ______

March 30, 2021 – Prayer #36 – (Holy Tuesday)

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#36) UMH #639 – Bread and Justice:

“O God, just as the disciples heard Christ’s words of promise and began to eat the bread and drink the wine in the suffering of a long remembrance and in the joy of a hope, grant that we may hear your words, spoken in each thing of everyday affairs: Coffee, on our table in the morning; the simple gesture of opening a door to go out, free; the shouts of children in the parks; a familiar song, sung by an unfamiliar face; a friendly tree that has not yet been cut down.

May simple things speak to us of your mercy and tell us that life can be good. And may these sacramental gifts make us remember those who do not receive them: who have their lives cut every day, in bread absent from the table; in the door of the hospital, the prison, the welfare home that does not open; n sad children, feet without shoes, eyes without hope; in war hymns that glorify death; in deserts where once there was life.

Christ was also sacrificed; and may we learn that we participate in the saving sacrifice of Christ when we participate in the suffering of his little ones. Amen.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #36: ______

March 31, 2021 – Prayer #37 – (Spy Wednesday)

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#37) BOW #560 – (NUMBERS 6:24–26):

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. Amen.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #37: ______

April 1, 2021 – Prayer #38 – (Maundy Thursday)

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#38) UMH #570 – Prayer of Ignatius of Loyola:

“Teach us, good Lord, to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labor and not to ask for any reward, except that of knowing that we do your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #38: ______

April 2, 2021 – Prayer #39 – Good Friday

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#39) UMH #446 – Serving the Poor – Mother Teresa:

“Make us worthy, Lord, to serve those throughout the world who live and die in poverty or hunger. Give then, through our hands, this day their daily bread; and by our understanding love, give peace and joy. Amen.”

(#39) – BOW #362) - (Good Friday):

“Almighty God, your Son Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross so that he might draw the whole world to himself. Grant that we, who glory in this death for our salvation, may also glory in his call to take up our cross and follow him; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #39: ______

April 3, 2021 – Prayer #40 – (Waiting Saturday)

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time!

(#40) Anne Lamott – “'Help me, help me, help me' and 'Thank you, thank you, thank you’.”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #40: ______

April 4, 2021 – Easter Sunday

Sanctification: Growing with God One Step and Prayer at a Time! Christ Is Risen! He Is Risen Indeed!!

UMH #321:

“Almighty God, you give us the joy of celebrating our Lord’s resurrection. Give us also the joys of life in your service, and bring us at last to the full joy of life eternal, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

UMH #302 – (“Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” – words by: Charles Wesley)

“Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia! Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia! Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!

Love's redeeming work is done, Alleluia! Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia! Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia! Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia! Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia! Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia! Where's thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia! Following our exalted Head, Alleluia! Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia! Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia! Praise to thee by both be given, Alleluia! Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia! Hail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

King of glory, soul of bliss, Alleluia! Everlasting life is this, Alleluia! Thee to know, thy power to prove, Alleluia! Thus, to sing, and thus to love, Alleluia!”

Write your own prayer for Lent Day #40: ______

Glossary Sacred Words, Terms and Expressions of Lent/Easter/Pentecost

Fat Tuesday – The Tuesday before Ash Wednesday on which each household rids itself of the items to fast during the discipline and self-sacrifice of the Season of Lent (see Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day) …

Mardi Gras – French for Fat Tuesday – The Tuesday before Ash Wednesday celebrating the last feast before the fasting and discipline of the Season of Lent (see Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day) …

Pancake Day – Tuesday before Ash Wednesday celebrated with a symbolic festival meal of pancakes as final preparation for the Fasting and Discipline of the Lenten Season (see Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday) …

Shrove Tuesday – Tuesday before Ash Wednesday which brings to light the need for self- examination, confession, and repentance, and the taking on of spiritual practices that help us turn back to the ways of God (see Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, Pancake Day) …

Alleluia – Praise the Lord… Almighty God – God Omnipotent; God Omnipresent; God Omniscient… Amen – So be it; make it so; yes, indeed; I agree… Ash Wednesday – The first day of the 40-day Season of Lent – often celebrated and commemorated by the practice during worship of having ashes placed on the forehead of believers in the shape of the cross; the ashes represent grief, death, repentance; the ashes used are often from burning the palms from the previous Palm Sunday…Repent and Believe the Gospel!

Calvary – Where Jesus was Crucified just outside the walls of Jerusalem (Biblical Greek)

Christ – The Anointed One (Greek rendition of Messiah) … Confess – to come clean before God; to state to God your shortcomings and trespasses, and your desire to turn back toward God with a changed behavior and a new and clean heart; to admit you are wrong; to say, “I’m sorry, please forgive me!” … Conversion – Changing from life without God to life with God through Jesus; Converted from separated with God to a relationship with God by the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus; converted from sinner to safe and saved by believing Jesus is the Master Converter; converted from sinner to saint by the Blood of Jesus…

Crucifixion – A method of capital punishment in which the victim was tied or nailed to a large wooden beam, a cross, and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation…

Crucifixion of Jesus – On Good Friday, following mock trials, humiliation, and a mob demanding crucifixion, Jesus carries his cross to Calvary (Golgotha) (Skull) and there is nailed to the Cross and left to die…Jesus sacrificially suffers Crucifixion instead of you and me…

Deliverer – Jesus delivers us from evil to righteousness; Jesus guides us toward God; God/Jesus leads us along paths of righteousness for his name’s sake…

Easter – The celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead; the Tomb is Empty; Christ is Victorious over sin and death; Jesus Christ is alive; Christ Jesus lives and reigns with God; Salvation is secured for all believers…Christ Is Risen! He Is Risen, Indeed!

Fasting – abstaining from something – food, activity, thought – to deny satisfaction of a physical need or desire; to devote time to prayer, service, reflection and spiritual wellbeing…

Faith – Believing and trusting that God loves me by grace through Jesus who forgives my sin, frees me from the guilt of my sin, restores me to the joy of God’s salvation which gives me strength and hope for daily living… Garden of Gethsemane – A garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem where Jesus went with his disciples after the Last Supper in the Upper Room…Jesus has Peter, James and John stationed as prayer partners as he agonized in prayer before God…In the Garden Jesus is arrested setting in motion the final hours of Jesus’ life…

God – The “Great I Am”; creator of all things; source of our self-worth; Father of Jesus; our Heavenly Father… God the Father – Father of Jesus; also, our Heavenly Father… God the Son – Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the world… God the Holy Spirit – The presence of God that lives in our hearts, and guides and sustains us in daily living… Golgotha – Where Jesus was crucified just outside the walls of Jerusalem (Aramaic)…

Grace – Getting what we do not deserve; The free gift of God in Jesus Christ; a gift we don’t deserve, can’t buy, can never earn; Jesus, the grace of God, redeems our sinfulness, frees us from the guilt of our sin, and restores us to the Joy of God’s Salvation… Grace (Prevenient) – The grace of God that goes before all other things … Grace (Justifying) – Coming to that moment when we realize we cannot save ourselves and we need a savior, and we ask Jesus into our hearts to save and redeem us… Grace (Sanctify) – Daily growing closer to God…

Hallelujah – Praise the Lord… Hallowed – Holy; revered; sacred; sanctified… Herod Antipas – Ruler over Galilee during the time of Jesus ministry and Crucifixion and death…since Jesus was from Galilee, Pontius Pilate tried to ‘pass-the-buck’ of sentencing Jesus to Herod Antipas, but Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate for his final destiny and sentencing…

Hope – believing, expecting, anticipating God to dispense his will upon our daily living…

Hosanna – "Hosanna" was the shout of praise or adoration made in recognition of the Messiahship of Jesus on his triumphal entry into Jerusalem: "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord...save; rescue; savior; save us; save me; save now…

Jesus – (to save); Savior; Deliverer; The Son of God; The Son of Man… Justice – Getting what we deserve… King – In the Kingdom of God, Christ is King; Christ is King of kings in all of creation… Kingdom of God – all things God; all things of God; all things with God; all things in God…God’s will in all things… Laud – to praise; to worship; to affirm… Lent:

Season of Lent – Beginning Ash Wednesday, a 40-day season not including Sundays concluding on the Saturday before Easter Sunday…The Lenten Season invites spiritual pilgrims to practices of self- sacrifice (give up something) and self-discipline (take-on something) along these 40 days to enhance their spiritual wellbeing…A time of reflecting upon what God has done through Jesus for our spiritual wellbeing…A time of spiritual preparation for the celebration of the Empty Tomb of Easter Resurrection!

40-Days of Lent – The 40-Days of Lent remind us of the 40-Years of Wilderness Wanderings after the exodus from Egypt, and the 40-Days of Wilderness Temptation-Testing experienced by Jesus as he fasted and prepared for public ministry after his Baptism…

Sundays in Lent – Sundays are not counted in the 40-day Season of Lent; each Sunday is a celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus; a mini-Easter…

Holy Week – The week before Easter; The days from Palm Sunday through Waiting Saturday that witness to us of Jesus’ final week of ministry leading to his Crucifixion and death on Good Friday…

Passion Week – The week before Easter; Depicts the final week of Jesus encompassing his strong emotions and heartfelt sufferings – Palm Sunday through Waiting Saturday… Palm Sunday – The Sunday before Easter Sunday; Jesus Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey with his followers and children waving palm branches and laying down garments as they proclaimed “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna!”

Holy Monday – Jesus cleanses the Temple…

Holy Tuesday – Jesus finds the fig tree withered…

Spy Wednesday – Judas finalizes the details of Jesus betrayal…

Last Supper – The last Passover Meal that Jesus Celebrated in The Upper Room with his Disciples where he gave us the sacrament of Holy Communion (Bread and Cup) …

Upper Room – Place where Jesus and his Disciples shared the Passover Meal on the night of Jesus’ betrayal…

Maundy Thursday – The Thursday before Easter; Jesus and his disciples celebrate the Passover in the Upper Room; Jesus washes the disciples’ feet; Jesus commands us to love one another; Jesus gives us the Sacrament of Holy Communion; Judas departs to betray Jesus; Jesus and the disciples go to the Garden of Gethsemane; Jesus arrested by the Sanhedrin; Peter denies Jesus in the courtyard of the High Priest…

Good Friday – The Friday before Easter; The trials of Jesus; Jesus is scourged; the city mobs cry crucify Jesus; Jesus is mocked and humiliated; Jesus carries his cross to Golgotha and is crucified at 9:00 A.M. and left to die; from the cross Jesus prays his final seven words; darkness from noon to 3:00 P.M.; Jesus takes his final breath and dies; Jesus is buried by sundown; All are invited to spend time at the Cross and share in the suffering of Jesus so that our experience of Easter will be richer, fuller and deeper…

Waiting Saturday – The Saturday before Easter; The Tomb is sealed and guarded by Roman soldiers; everyone waits…

Light – Jesus is the light of the world, the light that shines in all dark places and the darkness cannot put the light of Jesus out…Jesus brings us this light for us to receive… Life – Jesus is life, abundant life, eternal life; Jesus brings us this life for us to receive… Lord – Ruler; Christ Jesus is the Lord (Ruler) of our lives; the world; all of creation… Love – God is love; God loves you and me just because he is God and there is nothing we can do to make God love us anymore nor any less…the act of care and compassion, love, mercy and grace, forgiveness and hope, all the gifts of God that money can’t buy…For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whosever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life; God did not send the son into the world to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him… Mercy – Not getting what we deserve… Mocking of Jesus – the soldiers, after Jesus’ scourging, placed a crown of thorns on Jesus’ head, dressed him in a purple robe and taunted him with chants of hail king of the Jews; they spat upon him; they further humiliated Jesus… Messiah – The Anointed One (Hebrew) (Official title given to Jesus) … Omnipotent – God All Powerful… Omnipresent – God Ever Present; God present everywhere… Omniscient – God All Knowing… Peace – All the good gifts of God that money cannot buy…living in harmony and balance with ease and flow…living cooperatively and in unity with your neighbors and the whosoever… Penance – The outward expression of heartfelt repentance; confession and turning away from sin and returning to God, and to make amends for wrongdoing as a response for Christ taking the punishment for our sins…

Pentecost – 50 days after Easter – The Birthday of the Church – The Gift of the Holy Spirit – The Disciples and followers of Jesus gathered in Jerusalem were anointed by the sound of wind and the touching of flame upon their souls empowering them (and us) to proclaim the mighty acts of God, and perform works for the Kingdom of God just as Jesus did…

Pontius Pilate – Governor of the Roman province of Judea, Pilate presided over the trial of Jesus and ordered Jesus’ crucifixion…

Praise – Adoration, Acclaim, Laud, Devotion, Love, Reverence, Blessing of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit… Prayer – communication both conversational speaking and listening, with God… Redeemer – Jesus, who redeems us from Hell and our sin which separates us from God; redeems us to a restored relationship with God, a right relationship with our Heavenly Father… Repent – turn back to God…to tell God you’re sorry for trying to save yourself and you’ll step aside and let the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus save you…to receive God’s Grace… Repentance – Confessing your sin, turning away from your sin and returning to God…an act of contrition, remorse, regret that exemplifies a change in behavior away from things that separate you from God and bring you closer to God...repentance with God not only brings you closer to God but helps reconcile you with your neighbor and the whosoever…

Resurrection of Jesus – God raises Jesus from the dead on the third day following his Crucifixion – by Resurrection, Jesus is alive and lives and reigns with God in Heaven – by Resurrection, Jesus is victorious over sin and death which means you and I apprenticed with Jesus are also victorious over sin and death – Christ is Risen, He Is Risen, Indeed!

Righteousness – Righteousness is of God; Righteousness is perfect love and obedience; God is right All the time; God is always right; Jesus is God’s Righteousness; Jesus and God model the ultimate example of a right relationship…by apprenticing with Jesus we are heirs and provocateurs of righteousness…being in relationship with God… Risen – Jesus is raised from the dead, Resurrected, and lives and reigns with God for all eternity…Christ is risen! He is Risen, Indeed!

Salvation – saved from sin and separation from God to forgiveness of sin and relationship with God by the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus…

Sanhedrin – a council of Jewish elders, usually 23; Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin for trial prior to being sent before Pontius Pilate; the Sanhedrin listened to false accusations and then took Jesus before Pilate with the ultimate assertion that Jesus claimed to be the King of the Jews…

Saved – By his Life, Death and Resurrection Jesus saves us from hell (separation from God) and saves us to Heaven (Eternal Relationship with God) …saved from sin and death and saved to eternal relationship and abundant life with God…

Savior – Jesus Christ; Jesus Messiah; The Redeemer of Sins; The Saver of Souls from Hell to Heaven; Our Lord; The Lamb of God; The Son of God; The Son of Man; The Prince of Peace; The King of kings…to save us from our sin; to redeem us from separation from God; to restore us to the joy of God’s salvation… Scourging of Jesus – a brutal punishment preceding crucifixion where, in this case Jesus, was beaten/whipped/flogged with a flagellum of several thongs which made a bloody pulp of Jesus’ body… Seven Last Words of Jesus

Seven Last Words of Jesus and Scriptural Responses

“My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46) God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble… “Be still and know that I am God! (Psalm 46:1, 10)

“Father, Forgive Them; For They Don’t Know What They Are Doing.” (Luke 23:34) Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. (Matthew 6:12)

“Today You Will Be with Me In Paradise.” (Luke 23:43) In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14:2-3)

“Father, Into Your Hands I Commend My Spirit.” (Luke 23:46) You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. (Mark 12:30)

“Woman, Here Is Your Son…Here Is Your Mother.” (John 19:26-27) We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

“I Am Thirsty.” (John 19:28) And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

“It Is Finished.” (John 19:30) I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me! (Matthew 35:40)

Simon of Cyrene – The man compelled by Roman Soldiers to carry the Cross of Jesus to the place of Jesus’ Crucifixion according to the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke)

Sin – Anything that separates you and me from God; an act or lack of action that separates you and me from God… Sinner – One who is separated from god by their actions and/or omissions…one who doesn’t know God; One who doesn’t believe, trust nor obey God… Skull – Where Jesus was crucified just outside the walls of Jerusalem (Hebrew)…Calvary, Golgotha…

Son of God – Jesus, fully Divine; Jesus, fully God

Son of Man – Jesus, fully human, yet with no sin…

Succor – help, relief, support, assistance, aid, comfort, respite…

Stripping of the Altar – At the conclusion of the Maundy Thursday service, the cross is veiled in black and other paraments of black are used in the chancel area as Black is the color of the day for Good Friday.

Testimony – Telling your personal story and experience of your relationship with God as lived out on a daily basis… (see witness)… The Great 50 Days – The Season of Easter, The Great 50 Days, the time from Easter Sunday to the Day of Pentecost…You and I and others are blessed with God’s glory and grace, Alleluia…You and I and the whosoever are sanctified with God’s power and peace, Alleluia…You and I and our neighbors are anointed with truth and righteousness, Alleluia…You and I and folks like us are consecrated with God’s love and mercy, Alleluia…All of this and more from the Resurrection of the Empty Tomb, and by faith in the Risen Jesus we are forgiven and empowered to live as children of God with a story to tell the nations…So, what’s your story of Easter that you’ll tell without hesitation with energy, enthusiasm, and excitement?!?!?!

The Stations of the Cross – The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of his Crucifixion. The object of the stations is to help the Christian faithful to make a spiritual pilgrimage through contemplation of the Passion of Christ.

The Stations of the Cross / The Way of the Cross

Jesus prays alone…Luke 22:39-44…Take this cup from me.

Jesus is arrested...Matthew 26:47-56…Have you come with swords?

Sanhedrin tries Jesus...Mark 14:61-64…Are you the Christ?

Pilate tries Jesus…John 18:33-37…Are you the King of the Jews?

Pilate sentences Jesus...Mark 15:6-15…Crucify him.

Jesus wears crown...John 19:5…Here is the man.

Jesus carries his cross...John 10:17-18…I lay it down of my own.

Simon carries cross…Luke 23:26…Simon the Cyrene.

Jesus speaks to the women...Luke 23:27-31…Weep for yourselves.

Jesus is crucified...Luke 23:33-34…Jesus on the cross.

Criminals speak to Jesus…. Luke 23: 39-43…Today you will be with me.

Jesus speaks to Mary, John...John 19:25b-27…Woman, this is your son.

Jesus dies on the cross...John 19:28-34…It is accomplished.

Jesus is laid in the tomb…. John 19:38-42…There they laid Jesus. Truth – Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; Truth is the Message of God; Truth is the WORD of God; Truth is God’s Righteousness and Right Relationships…

Via Dolorosa – a processional route in the Old City of Jerusalem, believed to be the path that Jesus walked on the way to his Crucifixion…

Visage – face; image; expression…

Vouchsafe – to graciously give; grant; offer; promise…

Will of God – things done God’s way; God’s Kingdom; all things God, already and always…

Witness – Telling your personal story and experience of God through Jesus empowered by the Holy Spirit of God forgiving your sin, freeing you from the guilt of your sin, restoring you to the joy of God’s salvation, giving you strength, hope and power for daily living (see testimony) …

WORD – Jesus… Word of God Made Flesh – Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah… Wormwood – An intensely bitter herb; anything that causes bitterness or affliction…

Worship – Praising God with the people of God; Praising Jesus with the congregation of those following the way of Jesus…Praising God with personal devotion, meditation, service, song, giving, prayer and scripture reading…

Poplar Springs Drive United Methodist Church 3937 Poplar Springs Drive Meridian, Mississippi 39305 (601) 485-5598 www.psdumc.org [email protected]