For your Lenten devotionals, I offer five formats for your time of prayer. The first one focuses on the praise of God. The second focuses on the confession of sins and assurance of forgiveness. The third is directed towards a time of thanksgiving. The fourth offers you the opportunity for offering prayers of intercession. Finally, there is a time to receive the blessing of God or the benediction.
The intention is that you would find at least five times during the week to take time for prayer and meditation for one-half hour or more. You would begin the week with a time of praise. Next, you would have an opportunity to confess those burdens that are bothering you and experience the grace of a forgiving God. The third day would allow you to spend some time offering your thanksgiving for all that God provides you. On the fourth day, you would have an opportunity to focus on the needs of your congregation or the society around you. And on the fifth day, you can rest in the blessing of God who has called you to ministry. I would encourage you to make use of the four readings from the Lectionary.. You may find it helpful to have a pad of paper to capture the thoughts that occur to you.
The appropriate time to use this devotional will vary with the schedule of each individual. Many find that an early morning time can be set aside and is usually not disturbed, but for others, it is an appropriate way to end the day. I also would suggest two other alternatives that have proved helpful to me. Most hospitals have chapels; and if you carry this devotional with you, you could often find a brief time after a hospital visit to nurture yourself in the chapel. Also, I have found a remarkable sanctuary in fast- food restaurants. I order a minimal meal, take it to the most remote corner in the restaurant, and allow the meal to be a spiritual experience that slows down my eating and feeds me with some bread of heaven. No pattern fits all personalities, and I encourage you to explore what time may best fit your pattern and personality. I have deliberately chosen to create just five formats for prayer under the assumption that there will be at least two days each week that do not fit into this rhythm. However, if you are fortunate enough to have a sixth or seventh time, you can simply choose to repeat any of the offered formats.
My hope is that the flexibility of the formats and the opportunity to reflect on the lectionary scriptures will encourage you to be good to yourself and strengthen that connection with God that has drawn you into your calling. God’s call in your life was not a mistake, and the church needs your gifts in response to the hunger of God’s people. May God strengthen you for the journey that lies ahead.
Praising God
Invocation:
“Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits.” (Psalm 103:1-2)
Personal Prayer:
Spend ten minutes offering praise to God for the way in which God has called you, nurtured you, strengthened you, and worked miracles in your life.
Nurtured by the Word:
Read the Hebrew scripture for the week.
Spend some time asking how God might be speaking to you through this lesson.
Read a meditation on the first lesson for the week.
If thoughts come to your mind as you muse on this passage, jot them down.
Closing Prayer:
Either sing or pray the doxology:
“Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise God all creatures here below. Praise God above you heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.”
Confession & Forgiveness
Invocation:
“Bless the Lord, O my soul…who forgives all (my) iniquity, who heals all (my) diseases, who redeems (my) life from the Pit, who crowns (me) with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies (me) with good as long as (I) live so that (my) youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Psalm 103:2-5 amended)
Personal Prayer
Take about ten minutes to confess to God those personal and relational sins that burden your soul. Also lay before God the feelings of anger, hurt, and disillusionment that are part of your ministry.
Assurance of Forgiveness:
Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. I claim the good news of the gospel for myself. In Jesus Christ, I am forgiven.
Nurtured by the Word:
Read the psalm for the week. Pay attention if a particular phrase or word seems to jump out at you.
Spend some time meditating on that word or phrase and asking how God might be speaking to you through this part of the psalm.
Read a meditation on the psalm.
If thoughts come to mind as you muse on this passage, write them down.
Closing Prayer:
O Lord, I praise you because you do “not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is (your) steadfast love toward those who fear (you).” (Psalm 103:10-11)
Offering Thanksgiving
Invocation:
“I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to (you), for I rejoice in the Lord.” (Psalm 104:32-33)
Personal Prayer:
Take about 10 minutes to thank God for the many blessings in your life. Thank God for the ways God has been present in your ministry and your congregation. Thank God for how God has been present to you since birth.
Nurtured by the Word:
Read the gospel lesson for the week.
Spend some time asking how God might be speaking to you through this lesson.
Read the meditation on the gospel lesson.
If any thoughts come to you while you are musing on the gospel, write them down.
Closing Prayer:
“Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. (I will) seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually. (I will) remember the wonderful works (God) has done.” (Psalm 105:3-5a)
Prayers of Intercession
Invocation:
“Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people; help me when you deliver them; that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory in your heritage.” (Psalm 106:4-5)
Personal Prayer:
Take time to consider and offer in prayer all the needs within your congregation of which you are aware. Take note of the spiritual and emotional needs as well as the physical. Lift up troubled relationships and career challenges as well as family and marital stresses. Do not neglect to lift up your own needs as well.
Nurtured by the Word:
Read the epistle lesson for the week.
Spend some time asking how God might be speaking to you through this lesson.
Read the meditation on this lesson.
If there are thoughts that come to mind as you muse on this scripture, write them down.
Closing Prayer:
“Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. Blessed be the lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. And let all the people say, ‘Amen.’ Praise the Lord.” (Psalm 106: 47-48)
Benediction
Invocation:
“My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make melody! Awake, my soul!” (Psalm 108:1)
Personal Prayer:
Take time to simply rest in the blessings of the Lord in your life. Review times in your life when you have felt the powerful presence of God lifting you up and times when you basked in the sheer joy of the life that God has provided you. Review some high moments in your ministry and allow them to be signs for you of God’s continuing presence calling and guiding you.
Nurtured in the Word:
Open a section of meditations at random and choose a particular scripture that is noted. Read it totally free of any agenda for its use.
Spend some time asking how God might be speaking to you through this passage.
Then read the meditation provided.
If there are thoughts that come to you during your musing, write them down.
Closing Prayer:
Sing or pray the Gloria Patria:
“Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.”
