CLEANSING OF THE SOUL
This time as you enter the sanctuary, choose a place near the front where you can kneel in prayer. It may be helpful to have a chair placed in front of you on which you will place your Bible opened to Psalm 51:1-12.
DAVID’S PRAYER IS YOUR PRAYER
You have been reflecting on your call to ministry for five weeks. Now is the time to confess all the feelings of guilt, failure, or despair to God as you reflect on your ministry. Again allow the verses of Psalm 51 to guide your reflections.
Remember this psalm is attributed to David after his adulterous affair with Bathsheba was exposed. There is nothing that you cannot lay before God. By the nature of ministry, when we are honest with ourselves, we bear a measure of guilt experienced in the tension between what we think the Gospel proclaims and the compromises we have felt compelled to make.
TRUSTING IN GOD’S JOY
Do not cease your prayer before you come to verses 7–12 and the joy of God’s restoring you to the joy of your salvation. Take your time and be totally honest in your prayer. Trust God to be able to take you as you are and restore the truth of your call in ministry.
Feel the pleasant experience of God’s delight in your ministry. “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a “generous” spirit.” (see footnote.) What act of lenten generosity can you exercise as your personal thanksgiving?
