A Lenten Prayer

This beautiful prayer—really a set of prayers—was included in some Lenten resources my pastors sent out; I thought someone else “out there” might enjoy adding it to their practice(s) during this season. I’m going to pray it daily. I could also see focusing on a different portion during each week of Lent. Use it however it suits you best!

Merciful God,
Teach us to fast. Give us strength to resist our greed and the patience to withstand our passing need. Help us to stand in sol­idarity with those who don’t get to choose. And help us to be hungry for the right things — for righteousness, for justice and peace.

Faithful God,
Teach us to pray. Give us grace to sit still. Help us to value time with you above all other time. Show us how to find and keep a routine and pattern of life so that you are the ebb and flow of our every thought and word and deed.

Generous God,
Teach us to give money away. As you have invested your whole destiny in us, let our giving reflect our gratitude and our longing to be like you. Show us the person, the institution, the cause to which you will us to be bound by bonds of finance and affection.

Truthful God,
Teach us to examine ourselves. Search inside our hearts and take away those things that don’t belong there. Help us to search inside your heart and put the things we find there inside our own.

Revealing God,
Teach us to read your Scripture. Show us the parts of your story we forget and open to us the aspects of your purposes we fail to comprehend. Make your word a lantern to our feet and a light to our path.

Reconciling God,
Come and heal our broken relationships. This Lent show us one enemy who can become a friend. Introduce us to a stranger who opens to us a window into your kingdom. And teach us when and how to say the word, “Sorry.”

Amen.