A Prayer to Encounter Jesus This Lenten Season
Almighty Lord, who defeated sin on the cross and death in your resurrection, may we encounter you in a close and special way this Lenten season.
Remind us that mourning and sadness have a place and a season. Let us take no shame in expressing pain and sadness. Thank you for this season where we are given the freedom to mourn.
Enable us to mourn over our sins-both personal and communal. Open our eyes to the ways we’ve broken your heart and let it break our hearts too. Put the pieces of our broken hearts back together and bind them with the cords of repentance, mercy and grace.
Humble us, Great Lord. Let us remember that you created us from the dust and to dust we shall return (Gen 3:19). Let us rejoice in knowing our lives don’t end in the dust we return to. For you will raise us up in love and clothe is in glory that will never turn to ash. You will make us yours forever-no longer mourning, no longer crying, no longer breaking your heart. Hallelujah.
Let us never forget the sacrifices you made on our behalf-how you denied yourself for 40 days in the desert, being tempted by Satan, and yet never faltered. You rejected the enemy’s promise for greatness to be willingly tortured and brutally killed so that we could be freed from the penalty and power of our sins. Oh, how this mystery astounds us! Let it be new to us every day.
As we fast, let us feel our emptiness and greatly yearn for you to fill the void. Help us to contemplate how Jesus felt in his days of fasting as he prepared to die for our sins.
As we feast, fill us with your abundant grace and love. Let us remember that just as there is a time for mourning, there is also a time to celebrate.
Meet us daily. Let our daily lives reflect the beauty, pain, and wonder of the gospel.
Meet us each day and fill us to the fullest so that when we reach Easter, we will overflow in praise and gratefulness.
Amen.
Need help in celebrating Lent and Easter? Tomorrow I will share my favorite resources for Lent and Easter, so come back and check it out!
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