Light: Lent Daybook 13
Take a few deep breaths, settle your body, mind, and heart into a quiet space, and let’s begin with prayer.
Opening prayer: Heavenly Father, make me more like Jesus and more like the true self you’ve created as I savor your loving presence today. Please guide my thoughts and impressions by your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Look: Oil Lamp, Andrew Wyeth - Source
Listen: When the Light is Gone, Paul Zach - Lyrics | Spotify | YouTube
Read: Psalm 56-58; Psalm 64-65; Jeremiah 1:1-19; Romans 1:1-15; John 4:27-42
Excerpts:
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I am not afraid; what can flesh do to me? …
You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your record? Then my enemies will retreat in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I am not afraid. What can a mere mortal do to me?
My vows to you I must perform, O God; I will render thank offerings to you. For you have delivered my soul from death and my feet from falling, so that I may walk before God in the light of life.
*
Be merciful to me, O God; be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, until the destroying storms pass by. I cry to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame those who trample on me.
Selah
God will send forth his steadfast love and his faithfulness.
*
O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord! Let them vanish like water that runs away; like grass let them be trodden down and wither. Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the untimely birth that never sees the sun. Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
The righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked. People will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
*
The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,
Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” But the Lord said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a boy,’ for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you says the Lord.”
Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me,
“Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.” Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.” The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, tilted away from the north.”
Then the Lord said to me: “Out of the north disaster shall break out on all the inhabitants of the land. For now I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord, and they shall come, and all of them shall set their thrones at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its surrounding walls and against all the cities of Judah. And I will utter my judgments against them for all their wickedness in forsaking me; they have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.
*
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God…To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world. For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers, asking that by God’s will I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift so that you may be strengthened— or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you, as I have among the rest of the gentiles. I am obligated both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish, hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
*
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word.
*
Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him. Let all the upright in heart glory.
Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion, and to you shall vows be performed, O you who answer prayer! To you all flesh shall come. When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us, you forgive our transgressions. Happy are those whom you choose and bring near to live in your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, your holy temple.
By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance, O God of our salvation; you are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas. By your strength you established the mountains; you are girded with might. You silence the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples. Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs; you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.
You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it. You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth. You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with richness. The pastures of the wilderness overflow; the hills gird themselves with joy; the meadows clothe themselves with flocks; the valleys deck themselves with grain; they shout and sing together for joy.
—Psalm 56:3-4, 8-13; Psalm 57:1-3; Psalm 58:6-11; Jeremiah 1:1, 4-16; Romans 1:1, 7-15; John 4:34-41; Psalm 64:10-65:13
Pray: The Lord's Prayer - Adapted from this source.
On Mondays during Lent, we'll use the Lord's Prayer as our guide for praying for ourselves and the world. One of the ways to pray the Lord's prayer is by dividing it into six sections and pausing between each section to offer prayer on that theme. This week, as we consider how honesty helps us express lament to God, notice the places you feel disconnected from your heart and mind as you pray the Lord’s Prayer. Journal those responses.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name
Thank God for who God is and for God's abundant faithfulness. Contemplate
God's many attributes and offer praise for the blessings in your life, community, and the world: ____________________.
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Pray for God's rule and reign to become a reality in your life, city, nation, and
world. Ask for God to bring miracles and salvation: ____________________.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Pray for God's daily provision in your life and for those around the world who
the Holy Spirit brings to your heart and mind: ____________________.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.
Engage in a few moments of silence to allow space for the Holy Spirit to bring
specific acts of sin to your attention. Confess those sins to the Lord. Also, be still
and allow the Holy Spirit to bring to mind those that have sinned against you so
that you can name them to God, ask for healing and strength to forgive. Forgive
those who have wronged you: ____________________.
Lead us not into temptation.
Ask for God to guide you in ‘paths of righteousness for God's name sake'. Pray that
God will give you the discernment and knowledge of God's will in the specific
decisions, known and unknown, ahead of you today: ____________________.
Deliver us from evil.
Pray for God's protection against any of the strategies of Satan. The Devil wants
to kill, steal, and destroy. Ask God to mightily deliver you and others the Holy
Spirit brings to your heart and mind: ____________________.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
Do: Fast emojis & social media symbols this week; feast on the language of lament and amazement instead.
Practices for the coming week
I’ve tried to suggest one practice a week that can fit along with whatever other fasts you may be undertaking this Lent. There’s merit in committing simply to one fast for the entire forty days, but sometimes we need a little help imagining what a fast can look like and how it might produce good fruit in our lives. Each week this Lent, I’ll share one specific suggestion for fasting one habit in order to feast on a corresponding practice. You might decide to stay with that fast for the entire forty days, or you might choose just one or two days to try what I’ve suggested.
This week we’ll fast replacement symbols for language - emojis and social media “likes” - and feast on the language of lament and amazement instead.
Pay attention, in particular, to the Psalms in each day’s post. Gather words of lament and amazement to use throughout the day. Consider the characters in the other Scripture passages each day. Pay attention to the verbal and non-verbal responses they use. You can even keep a thesaurus handy throughout the week. Whenever you’re tempted to use an emoji or social media symbol, stop and with gentle curiosity ask yourself the following questions:
Where does the need to do this come from? (
If this conversation was happening face to face, what is it I most want to say to this person?
If you discover that finding language (including silence and physical presence) especially difficult try this exercise:
Divide a piece of paper into four columns headed with the words “I’m sad with you”, “I’m amazed with you”, “I love this about you”, “I’m celebrating with you”. In each column write all the ways you know to convey each truth. Put this list where you can see it and revisit it. Intentionally use these worlds and phrases throughout the week.*
What do you notice about yourself and yourself and the way you relate to others in their experiences?
*Sunday Scripture readings are taken from Year A of the Book of Common Prayer 2019 (Anglican Church of North America). Daily Scripture readings are taken from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and include both Morning and Evening Psalms (Year 1).