Beloved Friends-
Over the course of these remaining Fridays of Lent leading up to Holy Week I am going to offer a series of prayers for you to use during the week in any way that feels “good.” As you know we have been thinking and talking Goodness as our Lenten theme this year using the inspiring writings of former Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his daughter the Rev. Mpho Tutu. These prayers come from another wonderful resource that I commend to you as well, Calling on God: Inclusive Christian Prayers for Three Years of Sundays by Peter Bankson & Deborah Sokolove.
For each Sunday of our 3-year Lectionary cycle of readings, the collection offers 3 prayers: an Opening Prayer, a Thanksgiving and Praise Prayer and a Petition and Intercessory Prayer. I will be sharing one of those prayers for each week over these coming weeks as an offering to be used in your personal devotions.
May it help you slow down for a few minutes each week, open yourself to the immensity of God’s goodness inside of you and connect you deeply to those places in need of tender care.
And may you never forget that you are loved,
Lisa
For the Fifth Sunday in Lent:
Prayer of Petition and Intercession
Everlasting Fountain, renewing Breath, living Word,
you have promised to make a way in the wilderness,
to fill the desert places of our lives
with cool, running rivers of delight;
to save the lost, heal the sick
and restore the fortunes of those who have nothing.
And still everywhere we look there are people in need,
people whose lives are broken
by poverty, war, disease and violence.
And so, in our weakness, we cry out to you,
may those who go out weeping,
come home with shouts of joy.
Aloud and in silence,
We pray for all whose lives are filled with tears
and need the reminder of their goodness this day. Amen.