Heavenly Father, I thank you for the gift of life and for every heartbeat that you give me. You know my needs, Lord, and the struggles of my life. I surrender each one of them to you today, and in the name of your Son, Jesus, I ask you to break their influence and power over my thoughts, emotions, and life. Thank you, Lord, for taking these from me. I trust that you will work these needs out perfectly in my life, and I ask for the grace not to pick up the weight and worry of these needs again. I thank you in Jesus’ name.
needs. Expressing these needs to the Lord isn’t for his benefit; it’s for yours! As you bring your needs before God, surrender them to him. When we ask God for help with problems, issues, or needs in our life, he wants to lift their burden from our back and carry them himself. That is something he cannot do if we don’t actually release those burdens from our own heart. Each day as you bring your petitions before the Lord, end your prayer with an act of surrender. You might find it helpful to picture yourself next to Jesus during this prayer. As you name your petitions, imagine yourself taking each one and handing it to Jesus. At the end of your prayer, thank the Lord for his goodness, and intentionally release your needs to him. Here is a simple prayer of surrender you can use:
Peaceful_Pamphlet.indd 1
Meditate on Good Things
Instead, use that time to meditate and reflect on positive, godly things. Spending some time each day with the Bible would be ideal for this. Take a few minutes each day to read a short passage from Scripture, and meditate on it. Although this may seem counterintuitive, don’t read to learn or understand. Simply sit with the passage, no more than a few sentences at a time. Read it prayerfully and slowly several times, and notice what words or phrases stand out for you. Then, ask the Lord to show you why those words stood out for you. Do this every day, and you’ll soon find that your very thought process—your mental “climate”—is being transformed.
It is so easy to be overwhelmed by stress and negativity. Whether we watch the news, surf the web, or just seek out entertainment—we are bombarded by a stream of anxiety-producing content. That kind of toxic environment can take its toll. If you have The God of peace desires your peace. In fact, he ever been in a meeting with an individual who is mad but silent about it, you’ve experienced this. created you for this experience of kingdom life. No When anger overshadows somematter the circumstance you find one, it changes the emotional yourself in, no matter the path As you name your and spiritual climate of a room. that has led you to this point, no The same is true of our spirit. matter the history of your failpetitions, imagine If we live on a steady diet of ures and faults—you are loved by yourself taking a Father who cherishes you simstressful, violent, or negative each one and content, it can make it difficult ply because you are his. This gift for us to cooperate with the of peace has been given to you in handing it to Jesus. peace we have received in Jesus. Jesus. It may not flourish or “blosThis Lent, unplug from some som” all at once, but the seed of of that. Deliberately choose to limit your time on kingdom life you received at Baptism will grow as social media or watching your favorite shows. you walk intentionally with the Lord.
Take Heart
So this Lent, spend time with the Lord . . . • cultivating gratefulness, • sharing your needs and giving the Lord your burdens, • reading Scripture, and • remembering that you are loved and cherished by God.
Take the Next Step What’s the one thing that can change the world? The answer is always the same: God’s love for us. Invite him into your life each day with this inspiring devotional, available at bookstore.wau.org. Copyright © 2021 The Word Among Us. All rights reserved. Published by The Word Among Us Press 7115 Guilford Drive, Suite 100 Frederick, Maryland 21704 wau.org 25 24 23 22 21 1 2 3 4 5 ISBN: 978-1-59325-549-7
Praying for (and Living) a
Peaceful Lent ss
re P s U g nting n o Pri m A for d r o ot W N The ple Sam
Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner. Design by Suzanne Earl No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the author and publisher. Made and printed in the United States of America.
®
12/21/20 3:44 PM