Lent Day 20 - Thursday, March 16

For When the Road Is Long

Psalm 81

Ask

The Psalmist speaks of the nourishment God desires to give, saying “open your mouth wide, and I will fill it…with the finest of wheat, with honey from the rock I would satisfy you” (verses 10, 16). But sometimes we are too tired to eat. How might rest be yours until you can open up for what would satisfy?

Reflect

Listen to this song on the theme of “O Taste and See.” Allow the words to wash over you. What truth of God do you need to savor today? ”)

Listen Here

Pray

Dear God, I am so tired, body and soul. What I need most is rest, true rest that curls up in the cup of your hand until the refreshment comes. Keep me from running off to do whatever seems press-ing. Rest your hand on me so I begin to trust that the first thing is actually rest. And the second thing, and the third. Then God, feed me with honey from the rock. Amen.

Lent Day 21 - Friday, March 17

For When You Feel Forgotten by God

Psalm 13

Ask

The psalmist says, “I am shaken” (Psalm 13:4, ESV). Is this true in your life?

Do

Make a list of the people, places, circumstances in your life and in the lives of your family, friends, and community that are aching for restoration. Pray the words of Numbers 6:24-26 over your list—if you have the extra time, do it name by name. (E.g., “The Lord bless and keep INSERT NAME. The Lord make his face shine upon INSERT NAME, and be gracious to INSERT NAME. The Lord lift up his countenance upon INSERT NAME, and give INSERT NAME peace.”)

Pray a breath prayer from Psalm 13

Inhale: I am shaken,

Exhale: but I trust in your steadfast love.

Lent Day 22 - Saturday, March 18

For When It Is Too Much To Handle

Psalm 56

Ask

Psalm 56, making a list of all the emotions the psalmist describes.

Listen

Listen to this choral arrangement of “O let all who thirst, let them come to the water.” Bring your whole thirsty self, remembering that God invites you to come just as you are. God models for us the giving of unconditional love, that we also may learn to make room for others, just as they are.

Listen Here

Pray

God, I need Your loving kindness in this tender place. Come and sit with me as I allow myself to name all that is so hard, all that is so precious and yet so precarious that it makes me afraid. Comfort me. Amen.

Lent Day 23 -Monday, March 20

For When Hope Seems Lost

Psalm 62

Ask

The psalmist cycles through alternating thoughts of trust and distress. What are the move-ments of your heart today—are you leaning more toward trust or distrust? Hope or despair? Somewhere in the middle?

Listen

What do you do when all hope feels lost? Visual artist Lanecia Rouse Tinsley is no stranger to the hopelessness that comes with grief. We could all use a bit of what Lanecia calls, holy seeing. In this episode, Kate and Lanecia discuss how creativity can be an act of resistance and the hope she discovers on a blank canvas.

Listen Here

Pray a breath prayer based on Psalm 62

Inhale: Find rest, oh soul. Inhale: Find hope, oh soul.

Exhale: My soul finds rest in God. Exhale: My hope comes from God.

Lent Day 24 - Tuesday, March 21

For When This Pain Doesn’t Make Sense

Isaiah 53:1-6

Ask

Isaiah 56 speaks prophetically of Jesus who knows pain from the inside out. How does it feel when you first realize that the person you are talking to really knows and understands your pain?

Listen

Why doesn’t God fix our pain? Listen in to hear world-renowned theologian Stanley Hauerwas’ thoughts about why Christians are not exempt from difficult circumstances. He gives the best advice: “The ability to live well is the ability to live without so many reasons.”

Listen Here

Pray

Read the last half of today’s blessing for yourself or for someone else: “God, make this pain matter…”

Lent Day 25 - Wednesday, March 22

For When You’re Tired of Broken Systems

Isaiah 10:1-4

Ask

What broken systems make you angry? How can you move beyond “thoughts and prayers” into action—even if it is a small action—to-day? What is in your power to control, fix, or heal?

Reflect

Audrey Assad rewrote “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Listen to her nonviolent version, “Your Peace Will Make Us One.” What line stands out most?

Listen Here

Pray

God, don’t let my anger turn inward. Let it flow out into the world as work done in love for the strong cause of justice. Show me the fight that is mine, and make me brave with the kind of power that is fully under your control and direction. Make me a channel of your peace! Amen.

Lent Day 26 - Thursday, March 23

For When You Need a Little Hope

Matthew 6:5-15

Ask

Circle the words that best describe your relationship to prayer (any and all):

• It comes easily.

• It is difficult.

• I always know what to say. I never know what to say.

• I don’t think prayer works.

• I think God listens.

• Prayer makes me feel better. I pray whatever comes to mind. I prefer scripted prayers.

• I pray when I don’t know what else to do.

• I pray to be changed by God. I enjoy praying for myself.

• I enjoy praying for others.

Listen

We don’t always know how to move through seasons when there is hope for someday, but someday is not now. Perhaps here, we need to learn how to pray. Jesuit priest Father James Martin describes how prayer is for everyone—believer, doubter, or no-thank you-er.

Listen Here

Pray

Pray the words of The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 5:9-13 slowly, as if you are saying them for the first time. What stands out? What do you need, especially today? Settle on that part of the prayer and make it your own.

Lent Day 27 - Friday, March 24

For When You’re Hanging on by a Thread

Isaiah 55:1-3

Ask

Can you remember a time when you were just barely hanging on? Maybe that is today. God says “Come, you who are thirsty, you who have nothing, come.”

Do

Grab a pen and paper. You are about to draw something—anything—that reminds you of your situation right now. Give yourself permission to be a little wild. No need to worry about representational accuracy! Just a playful drawing that maybe only you can recognize. (Yes, that IS a pickle in a jar. Don’t you see it?) So now, all around that central image, draw or write what represents the resources you have right now, the help you have, the people you can call, the chocolate that is still in the back of the fridge. Now write the date at the top of the page. The resources you have are your starting point. What is possible here? Just for today.

Pray

God, in the calculus of what is possible, help me start with resources and work from there, not from the problem backwards with all the weight of it bearing down on me. What can I do that is actually sustainable? Show me in real time, as I go, because I’m feeling a little fuzzy in my thinking, so action is probably my best bet. Let’s start there. Amen.

Lent Day 28 - Saturday, March 25

For Truth-Telling — However Bitter or Sweet

Romans 12:9-15

Ask

Think of a time when you were able to truly “weep with those who weep, and rejoice with those who rejoice” (Romans 12:15). Think of someone who was able to do the same for you in a time of need. Thank God for the gift of being able to give and receive this kind of presence and compassion.

Reflect

Listen to this simple Taizé song “Stay With Me.” Let it represent the presence that brings comfort. These were the words of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when he asked his friends to stay with him while he prayed about the cross he was about to face (Matthew 26:36-37). Think of a time you needed this same kind of loving-presence from people in your life.

Listen Here

Pray

God, give me the freedom to be able to tell the truth to myself, and the gift of someone who will listen to it. But God, when I have to say hard truths to someone, help me slow it down and pre-pare them, invite them. God, let my truth come gently. Amen.

Lent Day 29 - Monday, March 27

For When So Many Are Suffering

John 11:1-45

Ask

Re-read John 11:1-45, but place yourself in the scene. Where are you standing? What do you see? What emotion bubbles up? Imagine what it would have been like to have been there, to see Jesus’ tears for his friend. This is the face of God’s compassion for us in our sorrow.

Do

Pull out a piece of paper or a notebook. Make a list of the people in your life in desperate need of healing or hope—of all those you know who are suffering right now.

Pray

Just speak the names you listed aloud to God. No need to fill in any details if you don’t want to. God knows. It’s a way to overcome the feeling that you can’t possibly make a big enough differ-ence to help all the sick ones, the hurting ones in your awareness. God hears you.

Lent Day 30 - Tuesday, March 28

For The Ones Who Choose to Break their Hearts for Ours

Isaiah 58:6-9

Ask

Isaiah 58:6-9 describes the religious act of fasting as intrinsically linked to action. Do you imagine the religious acts you practice (prayer, fasting, giving, worship, attending church) as more for you or for others—or maybe both?

Listen

Certain people decide to make other people’s pain their own. Gary Haugen, founder and CEO of International Justice Mission, is one of those people. But how do you sustain heartbreaking work? “Joy,” Gary says, “is the oxygen for doing hard things.” Listen here and be encouraged:

Listen Here

Pray

God, show me the gift I have to offer others. Blow your winds of love all around my efforts, so they have that whiff of joy about them. Amen.

Lent Day 31 - Wednesday, March 29

For The Ones Who Bear Witness

Acts 1:7-9

Ask

Jesus’ friends were those who followed so closely, they knew every one of his ways. They were witnesses to the big stuff—his miracles, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension into heaven. But also the little details too—how he parted his hair, his lunchtime preferences, and the face he made when he was really upset. Think of one close person in your life—your best friend, your child, a partner, or co-worker. What are the quirky and individual and irreplaceable things you love about them?

Listen

Bestselling novelist Ann Patchett knows how to walk right up to the edge with people she loves. She is the friend who sits with you during chemo, or lets you spill your secrets in the car. She shares what power-ful lessons she learned early on about how to approach suffering with humility, knowing you can rarely change a life, but you can be there to witness and be amazed.

Listen Here

Pray

O God, I love that you know me completely, and that you make it possible for me to know you through Jesus Christ. Thank you that you sent your Holy Spirit to be with us, through these pre-cious days. Show us how to move through them as those who are truly alive. As witnesses to you, with your joy shining through. Amen.

Lent Day 32 - Thursday, March 30

For When Loving Your Enemy Seems Too Big an Ask

Matthew 5:43-48

Ask

Who is your enemy or arch nemesis? Maybe a rude neighbor or that &$%! who cut you off in traffic. Or maybe it is a sibling or in-law you can’t seem to forgive. That colleague who wronged you or that friend you always seem to be competing with. Hold their name (or face, if you can bear it) in your mind.

Reflect

Madeleine L’Engle said, “We must bless without wanting to manipulate. Without insisting that everything be straightened out right now. Without insisting that our truth be known. This means simply turning whoever it is we need to bless over to God, knowing that God’s powerful love will do what our own feeble love or lack of it won’t. I have suggested that it is a good prac-tice to believe in six impossible things every morning before breakfast, like the White Queen in Through the Looking Glass. It is also salutary to bless six people I don’t much like every morn-ing before breakfast.” Try blessing your enemy today. How did that make you feel?

Pray

Read today’s blessing again and make it a prayer, with this particular enemy in mind.

Lent Day 33 - Friday, March 31

For the Givers Who Need to Receive

Acts 20:32-36

Ask

When you read today’s blessing, did someone come to mind who needs this kind of support? Or perhaps it’s you? How can you show support to them today?

Do

Think of what would feel like support to the person you thought of and do it. Send an encour-aging text or a coffee gift card. Offer to mow their lawn or drop off a meal. If you’re the one in need of support, will you tell a friend how they could be supportive of you today? It can feel difficult to ask for what we need, but shouldering one another’s burdens is what can help get us through sometimes.

Pray

God, help me be open to see the suffering around me. Give me the willingness to come close, and be with them right there in the hard place. Show me what’s important in their world right now, and please give me the words to say, or perhaps even just the quality of silence that is most meaningful. Amen.

Lent Day 34 - Saturday, April 1

For Your Great, Big, Dumb Heart

John 15:9-17

Ask

Think of someone whose love for you made a huge difference. Maybe it was a grandparent or teacher, friend or pastor. What about their love felt transformative?

Do

Write a little Valentine’s note for the person you thought of in the previous question. (Yes, I know it’s a little late for a Valentine’s card.) It can be someone who is no longer with us or someone you have lost touch with. The act of writing the card is as important as the act of sending it. Express to them the way you felt changed by their love. How did it feel to be loved like that?

Pray

Thank you, God, that your love ever reached me, and for that person who first brought it to me through their love beyond limits. I knew even then that this was different. Important. Irreplace-able. God, help me be that difference for someone else. Amen.

Lent Day 35 - Monday, April 3

For the Courage to Try ... and the Wisdom to Know When to Stop

Matthew 26:38-39

Ask

In his prayer towards the end of Passion week, Jesus stared down the reality that he hoped would not have to come to pass. What is it that you are facing? Express it to God, knowing God can handle your honesty.

Listen

Katie Couric was at the top of her career as a television anchor when her young husband died unexpectedly from colon cancer. She has so much to teach us about what happens when our prob-lems cannot be easily solved—no matter how hard we try. She shares candidly about the lengths she went to avoid grief, but why she had to learn to face it nonetheless. We need the courage to try (and the wisdom to stop).

Listen Here

Pray

Lord Jesus, I want to walk with you through this week, to be present to the tumult of all that you experienced, to wait with you, to watch as rough hands took hold of your all too human flesh, as you experienced betrayal and rejection. Let me see you, and weep that such a thing ever hap-pened to you, O spotless Lamb. Amen.

Lent Day 36 - Tuesday, April 4

For Collective Grief

Psalm 137:1-6

Ask

Today’s blessing says, “Blessed are we who ask and wait, and ask again for answers that may not come, for hope that seems hard to find, for comfort that is not easily found.” What are the answers you wait for, that may not come?

Do

Right now, people across the country and world are feeling collective grief on many different scales. The grief that comes with the loss of those who have died due to COVID-19. The war in Ukraine. And too often, we wake to the news of another mass shooting. Getting involved in your community—even in small ways—can help the collective grieving process. Consider the ways in which your community needs to heal. Are there ways you can help and get involved? Our team loves the work of Together Rising who “transforms collective heartbreak into effective action.”

Pray

Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings. Amen. (Psalm 61:1-4)

Lent Day 37 - Wednesday, April 5

For the Day of Mourning

Psalm 22

Ask

What are you grieving, my dear? Big or small—lay out the whole of it all. No tear goes unnoticed.

Do

Food has a beautiful way of making us feel less lonely in our pain or in our isolation or in our grief. My friend, Kendall Vanderslice, founded the nonprofit, Edible Theology, founded on the belief that deep healing and connection takes place best over food and at a table. Kendall says, “Every time I bake, I am reminded that death is necessary for resurrection. The tartness of sourdough is a sharp reminder that when wheat, or dough, or beloved friends die, by God’s mercy they bear much fruit.” Click here to listen to Kitchen Meditations with Kendall Vanderslice, stories of how God meets us at the kitchen and at the table. And who knows, maybe you will bake something delicious today.

Pray

God, there’s pain now. Awaken me to what it is, that I might lean into it a little closer. Help me see what it is, and understand a little more about the nature of what is hurting—in my mind, in my body. Give me words for it, that I might see a way through it, or around it. Give me courage to somehow live here, right where I am, but also wide awake to where I might bravely go. O God of all compassion, help me, lead me. Amen.

Lent Day 38 - Thursday, April 6

For Maundy Thursday

Matthew 26:1-30

Ask

Honoring Jesus while he was near, that was the beauty of the lavish gift outpoured. How can the remembrance of this woman’s loving act guide you this day?

Reflect

This ancient Latin hymn “Humbly We Adore Thee” is about the sharing of the bread and the cup at the Last Supper. It has a beautiful English translation, given below, and you can follow it as you listen to this sublime recording:

Christ, our God and brother Hear our humble plea; By this holy banquet Keep us joined to Thee. Humbly we adore Thee, Christ Redeemer King, Thou art Lord of Heaven, Thou to whom we sing. God, the mighty, thou hast come, Bearing gifts of grace; Son of Adam, still thou art, Saviour of our race. Jesus, Lord, we thank Thee For this wondrous bread; In our land Thou dwellest, By Thee we are fed. We who share this mystery, In thee are made one; Ev’ry act we offer thee In Thy name is done. Thou who died to save us, Live on as our light; Though our eyes are blinded, Yet our faith gives sight. Christ, do thou be merciful; Lamb for sinners slain; We in grief confess our guilt; Cleanse our souls of stain.

Listen Here

Pray

My Jesus, I love you. I pour out all my adoration as oil upon your feet. All my gratitude. All my joy. I come hoping to receive from you the food I need. Fill me with your very self, that I may live as one satisfied, and able to nourish and care for others with the kind of sustaining love you have for me. Amen.

Lent Day 39 - Friday, April 7

For Good Friday

Luke 23:1-47

Ask

What kind of love is this? Consider this question as you read the account in Luke 23:1-47.

Do

Attend a Good Friday service at a local church or online. Good Friday is a powerful day of truth telling and honesty. It’s the ultimate moment of God’s condescension. If you’ve ever wondered how far God would go to be with us, this is it. All the way to the end. “‘I asked Jesus, ‘How much do you love me?’ And Jesus said, ‘This much.’ Then he stretched out His arms and died.” —Author unknown

Pray

God, draw me to the cross, there to stand with the others whose love for you feels the weight of it as loss, as grief. Your enemies thought they could end what you were doing, and render you pow-erless. Little did they know that love never fails. Show me again the truth of all that happened here. Amen.