Evening Prayer Friday, 19 February 2021
Sometimes, it seems no time at all since Christmas,
yet this week we have entered the season of Lent.
I wonder what Lent means to you.
In my early childhood, it did not mean much to me,
but when I attended an Anglican secondary school,
we were taught about the church year in our RE lessons.
At that age, it appealed to me and some of my friends
to try to give something up for Lent.
I liked the idea of testing my self-discipline for just a limited time,
which would end at Easter.
However, after a couple of years, I began to realise
that when I gave up sweets for Lent, I just ate more biscuits or cakes.
So one year I decided to give up cakes, biscuits and sweets,
which at least gave me a real experience of doing without.
These days I don’t eat many cakes, biscuits or sweets at all,
so it’s just as well that I decided long ago that it might be more effective
to try to do something positive throughout Lent,
so I try to focus on some bad habit I may have developed
and see whether I can use the Lenten experience to change my ways.
Sometimes it works, and I can, at least to some extent,
begin to see the advantage of changing my behaviour.
This approach seems to fit in well with what Isaiah has to say about fasting.
If you would like to, you might read the whole of Isaiah chapter 58,
but I will quote just an extract here:
4 Your fasting ends in quarrelling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5b Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 ‘Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
Isaiah 58: 4, 5b–9 NIV®
Let us pray:
Loving God, you have given us so many wonderful gifts
and yet we do not always show our appreciation for them.
Forgive us when we get so caught up with our own wishes
and our own concerns that we don’t spend time with you,
listening for your voice and following your guidance.
As we journey through Lent, guide our thinking, our praying and our actions.
Keep us looking to you and following the path you set out before us.
Slow down our rushing into things, guard us from leaping to conclusions
and open our minds to see what you have planned for us.
Keep us aware of others who may need a guiding hand.
We pray for all whose journey has taken them to places
where they are separated from those they love:
- for those who have not seen friends or family members
because of the coronavirus restrictions, - for those in hospital,
- for those in prison,
- for asylum seekers,
- for refugees and migrants.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
We pray for those who have stumbled and fallen on their journey:
- for people looking for help to get them to their feet,
- for people wanting others to keep their distance, because feel embarrassed or ashamed,
- for people who feel that they may not now be able to complete the journey they had embarked upon.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
We pray for those whose paths have been blocked by others, who cannot see a way out of their difficulties:
- for people who struggle with the racist or homophobic views
of other people, making it difficult for them to live their lives to the full; - for those who suffer the ravages of oppression,
hunger, war, and any acts of violence; - for those who work and pray for peace – peace which sometimes seems as far away as ever.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
We pray for those whose way ahead has been suddenly blocked by circumstances beyond their control and who have no map to find an alternative route:
- for people who have recently been bereaved,
- and for people bereaved some time ago,
for whom the pain of loss is still very raw. - for people who are suffering from physical or psychological ill health
We remember especially Eric and Joan, who have given so much of their time,
energy, and love to our congregation, radiating your love to us all.
Be close to them and surround them with your loving care.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
We pray for those who lead or aspire to lead others along part of life’s journey:
- for people in positions of responsibility, whose decisions will affect the lives of others, including our own.
- for those who serve in local and national government.
- for the members of our Ecumenical Council at Christ the Cornerstone,
- for us all, as we seek to find the right people to serve on the Ecumenical Council.
May we be open to one another, seek your guidance
and feel close to you on this journey.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
And now, we join together in the prayer which Jesus taught his disciples:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth, as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory
are yours, Lord.
now and for ever.
Amen
Rosemary Kearsey
