I Commit My Spirit: Lent Daybook 34
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.
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Listen: How Long, How Long, Bill Fay - Lyrics | Spotify | YouTube
Read: Psalm 31; Psalm 35; Exodus 3:16-4:31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-19; Mark 9:30-41
Excerpts:
"In you, O Lord, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me. Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me.
You are indeed my rock and my fortress; for your name’s sake lead me and guide me, take me out of the net that is hidden for me, for you are my refuge. Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God….
But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors. Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love….
O how abundant is your goodness that you have laid up for those who fear you, and accomplished for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of everyone! In the shelter of your presence you hide them from human plots; you hold them safe under your shelter from contentious tongues.
Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was beset as a city under siege. I had said in my alarm, “I am driven far from your sight.” But you heard my supplications when I cried out to you for help.
*
But Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak.” But he said, “O my Lord, please send someone else.” Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “What of your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he can speak fluently; even now he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you his heart will be glad. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do. He indeed shall speak for you to the people; he shall serve as a mouth for you, and you shall serve as God for him. Take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.”…
The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went; and he met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had charged him. Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites. Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and performed the signs in the sight of the people. The people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had given heed to the Israelites and that he had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.
*
Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord, exulting in his deliverance. All my bones shall say, “O Lord, who is like you? You deliver the weak from those too strong for them, the weak and needy from those who despoil them.”
Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me about things I do not know. They repay me evil for good; my soul is forlorn. But as for me, when they were sick, I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting. I prayed with head bowed on my bosom, as though I grieved for a friend or a brother; I went about as one who laments for a mother, bowed down and in mourning.
But at my stumbling they gathered in glee, they gathered together against me; ruffians whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing; they impiously mocked more and more, gnashing at me with their teeth.
How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their ravages, my life from the lions! Then I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you.
*
Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy. For those who speak in a tongue do not speak to other people but to God; for nobody understands them, since they are speaking mysteries in the Spirit. On the other hand, those who prophesy speak to other people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. Those who speak in a tongue build up themselves, but those who prophesy build up the church. Now I would like all of you to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. One who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.
*
They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.
Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”
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You might be aware that each year during Holy Week I invite 7 friends to share a personal story of grief or lament on my blog (inspired, in part, by our church's unique Good Friday services).
2022 marks the tenth year I will be curating this blog series for Holy Week, centered around the "Seven Words of Christ from the Cross". Each year seven guests share personal reflections on how they've walked with Christ through challenges in life, within the context of Christ's own suffering on the cross. That’s 70 stories, soon to include this year’s guest storytellers, that have invited us to bring Christ's dying lament into our present, lived experiences of grief and loss.
The tradition of speaking to the Seven Words on Good Friday goes back centuries, but it is a unique tradition we've experienced in our current and former church to invite members of the congregation to speak on them. That unique experience is what I'm trying to extend, gently and with care, to the readers who've followed my blog for so many years. In order to add to that circle of care, this year I'm inviting storytellers from the series to a conversation I'm facilitating on Zoom where those who follow the blog can listen in and ask their own questions.
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On Thursday, April 7 at noon - 1:15 pm ET, simply show up on Zoom to receive:
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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 resolving to stay present to God with our grief helps us express lament to God, notice areas of acceptance that stir in your heart and mind as you pray the Lord’s Prayer. Journal your 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.
*Sunday Scripture readings are taken from Year C 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 2)