Lent daybook, 35: psalm prayers

My Lent daybook for these 40 days of prayer. Join me, won't you? (see previous Lent daybook 2016 posts here)

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look & listen

Poet and Pastor: Christian Wiman & Eugene Peterson from Laity Lodge on Vimeo.

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read

Every Riven Thing

God goes, belonging to every riven thing he’s made
sing his being simply by being
the thing it is:
stone and tree and sky, 
man who sees and sings and wonders why

God goes. Belonging, to every riven thing he’s made,
means a storm of peace.
Think of the atoms inside the stone.
Think of the man who sits alone
trying to will himself into the stillness where

God goes belonging. To every riven thing he’s made
there is given one shade
shaped exactly to the thing itself:
under the tree a darker tree;
under the man the only man to see

God goes belonging to every riven thing. He’s made
the things that bring him near,
made the mind that makes him go.
A part of what man knows,
apart from what man knows,

God goes belonging to every riven thing he’s made

Christian Wiman, from Every Riven Thing (2010). 

all readings for the day: Psalm 20; Judges 9:7-15; 1 John 2:18-28

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pray

Pray Psalm 20:

May the Lord answer us in the day of trouble!
    May the name of the God of Jacob protect us!
 May he send us help from the sanctuary
    and give us support from Zion!
 May he remember all our offerings
    and regard with favor our burnt sacrifices! Selah

 May he grant us our heart's desire
    and fulfill all our plans!
 May we shout for joy over our salvation,
    and in the name of our God set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfill all our petitions!

 Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
    he will answer us from his holy heaven
    with the saving might of his right hand.
 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
 They collapse and fall,
    but we rise and stand upright.

 O Lord, save the king!
    May he answer us when we call.

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do

Write a poem prayer to God today. If you feel like you can't write your own words, use those of a Psalm or a poem and adapt it to your own life and desires.

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(see all Lent daybook posts from 2015 here)

Lent daybook, 31: although we are weeping, help us keep sowing

My Lent daybook for these 40 days of prayer. Join me, won't you? (see previous Lent daybook 2016 posts here)

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look

The Sower

Van Gogh

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read

Psalm 126

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
    we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
    and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
    “The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us;
    we are glad.

4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
    like streams in the Negeb!
5 Those who sow in tears
    shall reap with shouts of joy!
6 He who goes out weeping,
    bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
    bringing his sheaves with him.

all readings for the day: Psalm 126; Isaiah 43:8-15; Philippians 2:25-3:1

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pray 

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (source)

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listen

Psalm 126 by Bifrost Arts

( I invite you to listen with me to my ever-evolving Lent playlist & Lent Spirituals playlist )

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do

Spend 10 minutes in prayer, asking God to show you the places where you have not trusted him and have not abided in him. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you rest in God’s provision for your life, as you abide in him.

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(see all Lent daybook posts from 2015 here)

Lent daybook, 25: when all hell breaks loose

My Lent daybook for these 40 days of prayer. Join me, won't you? (see previous Lent daybook 2016 posts here)

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look

A refugee prepares to hand over a toddler to a volunteer lifeguard as a half-sunken catamaran carrying around 150 refugees arrives after crossing part of the Aegean Sea last year. There were no casualties among the refugees who were travelling on the catamaran. source

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read

Psalm 32:6-11

Therefore let everyone who is godly
    offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
    they shall not reach him.
 You are a hiding place for me;
    you preserve me from trouble;
    you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah

 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
    I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
    which must be curbed with bit and bridle,
    or it will not stay near you.

 Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
    but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.
 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,
    and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

all readings for the day: Psalm 32; Exodus 32:7-14; Luke 15:1-10

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pray

Faithful God of love, you blessed us with your servant Son so that we might know how to serve your people with justice and with mercy.  

We gather the needs of ourselves and others, and offer them to you in faith and love, seeking to be strengthened to meet them.

Include prayers here for your family, friends, neighborhood and the world.  

Shape us and transform us by your grace, that we may grow in wisdom and in confidence, never faltering until we have done all that you desire to bring your realm of shalom to fulfillment. Amen. (source)

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listen

You Have Redeemed My Soul by Page CXVI

( I invite you to listen with me to my ever-evolving Lent playlist & Lent Spirituals playlist )

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do

last Lent when Brian and I prayed at the Monastery of Christ in the Desert, NM

Find a local church with a chapel open for prayer.  Sit in quiet, bring your requests, fears, anxieties, doubts, and grief to Christ in prayer.  Do not worry if your prayers seem weak or simple.  Do not worry if you can't even come up with words.  

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(see all Lent daybook posts from 2015 here)

Lent daybook, 24: Blessed is the one whose sin is forgiven

My Lent daybook for these 40 days of prayer. Join me, won't you? (see previous Lent daybook 2016 posts here)

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look

Tenebrae

Erica L. Grimm 

source

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read

Psalm 32:1-5

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity;I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

all readings for the day: Psalm 32; Joshua 4:14-24; 2 Corinthians 5:6-15

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pray

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (source)

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listen

Blest Is the Man - Psalm 32 by Katy Snow

( I invite you to listen with me to my ever-evolving Lent playlist & Lent Spirituals playlist )

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do

Today, attempt to fast sounds for about an hour. Turn off your music, TV, and phone. Power down anything that beeps or buzzes or blinks. Then attend to your responses: Are you restless or restful without the filler? Is your mind more or less distractible? Is the aloneness comforting or unsettling? Ask God to reveal to you the power this world's sounds have in your life. Then ask Him to reveal to you the power His sounds have in your soul. (source: 40 Days of Decrease)

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(see all Lent daybook posts from 2015 here)