A Lenten Prayer

by Tonia Gutting
Lord Jesus, in Lent–
we realize how un-holy our lives are.
Help us to take up our cross
and follow You on the road to Golgotha–
the place of the skull
the place of death
where selves die
As we realize how pathetically weak we are
we see how amazingly strong You are.
Lord Jesus,
I, my people, our warriors, our country,
we have run away from You–
But You say, “My feet were nailed for you”*
Our hands–we’ve used them in sin
we’ve chosen not to help
we’ve hurt people in our anger

“My hands were pierced for you”

We’ve turned our back on You
we’ve chosen our own rules
we’ve chosen to believe our own lies to avoid bowing to You

“My back was whipped to stripes for you”

Lord, we can hardly stay focused for more than 5 minutes on You
our minds wander
chasing after the winds of our hearts

“My head bore a crown of thorns for you”

We don’t love You enough Lord
our hearts are far away
we try to protect them in comfort

“My heart was pierced for you”

Thank You, Jesus,
Thank You
Thank You for loving us so much
Help us to bear our crosses
to love You enough to sacrifice
to value You more than anything
even if it hurts
Lord break our wills,
break our hearts
break our pride and self-sufficiency
whatever it takes to make us see

for You are worth everything–

We pray this for ourselves
for our husbands
with some fear, we pray this for our children
You’ve given us the strongest military in the world
but don’t let us lose our soul
do what You must to bring our soldiers to You.
Move amongst our deployed and those at home in this time.
For those that are broken, for our veterans, we pray You will heal them
May they find true rest and comfort in You
not drugs, or meds, or alcohol, or relationships or adrenaline or anything else
May they be protected from choosing suicide.
May our chaplains and chapels and our Christian soldiers be joyous guiding lights, including the Chief of Chaplains’ office.

Out of a deeper understanding of Your sacrifice, grow our love for You.

Lead on Lord–through the PCSs, the illnesses, the child raising, the career choices, the daily choices of how to live these lives You have given us–and to live them abundantly!
Amen!
*The concept for today’s prayer comes from a worship pastor.