Category: Lent

MONDAY, MARCH 1 | JOHN 17:6-19

“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” John 17:15

Have you ever accused someone of having their “head in the clouds?” They just aren’t listening to what you are saying or paying attention to what is going on. You want them to come down to earth and get in tune with what’s happening here!

Sometimes Christians are accused of this sort of behavior, that is, “pie in the sky” thinking. Some people say that our minds are so fixed on heaven that we’re of no earthly good. Perhaps we’ve been wrongly accused. Or could the critics be at least partly right?

The truth is, Jesus spoke of heaven, but mostly he spoke of God’s kingdom in our world. The mission he entrusted to his followers was not about longing for heaven but about making disciples and growing God’s kingdom here on earth. Just before Jesus was arrested in the garden, he prayed for his disciples. He knew he would not be with them much longer, so his prayer highlighted one of the fiercest challenges they would face: the evil one.

The work of the evil one is the work of undoing. We don’t talk about this ugly truth often enough. But here’s a question to consider: Why would Jesus pray for his disciples’ protection if there were no real threat?

The evil one is real. He schemes to undo God’s good work in our world. And he often targets us, Jesus’ followers. So real is the danger of the evil one’s plots that Jesus asks the Father to protect us.

Yet think about it. Could there be a better protection plan? Jesus himself is praying for us. As we work with the Lord to grow his kingdom here on earth, the power and presence of almighty God is always with us!

PRAYER:

Lord, thank you that your power is infinitely greater than that of the evil one. Thank you for protecting me. Keep me from distraction and sin as I seek to know you better. May your kingdom come here on earth, I pray. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

—WRITTEN BY RUTH BOVEN

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28 | LUKE 11:1-4

“When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us….Forgive us….And lead us….’” Luke 11:2-4

Throughout Jesus’ entire ministry, he was preparing his disciples for the time when he would die on the cross. They may not have known what was coming, but Jesus knew he would soon leave them. Each day, Christ taught them by his example and equipped them for life after his death and resurrection. Part of this was teaching them how to pray.

Both Matthew (6:9-13) and Luke recorded Jesus’ famous prayer lesson for his disciples. Today, many people know this prayer from memory. In worship, believers often recite it in unison.
We call it “The Lord’s Prayer,” but it could also be called “The Disciples’ Prayer.”

Even before Jesus begins this prayer, Luke makes an important point. “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place.” His disciples saw that Jesus was a man of prayer. And they knew he could teach them.

The disciples wanted to know how to connect with God when
they were alone with him. Interestingly, Jesus doesn’t say, “Just
memorize this brief prayer.” Nor does he claim that it covers all we should ask of our Father. But it does convey the essence of prayer and is well worth memorizing.

Notice that the first petition doesn’t ask anything for ourselves, but only for God’s honor: “Make your name holy” (“hallowed”). Above all, true disciples seek to uphold God’s holiness and pray that his kingdom will come. After that come requests for the basics: daily needs; forgiveness as we forgive; and leading away from evil to full life in God’s kingdom.

Do you want to be more like Jesus? Do you want to prepare your heart during this Lenten season? Start with this simple prayer.

PRAYER:

Father, hallow your name in my life! Provide all I need so that I can be the person you call me to be for your kingdom here on earth. In Jesus, Amen.

—WRITTEN BY NORMAN BROWN

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27 | MATTHEW 20:20-28

“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” Matthew 20:26-28

Service is a spiritual discipline that Christians have practiced for thousands of years. This practice is based on the life of Jesus who challenged even our most basic ideas of authority. He washed his disciples’ feet, forgave their doubt, and willingly died for them.

In today’s verses, a proud and loving mother intervenes for her two sons and tries to secure prime position in Jesus’ kingdom for at least one of them. But Jesus’ response is confounding. “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.” Although Jesus’ answer may have sounded confusing to first-century ears, we now know that this is exactly what Jesus did.

Jesus washed his disciples’ dirty feet, he fed those who were
hungry, he healed those who were sick, and ultimately he gave
his life for us all. Likewise, we can serve in many ways, both great
and small. I once witnessed a well-known Christian leader bend
down to pick up trash on a retreat. Perhaps you occasionally
bring a meal to an elderly neighbor, or willingly watch a friend’s
children. It’s also a service to receive gratefully from someone serving you.

As we grow in the grace of serving, we’ll find more opportunities to serve. We can know we’re mastering this discipline when we find ourselves serving without giving it a second thought. Serving will have become second nature. Then, perhaps, our elderly neighbor will ask us why it is that we serve, and we can tell her about Christ Jesus. Sharing this news is truly a great service indeed!

PRAYER:

Lord Jesus, you served me by dying for my sins. Help me to serve you by serving my neighbors around me. Make me humble, I pray, as I serve in your name. Amen.

—WRITTEN BY NORMAN BROWN

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25 | JOHN 13:31-33

“Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him.” John 13:31

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines glory as great “praise, honor, or distinction.” Christians use the word glory often, especially in worship. In the church where I serve, we sometimes sing these words: “We will glorify the King of kings. We will glorify the Lamb. We will glorify the Lord of lords, who is the great I Am.” Giving glory to God lifts our hearts upward toward the reigning King. We praise him for his greatness, power, and majesty.

But Jesus gives us another angle on glory in our verse today. Remember that Jesus is on the brink of his brutal march to the cross. “Now the Son of Man is glorified,” he said. Jesus’ glory is first of all about the fulfillment of his Father’s purposes. Jesus’ obedience to his Father’s plan would be his glory, even though it meant suffering and death on a cross. Jesus showed us that glory comes through sacrificial love and obedience to God.

How do you and I think about glory? Our world would like us to
think glory comes through achievement and status. Sacrificial
obedience to someone else’s plan would not seem to be the
path to glory. But, truly, that’s what it takes. Our submission and obedience to God’s loving plan for this world is the only achievement worthy of praise, honor, and distinction.

To God be the glory!

PRAYER:

God of glory, help me to realize
that glory comes through sacrificial obedience to your loving plan for this world. May I obey you each day. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.

—WRITTEN BY RUTH BOVEN

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24 | JOHN 13:12-17

“I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” John 13:15

In the washing of his disciples’ feet, Jesus had done an outrageous thing. Jesus, the Master, had humbly bowed before and served those who were supposed to follow him. Philippians 2:6-7 says that Jesus, though “being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant.” Jesus came to serve among us for our benefit, for our salvation, so that we might know and enter into the love God has for us.

In doing this, Jesus also set an example for us to follow. He showed us how we can live in the most blessed way possible: in humble service. When we serve others, we give our time,
our attention, our resources, our very selves for other people’s benefit and flourishing. It’s a way of life that influences our every interaction. As imitators of Christ, we practice things like good listening, generous hospitality, and faithful care for people in need, starting with those closest to us.

Following Jesus’ example of humble service is no easy calling.
In Romans 12:10 we are instructed, “Honor one another above yourselves.” This is something we cannot do without the Spirit of Christ living in us. But Scripture promises that as we serve others, Christ, by his Spirit, is present to guide, equip, and bless.

How can you serve others today?

PRAYER:

Loving God, thank you that Christ Jesus came to this earth as a humble servant. Help me today to humbly serve others in whatever way I can. Amen.

—WRITTEN BY RUTH BOVEN

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23 | JOHN 13:9-11

“Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean.” John 13:10

When I was a child, Saturday night kicked off preparations for Sunday worship. Dresses were pressed, shoes shined, grimy hands, faces, and bodies scrubbed clean. Imagine my mother’s distress when one of my pajama-clad brothers would escape to rescue a forgotten ball from the dirt driveway. Thankfully only his feet needed rewashing!

Jesus told Peter he was clean. Jesus’ message was this: If you’ve been washed by me, you are clean once and for all. This is the great claim of the Christian faith. We believe that the precious body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ was sacrificed for the complete forgiveness of all our sins. Because of Jesus we are totally clean, now and forever.

Yet the call to Peter and to us is to take up our cross daily and follow Jesus. Daily we place our feet on the path of faithful living. Daily we confess the ways our feet stray from that path. And daily we are invited to rejoice in the assurance that we’ve been pardoned, that because of Jesus we are freed, forgiven, and wonderfully clean!

Will you walk humbly today in this assurance? And to whom will your feet bring you? Maybe to someone in your own family or someone you meet on the street? No matter who we are or where we go, we are called to make the most of any opportunity the Lord puts in front of us.

PRAYER:

Gracious God, move my heart to daily confession and to walk humbly in the knowledge of your sacrifice. Guide my feet to those who need to know your forgiveness. Amen.

—WRITTEN BY RUTH BOVEN