Lent, 2024: Lent Week 4
Throughout Lent, The Garden will be practicing consistent rhythms of daily prayer through a movement that invites participation in personal devotional time. Each practice will look at a psalm from the Revised Common Lectionary, both as an invitation to prayer and a guide for it. These practices are repeated daily throughout the week, include questions for reflection, and will be supplemented by a weekly podcast called Lent in Conversation, available on our site or through our regular podcast feed. The “Reflection” component below and much of the overall movement has been adapted from Practicing the Way’s four-week Prayer practice, available for free on their site. We invite you to join us as we pray together this week through the words of Psalm 107.
Creating God, your fingers trace
The bold designs of farthest space;
Let sun and moon and stars and light
And what lies hidden praise your might.
Redeeming God, your arms embrace
All now despised for creed or race;
Let peace, descending like a dove,
Make known on earth your healing love.
Indwelling God, your gospel claims
One family with a billion names;
Let every life be touched by grace
Until we praise you face to face.
JEFFREY ROWTHORN
RHYTHM
Plan on setting aside at least twelve to fifteen minutes at the start of each day this week. (If you already observe such a practice, consider increasing that time for this practice throughout Lent.) Find a space that feels inviting and open, an uncluttered place in your home or outside of it. Put away distractions. Set digital devices to Do Not Disturb. Take a deep breath and rest. Open your time with the Collect for Purity, from The Book of Common Prayer:
Almighty God,
To You all hearts are open, all desires known, and from You no secrets are hid. Cleanse the thoughts of my heart by the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit, that I may perfectly love you and worthily magnify Your holy name, through Christ, my Lord.
Amen
Take time to read through Psalm 107 in its entirety, pausing between the sections indicated below to seek God in specific ways through its words and invitations:
Read the whole Psalm, taking time to imagine and visualize each story being told. It might help to close your eyes and picture those who were “wandering in the desert” or “lost at sea”. What do their faces look like? What do their voices sound like as they cry out to God for help? There might be a scenario that feels close to your lived experience, either currently or in the past. The good news in each of the scenes that the Psalm describes is that God’s posture toward the pray-ers is compassion. Whether you wound up where you are because of your own choices, the way others harmed you, or a mixture of both, God’s response to your cries for help doesn’t change. He longs to bring redemption to all of these seemingly hopeless spaces. With that in mind, take a moment to cry out to God in the way the Psalm describes. Ask him specifically for where you need His redemptive power.
Return to verses 1-3. The Psalm invites you not just to recount God’s faithfulness in other people’s lives, but to tell your story. Prayer is not a place for you to escape from the story in which you live. It is the place where you can learn to tell your story more truthfully. For now, we only see our lives and our stories “dimly”, as Paul wrote. But that doesn’t mean we are not invited to prayerfully consider where God’s kindness is working to bring redemption to all those unfinished stories. It’s only as we share our stories of longing and grief – together, that we are able to see in greater detail, the beautiful story of redemption that includes all of “those he gathered”. Take a moment to ask the Holy Spirit to give you a curiosity about where He is working in your story today. Maybe you’ll have a moment to share it with a friend or somebody new, and see God’s kindness more clearly as you tell your stories together..
Finally, spend a few minutes in silence, listening to God speak to you, through these words of scripture or in your heart. To end your time, pray this prayer, adapted from The Worship Sourcebook:
O Lord God,
You led Your people through the wilderness and brought them to the promised land. So guide me today that, following my Savior, I may walk through the wilderness of this world toward the glory of the world to come, through Your Son, Jesus Christ, my Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen
REFLECTION
Prayer is primarily about listening. God initiates the experience, and we take Him up on the awesome invitation to hear His voice. The beauty of prayer is in realizing that the opportunity to listen does not end with a spoken “amen” but continues unbroken as we walk in step with the Spirit.
Sometimes God speaks in different ways. He might remind you of a Bible verse or passage. He might bring someone or something specific to mind. If you are new to the experience of prayer, keep in mind that when the Lord speaks to us it is always consistent with what the Bible reveals about His ways and character, and that often when He speaks, we know it's His voice because of how contrary to our flesh and weakness His words sound.
Write down what comes to mind and heart as you pray this week and reflect on Psalm 107. What has God told you, through His word and in your heart? What has he reminded you about? What has he challenged in you? Who or what has He drawn you to?
In addition to these reflection prompts, we think that this psalm ties in well with the fruit of kindness. God doesn’t paint pictures of goodness to leave us intimidated by a life we’ll never be able to obtain. He comes to us in our weakness and need, longing to do the work of new creation. There is a hope for goodness that remains steadily on the horizon because God Himself holds it for us. In your time during this practice and the rest of the day that follows it, consider the following questions:
How have prayer and fasting this week challenged you in cultivating the fruit of kindness?
How have prayer and fasting helped you in cultivating the fruit of kindness?
For a deeper dive into this psalm and this fruit of the Spirit, listen to the Lent in Conversation supplemental podcast episodes, available in our Resources tab above or in our regular podcast feed.
Find more curated resources, links, devotionals, and more to help you as pray this week under the Resources tab above.
