Prayer Rooms this week:
- Today – 9am | 12 Bassett Street or on Zoom
- Tuesday – 7:30am | 12 Bassett Street
Opening Prayer (for the 3rd Sunday in Lent)
Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Scripture
Joel 2:12-32
12 “Even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
13 Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
14 Who knows? He may turn and relent
and leave behind a blessing—
grain offerings and drink offerings
for the Lord your God.
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
declare a holy fast,
call a sacred assembly.
16 Gather the people,
consecrate the assembly;
bring together the elders,
gather the children,
those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room
and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests, who minister before the Lord,
weep between the portico and the altar.
Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
18 Then the Lord was jealous for his land
and took pity on his people.
For Prayer
Read the passage again, slowly. Pay attention to what the Holy Spirit is breathing on or highlighting as you read. Begin praying from that place.
Ask the Lord:
- Pray upward: How does this scripture leading me to praise God or give Him thanks?
- Pray inward: How does this scripture reveal sin in my life or the lives of others or bringing conviction? How is it calling for repentance, a change of heart and mind?
- Pray outward: How does this scripture lead me to pray for God’s Kingdom to come in my life, home, church, neighborhood, city?
Closing Prayer
O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness during the day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
In Our Time 