The wonder of prayer
Lent – Wandering and wondering
‘He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.’
(Mark 1:12 NRSV)
Jesus, saviour and redeemer –
• We cry mercy for the people of Ukraine as the war enters its second year.
• We pray for all those living through the aftermath of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
• We welcome your comfort as we journey through our own wildernesses of doubt and uncertainty.
• As Spring dawns, teach us to plant seeds of hope among our loved-ones, in our churches and around our communities.
Jesus, you found in the wilderness both temptation and solace.
Keep us company in our wanderings, Give us hope in our trials, And help us turn our barren ground into a place of prayer.
Amen.
Jesus’ wilderness wanderings after his baptism were testing times, yet later in the Gospels we read that he often withdrew to the wilderness to pray. It had become for him a place of encounter with the Father.
Where is our place of testing? What are the questions which unsettle us? How might we make that testing place a place of prayer?
To sign up for regular updates from the Changing Lives Prayer Network, visit canterburydiocese.org/prayer or email lbywater@diocant.org
Image: ‘Maranatha’ by Primrose Northrop
