Week Four

Prayers for taking stock

SEEDS TO SOW: CAN IT EVER BE ‘TOO EARLY’ OR ‘TOO LATE’ TO PRAY? *

Read Matthew 13: 1-23

A prayer in the garden.

Using the garden as an analogy for our spiritual lives. This is the time of the year when we start thinking about planting and planning. Making space for new things to grow.

Discuss how the sower sows seeds seemingly randomly. What are the new areas of service we need to make room in our lives for in order that we may flourish?

Discuss the methods that can be used to help prioritise the things that matter.

Read Luke 22: 54-62

A prayer for kindling the fire, tending the flames, and clearing the ashes.

A fireplace metaphor for Ash Wednesday. There is something prophetic about kindling a fire, tending the flames, and clearing the ashes. I have often thought about Peter at the fire warming himself, before denying Jesus. Then that Jesus look, as Peter rakes over the ashes of what once was. Days later around another fire — one Jesus had kindled —- he would, hear a prophetic word about his own future, and the fire would ignite once again.

In some Christian traditions ashes are used as a visual sign of repentance on Ash Wednesday. Think of Peter raking over the ashes. How can the imagery help us reflect as we begin Lent?

Read Matthew 6: 25-34

A prayer before a deadline.

A prayer of perspective. This passage of scripture helps us put our lives in perspective. Sometimes when we are under great pressure we need to release the valve. What does it profit us if we reach the deadline only to find we are dead on arrival. What advice is Jesus giving us in these verses about perspective?

* SEEDS TO SOW: These are open-ended and optional prompts and are designed for people wanting to develop their own resources in response to the themes. Perhaps if you are using this material as a group you could use these prompts to inspire a time of prayer, or drawing, or creative writing? They are a short and sweet, simply a starting off place for you and your imagination. Tailor and develop as suits your group.