LENT 2022 | FORTY DAYS OF POETRY, PRAYERS, AND PENS

“One of the observations that came out of our Lenten small groups in 2021 was that many Plymouth members have a desire to learn more about prayer. Many of us have a problem with prayer: we are undisciplined, chaotic, irregular, too busy, not busy enough, and loaded with excuses. Some of us think we never learned to pray, while others learned prayer through rote memorization and repetition. We are afraid of saying the wrong thing, and afraid of saying the right thing.”
— Jacque Jones

scroll to the bottom of the page to read the rest of Jacque’s introduction.

 

An Introduction to the Forty Days of Poetry, Prayers, and Pens

One of the observations that came out of our Lenten small groups in 2021 was that many Plymouth members have a desire to learn more about prayer. Many of us have a problem with prayer: we are undisciplined, chaotic, irregular, too busy, not busy enough, and loaded with excuses. Some of us think we never learned to pray, while others learned prayer through rote memorization and repetition. We are afraid of saying the wrong thing, and afraid of saying the right thing.

This Lenten community project is a response to that need. The spiritual practice of Lent is an opportunity for us to explore private prayer in a disciplined way. We are inviting each participant to write a prayer for each day of Lent using a shared guide. I am deeply indebted to Rachel G. Hackenberg and her book Writing to God: 40 Days of Praying with my Pen which served as a model for our format.

The structure we are using for these prayers could have taken any number of forms, but I selected a form that uses the poetry of hymns as a point of departure. That poetry, along with a scriptural quote and a prose “prompt,” provides the springboard for writing a prayer each day.

It is easy to forget that the hymns we sing are poetry, and that those who write them are poets. Poets use elevated language and illusion to shine a light on their topic, whether that subject is love or generosity or justice – and in this case, to give language to faith and to the God we worship. Poetic language stretches our minds and enlivens our thinking. It gives us new ways of looking at old things, new ways to think about God, and new language to talk about and with God.

There are thousands of congregational songs in the Christian canon, so to narrow the field for this Plymouth project, I chose to focus on hymns in our hymnal. Given that Hymns of Truth and Light has over 550 hymns – and we only needed 40 – it seemed like that was workable. One caveat: since our hymnal was collected 25 years ago, thousands of new congregational songs have been written. Our hymnal underrepresents many voices, so limiting the choices to those in our hymnal also limits the voices we will hear. That is the context in which we are working.

While everyone seems to agree that Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, opinions differ about whether Sundays are included. We are taking the position that Lent ends on Holy Saturday. Traditionally, Sundays are not included in Lent but why should we skip those days as an opportunity for prayer? You make the call – no one will be checking up on you.

The format of the prayer guide that you have before you will offer a phrase or verse from a hymn (along with the name of the poet and the hymnal page), a scripture, and a prose paragraph inspired by the poetry. You may use either the hymn, the scripture, both, or neither as you write your prayer. We have also included links for many of the hymns, if you want to hear them or sing along. But the emphasis is on the poetry.

Here are some things to keep in mind as you write (loosely adapted from Rachel Hackenburg):

  • Simply put, prayer is talking to God. Whether you are praying with your pen (as we are encouraging this Lent) or praying aloud, the object is the same – to tell God what is in your heart. Prayer is the soul talking to the God who created the soul.

  • Prayer requires practice. This project will offer you a structure in which to practice for 40 days.

  • This is intended to be a writing exercise, and we hope you will take up that challenge.

  • Praying can be cerebral, but this is a project which engages your whole body. While we certainly do not discourage speaking or thinking a prayer, the intention here is that you will be physically engaged with your prayers – your muscles, your senses, and your hands will all be involved in putting your prayers on paper.

  • Let the words flow and find their own way. Give the Spirit some space to work. Try to be honest and authentic. Allow yourself to be vulnerable.

  • Use a pen and paper. With a pencil you may be tempted to edit.

  • Don’t edit. If you absolutely MUST edit, wait until after Easter.

  • Remember that prayers may take many forms: prose, poetry, lists, single words, doodles, fragments. They can be long or short. Your prayer is whatever you want it to be.

  • You may wish to keep a notebook for your prayers, but if inspiration comes when your notebook is not around, write on anything.

  • Some people will find it helpful to set aside a particular time of day to write their prayer. Or maybe not.

  • Don’t flog yourself if you miss a day. In fact, don’t flog yourself about any part of this project. Trust that whatever you write is perfect in God’s eyes.

All of us are trying, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to live into a relationship with the living God revealed in Jesus Christ. Like every other relationship, this relationship requires honest and regular communication. And being good at communicating requires practice. We hope that you will make every effort to write a prayer each day during Lent.