FORTY DAYS OF POETRY, PRAYERS, AND PENS | WEEK TWO
Welcome to week two of this Plymouth Community Lenten Project. Our continuing goal is to write 40 prayers in 40 days. Each week during Lent, Plymouth is circulating a week of prayer “prompts” and we hope that you will use these as a springboard to write your own personal prayers.
The entry for each day includes a selection of poetry from a hymn, a scriptural reference, and a prayer prompt. Spend some time with each of these sources of inspiration, and then write a prayer. If you would like to read the “preface” to this project, with suggestions about how to approach the prayers, you may read it at the bottom of this page.
This project is intended to be an individual project – something that you do on your own time and at your own pace, under no obligation to share with others. However, if you would like to continue the conversation about prayer, you are welcome to attend the discussion on Sunday mornings at 9:45 AM at Plymouth – you can register for this group or come spontaneously as a walk-in.
MONDAY, MARCH 7
Jesus’ Hands were Kind Hands (171) by Margaret Cropper
“Take my hands, O Jesus,
let them work for you,
make them strong and gentle,
kind in all I do.”
Mark 8:23-26 - He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?” And the man looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
Mark 10:16 - And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
All around the world, people are selflessly doing God’s work in grand and simple ways. Think about some of these people as you write a prayer asking God to put your hands to work, and asking God to watch over all faithful laborers around the world.
TUESDAY, MARCH 8
I Have No Bucket and the Well is Deep (394) by Brian Wren
“I have no bucket and the well is deep.
My thirst is endless, and my throat is dry.”
Psalm 63:1 –
O God, you are my God, I seek you,
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Too often we think we can go it alone. Stiff upper lip and all that. Write a prayer asking God for the honesty to own your vulnerability and exploring your need for God’s help.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9
O Worship the King (16) by Robert Grant
“Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
in thee do we trust, nor find thee to fail;
thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end,
our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.”
John 15:12-15 - ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.’
Friendship can be defined as a relationship of mutual trust, honesty, and affection, among people who listen to each other. Write a prayer to God exploring what it means to say that God is your friend.
THURSDAY, MARCH 10
Shadow and Substance (385) by Daniel Charles Damon
“Shadow and substance, wonder and mystery,
spellbinding spinner of atoms and earth;
soul of the cosmos, person and energy,
source of our being, we sing of your worth.”
Genesis 16:13 - And the angel of the Lord said to her, ‘Now you have conceived and shall bear a son; you shall call him Ishmael, for the Lord has given heed to your affliction. He shall be a wild ass of a man, with his hand against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; and he shall live at odds with all his kin.’ So she named the Lord who spoke to her, ‘You are El-roi’; for she said, ‘Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing God?’
God is called by many names. In the scripture above, the enslaved and abused woman Hagar gives God a name which means “God who sees me.” Choose one of the names in this hymn and write a prayer using that name. Or if you have a favorite name for God, use that name.
FRIDAY, MARCH 11
I want Jesus to Walk With Me (471) by African American Spiritual
“When I’m troubled, Lord, walk with me;
when I’m troubled, Lord, walk with me;
when my head is bowed in anguish,
Lord, I want Jesus to walk with me.”
Luke 24:13-17 - Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad.
Some days it seems like God is the only one who is listening. Rewrite today’s hymn phrase as your own prayer, replacing the words troubled and walk with what you want God to hear.
SATURDAY, MARCH 12
Lord, You Give the Great Commission (355) by Jeffery Rowthorn
“Lord you make the common holy:
‘This my body, this my blood.’”
Luke 22:19-20 - Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’
Ordinary bread. Ordinary wine. Extraordinary event. Pray that God will help you to find the extraordinary in the ordinary.
SUNDAY, MARCH 13
Choose a congregational song from among the ones sung on Sunday morning. Select a stanza or a phrase that resonates with you, and let it guide you into a prayer.
All hymn texts are selected from Plymouth’s hymnal Hymns of Truth and Light. Copyright information for each text may be found on the indicated page. Scripture is taken from the New Revised Standard Version.