Reformation Lutheran Church A Congregation of the ELCA

Daily Devotions for Lent 2019

This is the 28^th annual edition of Daily Devotions for Lent, written and edited by members and friends of Reformation Lutheran Church. Every year we try to come up with a different theme, one that will inspire our contributors and our readers alike. Themes have included sunlight, water, flowers, trees and rocks. We have focused on hymns, parables, promises and hope. Much of faith remains a mystery, and the mystery of grace has itself served as a theme.

Our theme this year is simply “Lent.” What does Lent really mean to us? How and where are we finding God as we travel through these 40 days? How are we connecting our daily lives with Jesus’ life, death and resurrection? Those are big questions, and so we turned to scripture and to the Daily Lectionary for texts that would guide us in our meditation. (The Daily Lectionary is a listing of Biblical texts appointed for each day throughout the year.)

There was nothing easy about the lectionary texts. Some of them were quite difficult for our writers to wrap their heads around, but the net result of wrestling with scripture is, we hope, insight and inspiration. Thanks to all our writers, several of whom are new contributors to this ministry. Sharing one’s faith in an open forum like this is a little like praying in front of a group – you think the words must be perfect before you can speak. Not so. The words matter less than what’s in our hearts. Thanks for boldly sharing your faith stories.

A Lenten Prayer

Bless now, O God, the journey that all your people make,
the path through noise and silence, the way of give and take.
The trail is found in desert and winds the mountain round, then leads beside still waters;
the road where faith is found.

Bless sojourners and pilgrims who share this winding way; your hope burns through the terrors;
your love sustains the day.
We yearn for holy freedom while often we are bound;
together we are seeking the road where faith is found.

Divine eternal lover, you meet us on the road.
We wait for lands of promise where milk and honey flow.
But waiting not for places, you meet us all around.
Our covenant is written on roads where faith is found.

(Text: Sylvia G Dunstan. ELW 326)