A Pocket-Sized Pattern for Penitential Prayer
I have felt challenged over the years to get into the Lent spirit, trying out fasting, Ash Wednesday services and trying to pray more. I have always found this last one difficult to maintain throughout Lent, so, this year, I have produced a small, creative liturgy to journey through Lent with.
It comprises of a single, sheet of A4 printed on both sides, folded up into a small book shape. Sounds simple? As you unfold the paper, a series of prayer exercises are revealed; each one leading on from the last. The aim is to take you through a cycle of being still before God, confessing, setting out on a journey into the wilderness to pray and listen to God, before praying for others, recognising our forgiveness, and turning towards Good Friday and Easter.
Simply print out the pattern for prayer onto a single side of A4 (back to back, being careful to get it all the right way up!) Then open the Powerpoint file and follow the folding instructions, and the guide to use the pattern. Once you've followed the instructions, you probably won't need them again, and you have a simple, portable, pocket-sized pattern for penitential prayer.
These are the prayer exercises:
1. Be still and know (Psalm 46:10)
This is a little prayer exercise to get going. Each of the little crosses mean you should repeat a section. Add a word in, one at a time, repeating everything you have so far:
i.e. Be...Be still...Be still and...etc.
Until you have the whole verse, then say it again, then start taking the words away again:
i.e. Be still and know that I Am God...Be still and know that I Am...Be still and know that I...etc.
2. Jesus Prayer
This is prayer from the Orthodox tradition, and is what's known as a breath prayer. You breathe in while praying one half of the prayer in your head, and breathe out while you say the second half. Again, the little crosses are to remind you to repeat this prayer 6 times which represents imperfection (7 is perfect). This is appropriate as in Orthodox tradition, only God is Holy and perfect, and its a prayer of confession after all!
3. Sentence Prayers
This one is in three parts. You read the 6 sentences slowly about Jesus going into the desert, pausing between each statment. Open the left hand flap; this reveals 6 more beginnings to the sentences. We follow Jesus' example and imagine going out into the desert to pray and be with God. Next open the right hand flap, again, 6 more sentences. These are prayers for us in the desert.
4. In the desert
This one is about waiting, confessing and listening to God. The words are from Psalm 51 (vv 2,4,10 & 17) and this is the Psalm set for Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Its a psalm of confession and asking for God's forgiveness. Use this prayer reflection to be still and having confessed what gets in the way of your relationship with God, spend time listening to what God might be saying to you. Here are some quesitons you could ask while you wait: Are the footsteps going away or coming towards you? What is on the horizon? How much of the temptation narrative is here? How are you tempted? Where are you going in your life?
5. Labyrinth
This is about praying on the journey through life. It begins and ends with Psalm 143:1. As you follow through the maze, head towards the different words. What do they mean as part of a maze? What is blocking your journey towards each of the words? Who is with you on the journey? The maze heads towards God, represented as a symbol for the Trinity (Father, Son & Holy Spirit) and then out again.
6. Look to Easter
Here in a simple drawing we see the cross of Calvary and the empty tomb of Easter. Lent is about looking forward to Christ's passion, Good Friday and Easter Day. However, as Christians we live in the light of Easter day as forgiven children of God. If we spend time focused on our sinfulness, we need to be reminded of our forgiveness received through Christ. 'It is Finished' are Christ's last words on the cross. 'There is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus' is the high point of Paul's arguement in Romans, because of the cross and the empty tomb, we are forgiven.
7.Closing Prayer
We ask finally for God's mercy and compassion as we pray trusting that as we focus on God, we are changed because of his self-same mercy and compassion.
Now unfold everything, and refold it, ready to start again! Think about using the prayers everyday through Lent. Let us know what works well and what you would change.
Ash Wednesday (Year *)
First Sunday in Lent (Year A)
Fifth Sunday in Lent (Year B)
Good Friday (Year *)
Easter Vigil (Year *)
Easter Vigil (Year *)
Proper 4, Ordinary/Lectionary 9 (Year A)
Proper 10, Ordinary/Lectionary 15 (Year A)
Proper 13, Ordinary/Lectionary 18 (Year B)
Proper 19, Ordinary/Lectionary 24 (Year C)
Reign of Christ / Proper 29, Ordinary/Lectionary 34 (Year C)
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Comments
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Anne
But if we are born again we have access to the Father through Jesus. And we have confidence that faith in Jesus' sacrifice brings us righteousness by.
And if we receive the pouring out / gift / baptism of the Holy Spirit, he cries "Abba Father" in us and gives us the love for Jesus that surges up in prayer, and makes it exciting.
The early church worked this way in the Acts of Jesus, and that may be a good way to bring our focus to Jesus, rather than what seems to me a rather cerebral & liturgical approach.
Alan
Penitential prayer is really the same as confession and repentance; practices rooted in the earliest Christian churches and still found in all of the major Christian denominations. It has its roots throughout the biblical narrative, particularly in the Old Testament prophetic tradition (using the word "turn" or "return" see Hosea 6:1-3), and this is inherited in the gospels, first in John the Baptist's call to repentance (Mark 1:4), then in Jesus' ministry e.g. 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near' (Matt 4:17). Furthermore, Jesus recommends this in his pattern for prayer, often known as the Lord's Prayer, 'And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. (Luke 11:4a) This same call is then found from Paul in Acts 20:21 'as I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus.'
The on-going need for repentance can be understood from Paul's pairing of Repentance and Faith. When we put our faith in God, we must also repent of the sin that has separated us from God. We are brought into relationship with God through Jesus' death and resurrection, but we all still sin, still making things difficult within our relationship with God (see Romans 7:15-20). Penitential prayer gives us a way of approaching God with these parts of our lives, in faith, to be transformed by God's love through the Holy Spirit.
I find that including elements of penitence within my prayer life as part of a balanced diet of praise, adoration, petition and giving thanks is very helpful. I find that doing this helps me focus on God, not on the parts of my life I find difficult to bring before God. I find it helps me recognise all that God has done, and continues to do in my life, and inspires me to pray in the other ways I've suggested above. If you've not tried this, I'd graciously suggest its worth trying, if you don't find it helpful, then work out a balance that is right for you at this point in your walk with the Lord.
Grace and Peace,
Andy
Thanks for the explanation. My concern would be that using such formal & defined methods would encourage me to believe that I can do things to bring God's forgivenes. We can bring nothing to God except our sin & our sins, which he graciously forgives.
Our change of mind (repentance) together with confession is an essential entry into our new birth by the Holy Spirit. That must be a general confession for our general & comprehensive sin.
When we have been born again, our baptism in water is a powerful paradigm of our death to the law and our entry to the life of Jesus Christ. In this life we have entered through grace, we experience the righteousness of Christ, and sins become an aberration. When we sin we then do need to make specific confession and repentance for these our occasional & specific sins. We then have an advocate with the Father - Jesus Christ the righteous one. Our use of general confession of sins encourages us to evade particular sins, and so avoid the power of God to overcome them.
Romans 7 is part of Paul's discussion of the effect of the law in identifying & provoking sin. But at the end of the chapter & at the beginning of chapter 8, he proclaims Jesus as the one who frees us from the power of sin by His atoning death on the cross. The Grace of God frees us from the power of sin at our justification and new birth in the Spirit. In the same way God's Grace imparts topical power to overcome sins and produce the fruitful life of the Spirit in our sanctification. The work of the Holy Spirit in bringing to our minds the particular sin that God wants us to overcome, underlines the necessity, not only of baptism in water, but also of our baptism in the Holy Spirit.
The early church of Acts functioned in no other way, and we ignore their example at our peril. Paul's epistle to the Galations is an exposition of the power of Grace in the Christian life, and of the necessity of always living in Grace.
May Jesus bring grace & truth to both of us.
Alan,
Think we're definitely on the same page theologically here. In the end, the particular words we approach God with and the style we adopt often reflects both our theology and our personal preference. You're definitely right in saying that any method we choose to pray with can only bring parts of our lives to God and that we are always dependent on His mercy, love and grace. Formality of language and style are really helpful to some, but not for others. I flit between the two, some days I find the comfort of formal liturgy really helps me to voice my prayers, on other days words flow and I leave the scaffolding of liturgical prayer far behind. Whatever pattern we use (and this worship idea is only one pattern) it's about humbly approaching God and offering our lives to Him. Engage Worship offer a broad range of creative ideas to help us approach God, to pick and choose amongst a rich vein of available resources; some are formal liturgy, others leaping off points of creativity! Find what works for you and for your context and I pray that you continue to meet with God as you reach out to him!
Grace and Peace,
Andy