Two weeks from now it’ll be Lent, Lord,
so this morning I’m praying
you’ll help me sit down, be quiet
and get a head start
on preparing and planning
what I’ll do this year for Lent…
Or maybe what I really need to do
is to sit down, be quiet
and give you some room in my soul,
so you can get a head start
on preparing me
for what what you’ve got planned,
what you want to do
in my mind and heart, in my life
this Lent…
After all, Lord,
who knows better than you
what needs to change in me:
in my words and my deeds,
my thoughts and desires,
my appetites and habits,
my relationships and affections,
my prejudice and bias,
my honesty and fairness,
my selfishness and pride
my integrity and loyalty…
Who knows better than you:
how my heart needs rebooting,
my path needs rerouting,
my prayer needs deepening,
my generosity needs stretching,
my honesty needs honing,
my passions need taming,
my ego needs humbling,
and my conscience needs fine tuning…
Who knows better than you, Lord,
what things I should give up, let go,
leave behind, sacrifice, give away
and learn to live without?
Who knows better than you, Lord,
the time I could spend with you in prayer
that instead I waste in foolish, empty ways?
Who knows better than you, Lord,
all I have – and all that I could share –
with those who have much less than I?
Who knows better than you, Lord,
how my heart might heal this Lent?
how my faith might grow this Lent?
how my ways might change this Lent?
how my hope and trust in you might change
this Lent – and in my life…
You have a plan, Lord,
a plan for me for Lent,
a plan for what you want to do
in my heart and in my life
a plan for what you want to do
in my heart and in my life
in those sacred 40 days…
Help me see and know your plan,
your Lenten plan for me, Lord,
and open wide my heart
with your gracious, healing mercy…
Ash Wednesday is March 5 . . .
