Dear God, as we continue to observe the Lenten Season with prayers, fasting, penitence, and alms-giving, let us continue to be vigilant in prayer, earnest in prayer, persistent in prayer, and most importantly, to be specific in our prayers; being confident that prayer changes everything!
Lord, we come to you in prayer, because we know that you are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call upon you. I am so thankful dear Lord for the ability to pray and for the utterance you give me each day. Thank you, Lord, for all those who have the ability to hear me pray; make me a blessing to someone today. Lord, you hear sinners’ prayers and I am a sinner saved by grace; you know my rising and my sitting, you understand my weaknesses and my shortcomings, you see me when I fail, you understand my thoughts afar off, but yet, you surround me with your love. Thank you, Lord!
“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again. Isaiah 43:25
As far as the East is from the West, so far has the Lord removed our sins from us, as a father cares for his children, so the Lord cares for those who fear him. Psalm 103:12
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger, and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. Psalm 145:8-9.
“There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, like the wideness of the sea, there’s a kindness in God’s justice which is more than liberty. There is welcome for the sinner, and more graces for the good, there is mercy with the Savior, and there is healing in his blood. But we make God’s love too narrow, by false limits of our own, and we magnify its strictness, with a zeal God will not own. For the love of God is broader than the measures of the mind, and the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.” Thank you, Lord!
O God, we sin against you, in thought, word, and deed, forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
“If I have wounded some poor soul today, if I have caused one foot to go astray, if I have walked in my own willful way, dear Lord, forgive. If I have uttered idle words in vain, if I have turned aside from want or pain, lest I offend some other through the strain, dear Lord, forgive. Forgive the sins I have confessed to Thee, forgive the secret sins I do not see, Oh, guide me, love me, and my keeper be, dear Lord, forgive.”
The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel. Mark 1:15
Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38
“Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”
Were you there when they crucified my Lord? You and I may not have been at Calvary on that dreadful day when Jesus was spat upon, beaten, made to wear a crown of thorns, or forced to drink vinegar when he asked for water; He was condemned to die, for no reason other than His love for us. But how do we repay him? We crucify Him all over again every time we sin, by thought, word, or deed. We continue to nail Him to the cross over and over again. But, how long Lord, will you allow us to continue on in this rebellious way? This Lenten Season is about penitence, forgiveness, repentance, and alms-giving. Jesus is giving us yet another opportunity to repent and accept the gift of salvation He has promised to us; and if we turn from our rebellious ways, if we confess our sins, He is faithful, and just, and will forgive us for all unrighteousness.
Jesus’ death on the cross, was for our liberty. “Would you be free from your burden of sin? There’s power in the blood, power in the blood; would you over evil a victory win? There’s wonderful power in the blood.”
“The blood that gives me strength from day to day, will never lose its power. There is power, power, wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb, there is power, power, wonder-working power, in the precious blood of the Lamb. So, would you be free from your passion and pride? Come for a cleansing at Calvary’s tide; for there is wonderful power in that blood.”
That Cross! “Oh, I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, ’till my trophies, at last, I lay down; I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it someday for a crown.”
“On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame; and I love that old cross where the Dearest and Best, for a world of lost sinners was slain. Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world, has a wondrous attraction for me; for the dear Lamb of God left His glory above, to bear it to dark Calvary. In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine, a wondrous beauty I see,
for ’twas on that old cross, Jesus suffered and died, to pardon and sanctify me. That’s why I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, ’till my trophies, at last, I lay down; I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it someday for a crown.”
Lord, this Lenten Season creates an opportunity like no other time of the year, to reflect on the sacrifice you made for us, by giving your Son Jesus, to die on the cross, so that we might live. Thank you, Lord!
“When I survey the wondrous cross, on which the Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride. See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow, and love, flow mingled down. Did ever such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown? Lord, this love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.” I give it all to you, Jesus!
“Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.” To God be the glory!
Heavenly Father, I am so thankful for your grace that found me when I was lost and opened my eyes to see your goodness. Lord, there is so much darkness in our lives and in the world around us, we are shrouded, and need your grace to unveil us. Lord, my prayer, my hope, is that all those who are walking in darkness, who have eyes, yet do not see, that in your time, you will do for them what you did for that blind beggar, who after receiving his sight, could not stop telling others that he was blind, but now can see. Thank you, Lord, for removing the darkness in my life, a darkness that allowed me to stray, but your grace that brought me home. Thank you, Lord!