Let’s follow up on yesterday’s Lent Devotional for Women post. In it, we talked about finding our daily pocket of prayer. Did it stress you out thinking you had to find, make or create that little, sacred space in time? Did it feel like just one more thing to write in an already filled calendar square?
Not to stress you out more, but in order for us to do what we need to do in this life, and I’m not only talking in our spiritual life, I’m talking every blessed thing in life, we have to spend time with God. We have to converse with God. Especially since our goal is love in this Lent Devotional for Women, we have to spend time with Love.
Look, we might be able to run on fumes, reserves or whatever you want to call it, but not for long. We all know that right? So why even try, we’re too old and too smart for that. We’re also too tired for that. So why do we keep doing the same thing, expecting a different result?
It’s like gambling a saggy diaper will hold one more time. Gambling the debit card will take just one more charge. Gambling we can stuff one more towel into the washing machine. Gambling we can make it one more mile before stopping for a toddler potty break. Gambling our favorite leggings can make it one more day before we they have to be washed.
You’re laughing right now because we’ve all done it…and suffered the consequences. So let’s not even try to cheat the divine economic system ok?
If Christ prayed…and He did…we must pray as well, period, end of the story.
I read an interesting article on Wikipedia about the prayers of Christ. It listed six times the gospels record words that Jesus spoke in prayer. Of special note in this Lent Devotional for Women post are the prayers He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and the prayers He prayed from the cross.
In the Garden, Jesus prayed that the cup might pass from Him. He then prayed that the Father’s Will be done. And of note I think, He repeated these prayers. It’s ok to be repetitive in our prayers, the Son of God was. But He didn’t just repeat the petition–asking if the cup could pass Him by, He also repeated the resignation–not His Will but God’s Will be done.
Look at Hebrews 5:7, “While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God.” (emphasis mine)
Guess what a synonym for reverence is, love. What are we spending this Lent talking about? Love.
The prayers Jesus prayed from the cross were for forgiveness, “Father, forgive them they know not what they do.” Prayers prayed in agony, “My God, my God, why has Thou forsaken Me?“ And prayers of resignation, “Into Thy hands I commend My Spirit.”
Let me quickly add, in these examples of the prayers of Jesus, I see resignation as a trustful surrender to God the Father. Do you? Our Online Bible Study Community talked about “Three Ways to Break the Chains of Anxiety and Fear.” Of course, there are more, we didn’t even cover the practical, physical ways like walking, cutting caffeine and sugar, etc.
I’ll hit the bullet points quickly from that conversation our Online Bible Study Community had. It was a great night of study! You should join us, we meet every Wednesday in a Live Zoom Call (recorded for those who can’t make the live), plus we have a private Facebook group.
Lent Devotional for Women: Three Ways to Cut Anxiety and Fear
1. Do What I Can Do
–Repent (Matthew 4:17)
–Follow Jesus (Matthew 4:19)
–Rejoice (Matthew 5:11-12)
–Be a Light Matthew 5:16
2. Give to God What I Cannot Do
–Here we brainstormed the things we cannot do. Of special note, we cannot control the thoughts and feelings of others. Actually, we can’t really control others, period.
3. Trust God with the Rest
Psalm 145:9
Nahum 1:7
Isaiah 40:29
Jeremiah 29:11
Then we discussed how to learn to trust God.
1. Don’t Depend on Myself
2. Cry Out to God
3. Run From Evil
4. Put God First
5. Listen to the Holy Spirit
6. Rest in God’s Love
We ended on the importance of seeking peace and pursuing it (Psalm 34:14) and why living in peace is so important in all areas of our life (2 Corinthians 13:11).
All of the above, plus all that we’ve covered so far in our Lent Devotional for Women, encourages me to pray the big, hard prayers and then trust that God has heard me and wants the best for me.
With this meditation in mind and considering the meditations of the past couple of days, take a moment to answer these questions:
Did you find your pocket of time?
When is it?
Where is it?
What does it look like?
Share with us in the comments. You might just help a tired, weary soul find her own pocket.
Read the rest of the Lent Devotional for Women posts.
Susan says
Right now, I’m sitting near the entrance of my counsellor’s office, reading TLW. I’m being treated for complex PTSD. I’m waiting for my partner to pick me up and decided that this is a perfect time to pray. I have much to be grateful for today.
Jenny says
I love your attitude! Good job for taking care of you♥
Emily Anne says
My pocket of time and place is where and when I think about my family, life’s worries, challenges, and successes. For me this is at work. The rush of the morning getting everyone ready for school, fed, and out the door and then returning home to get everyone fed, settled, spending some individual prayer time my husband with the kids, and then getting all to bed has made me rethink my own prayer time. I make the choice to come in earlier to work before my work day begins and take that quiet time to shut my office door, read the days readings, reflect on them in relation to my current thoughts, and then pray on them through my journaling. I switched to a daily planner where I list each day’s to-dos, but it also serves to help me pray over my day, family’s day, friend’s day, co-workers’ day, etc. Doing so and using my daily planner as so helps me keep God at the forefront in everything I do (because it is a struggle when stress and anxiety want to make a “triumphant return” haha) . Once that prayer time is done, I open my office door like,”I’m ready, World!” 🙂
Jenny says
Lovely Emily Anne! I like how you are using your planner. I’ve just started using a Happy Planner and LOVE it! I’m going to consider how to incorporate your ideas into it.
Katie says
My pocket…early in the morning when all is quiet.
Jenny says
The early morning is nice isn’t it…said as I’m sitting at my computer after everyone, or at least the younger ones have gone to bed, lol! The recent time change has totally rocked my early morning schedule, ugh!
Rebecca says
My place currently is the master bedroom, either in the chair or our bed. This is where I do my mediation, and read that days Mass readings. When my kids were little it was in the living room and I would get up before they did and as soon as I heard them I would grab my clean dish towel (or something similar) and place it over my head and they knew they needed to be extra quiet while I finished praying. They could still come sit in my lap but were very quiet and would just cuddle until I was done. Of course there were times when they caught me when I just started but I would just shorten my prayer time and try and resume later. I have had several other adaptations throughout the years (like in the van at soccer or piano lessons etc). There are also many times that I have gotten out of the routine and have to work hard to get back into it. I know that once I am out of that routine (usually due to illness, vacation, or schedule changes) Satan works very hard to keep me from it. So my prayer always begins with asking Our Lady to help me make that time to spend with her Son!!! I would love to know how others carve out that time to spend in prayer.
Oh one last thing, I have also been known to use the concept used for working out, if I can’t find 30 minutes all together, I will do 3 sessions of 10 minutes each or just 2 if my day was that busy but then I work to make sure that I do the all 3 the next day.
Jenny says
Hey Rebecca. I love how you can break it up throughout the day if needed. I sometimes have the “all or nothing” mindset so this is helpful to me to consider.