I am a sinner, Lord, with no way to save myself. I am the prodigal son, going my own way. It isn't until I am wishing I had the pigs food to eat, that I come to my senses and turn to you. While I am in the filth, you love me. You forgive me. Your grace is more than I can fathom.

This forgiveness that you have lavished on me, may I pass it on. You provide ways to do that that stretch me. Help me to stretch and not break. Help me to love others the way you love me. Give me the grace to lavish forgiveness on those who sin against me.

Lenten Prayer

I know you receive what is in my heart.
Let me be inspired by your words
and by the actions of your son, Jesus.
Guide me to make sacrifices this Lent
in the spirit of self-denial
and with greater attention to you
and to those around me.
Help me to believe that you will grant me this
because of the sacrifice Jesus made for me.


http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Lent/1st-week.html

Lenten Prayer

Father of my soul,
Mother of my heart,
I know your love for me is limitless beyond imagining.
You care for me as a loving parent.
Through my smallest Lenten sacrifices,
help me to become less selfish
and more aware of your ways.
Fan the flame of my desire
to draw ever closer to you.
Guide me to seek your love.



http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Lent/1st-week.html#tue

Daily Meditation: 

Bring us back to you. 

We repeat our desire that God bring us home from our wandering. 

We know that in the confusion that surrounds us and can fill us, 

we need the gift of Wisdom.

It is fitting that our very first “lesson” in our faith, 

is the last judgment scene that Jesus paints for us. 

We will be judged on whether we: 

  fed the hungry 

  welcomed the stranger 

  clothed the naked 

  comforted the sick 

  visited the imprisoned. 

It is powerful to re-learn this wisdom - 

Jesus identifies with each of these “least” cared for.

Who might we feed, welcome, clothe, comfort or visit this week?

As my heart might “resist” this mission, 

I might beg to be brought back, with all my heart.

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Lent/1st-week.html#sun

Daily Meditation: 

Bring us back to you. 

This week we pray for a renewal of our lives. 

We are beginning to be more attentive and alert. 

We are trying new patterns. 

The difficulties we encounter keep us humble.

Our desire is clear. 

We want the “self-sacrificing love of Christ” - 

which brings us mercy and healing - to be “reproduced in our lives.” 

In our journey, we seek to savor the meaning of Jesus' self-less love, 

that we might reflect that love to others. 

At the end of our journey, we will renew our baptismal promises. 

Dying with Jesus in baptism, we have a new life in him. 

Today, we desire nothing less than God's re-creating us - 

Bringing new life I to us.

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Lent/1st-week.html#sun

Lenten Prayer

O Lord, who hast mercy upon all,

take away from me my sins,

and mercifully kindle in me 

the fire of thy Holy Spirit.

Take away from me the heart of stone,

and give me a heart of flesh,

a heart to love and adore Thee,

a heart to delight in Thee,

to follow and enjoy Thee, for Christ's sake, Amen.

— Ambrose of Milan, 4th century bishop

Purify My Heart

Have you ever prayed that? Purify my heart.
Has God answered that prayer for you? Not an easy process, is it? Quite painful in fact. Yet when the healing takes place after the fire, how can we not be thankful! Perhaps the next time we pray something similar, it is with a little more trepidation. Yet we learn to love the Refiner's fire, for it is through that experience that we draw close to him, that we become more like him.
Purify my heart, Lord. Purify my heart.

World Peace Prayer

Lead me from death to life,
from falsehood to truth;
lead me from despair to hope,
from fear to trust;
lead me from hate to love,
from war to peace.
Let peace fill our heart,
our world, our universe. Amen.

A New Day

Today is a new day. May we look forward to it with anticipation and expectation that God is indeed present and active in our lives. May we bless and strengthen those with whom we come into contact.

Our Father's Love Letter to Us

You may not know me, but I know everything about you ... Psalm 139:1

I know when you sit down and when you rise up ... Psalm 139:2

I am familiar with all your ways... Psalm 139:3

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered... Matthew 10:29-31

For you were made in my image... Genesis 1:27

In me you live and move and have your being... Acts 17:28

For you are my offspring... Acts 17:28

I knew you even before you were conceived... Jeremiah 1:4-5

I chose you when I planned creation... Ephesians 1:11-12

You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book... Psalm 139:15-16

I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live... Acts 17:26

You are fearfully and wonderfully made... Psalm 139:14

I knit you together in your mother's womb... Psalm 139:13

And brought you forth on the day you were born... Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me... John 8:41-44

I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love... 1 John 4:16

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you simply because you are my child and I am your father... 1 John 3:1

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could... Matthew 7:11

For I am the perfect father... Matthew 5:48

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand... James 1:17

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs... Matthew 6:31-33

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope... Jeremiah 29:11

Because I love you with an everlasting love... Jeremiah 31:3

My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore... Psalm 139:17-18

And I rejoice over you with singing... Zephaniah 3:17

I will never stop doing good to you... Jeremiah 32:40

For you are my treasured possession... Exodus 19:5

I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul... Jeremiah 32:41

And I want to show you great and marvelous things... Jeremiah 33:3

If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me... Deuteronomy 4:29

Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart... Psalm 37:4

For it is I who gave you those desires... Philippians 2:13

I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine... Ephesians 3:20

For I am your greatest encourager... 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles... 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you... Psalm 34:18

As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart... Isaiah 40:11

One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes and will take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth... Revelation 21:3-4

I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus... John 17:23

For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed.... John 17:26

He is the exact representation of my being... Hebrews 1:3

He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you... Romans 8:31

And to tell you that I am not counting your sins... 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled... 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you... 1 John 4:10

I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love... Romans 8:31-32

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me... 1 John 2:23

And nothing will ever separate you from my love again... Romans 8:38-39

Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen... Luke 15:7

I have always been Father, and will always be Father... Ephesians 3:14-15

My question is...Will you be my child? ... John 1:12-13

I am waiting for you... Luke 15:11-32

Father's Love Letter Compiled by Barry Adams Copyright 1999