In four days, Ash Wednesday begins the Lenten season - forty days (excluding Sundays) of preparation leading to Easter. The practice dates to the early church, when new converts would spend forty days in intensive preparation for baptism at Easter. Eventually, the whole church joined them
Return to Me with all your heart - not just outward actions but genuine turning. I'm not impressed by fasting and rituals if your heart isn't in it. Tear your heart, not just your garments. Come back to Me, because I'm gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. I'm re
Father, I'm scared you'll leave me like everyone else has. I know you promise to never forsake me, but I struggle to believe it because everyone eventually leaves. People have disappointed me, abandoned me, walked away when I needed them most. I keep expecting you to do the same - to final
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). Jesus quoted Psalm 22 from the cross, crying out in the moment he experienced what we fear most - abandonment by God. For the first and only time in eternity, the Father turned away from the Son. Jesus experienced the full weight
Be strong and courageous - not because you're naturally brave, but because I am with you. I will never leave you, never forsake you, never abandon you to face anything alone. When you're scared, remember who's with you. When you're weak, remember whose strength you carry. You are never alo
Lord, I've been avoiding mourning, scared that if I start feeling the pain I'll be overwhelmed by it. I've kept myself too busy to grieve, too distracted to feel, too numb to acknowledge how much it hurts. But you say mourners are blessed - not because grief is good but because honest mour
Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes - a list of blessings that sound more like curses. "Blessed are the poor in spirit... Blessed are those who mourn... Blessed are the meek" (Matthew 5:3-5). These aren't the people culture considers blessed. We bless the confident, the
When your heart breaks, I move closer - not farther away. I'm not distant from your pain or disappointed by your brokenness. I'm near to the brokenhearted, saving those who are crushed in spirit. Your brokenness doesn't drive Me away; it draws Me closer. I'm here, right in the middle of yo
Jesus, I confess I've been trying to become what I already am, to achieve what you already accomplished, to earn what you already gave. I've been exhausting myself trying to transform when you already transformed me at conversion. My old self was crucified with you - I need to stop resurre
Paul wrote: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). Not "I'm trying to crucify the old self" or "I hope someday the old self dies" - it already happened. Past tense. Accomplished fact. Your old self was crucified with Christ. You a
You are a new creation in Christ - not will be someday, not trying to become, but already are. The old has gone; the new has come. You're not working toward newness; you're learning to live into the newness that's already yours. Stop trying to become what you already are. Just be who I've
Father, I've made leaders into either heroes or villains, expecting them to be saviors or condemning them as failures. I've put people on pedestals they never asked to be on, then been devastated when they fell. I've trusted leaders to fix what only you can fix, giving them authority over
February
Today is Presidents' Day, originally established to honor George Washington's birthday (February 22, 1732) but now a federal holiday recognizing all U.S. presidents. Washington was extraordinary - unanimously elected, voluntarily stepped down after two terms, set precedents that shaped Ame
February
I will fight for you; you only need to be still. Not fight harder, not try more strategies, not exhaust yourself in effort - be still. Let Me handle this battle. You're not in this alone, and the outcome doesn't depend on your strength. I'm fighting for you.
February
Lord, I'm tired of waiting. I've been praying for the same things for so long with no visible answers. I'm waiting for circumstances to change, relationships to heal, dreams to materialize, and nothing is happening. I feel stuck, frustrated, wondering if you're even listening. Teach me to
February
Abraham waited 25 years between God's promise of a son and Isaac's birth. Moses spent 40 years in Midian between murdering the Egyptian and leading the exodus. David was anointed king as a teenager but didn't take the throne until his thirties, spending years fleeing Saul. Joseph waited 13
February
When you're exhausted, wait for Me. Those who hope in Me will renew their strength - not through their own effort but through My power. You'll soar like eagles, run without growing weary, walk without fainting. But first, you have to wait. Let Me renew you in My timing, My way.
February
Father, I don't understand what you're doing in my life right now. I don't understand why you allowed this pain, what purpose this suffering serves, how this fits into any good plan. I want explanations, need clarity, crave understanding before I'll trust. But you're asking me to trust wit
February
Job demanded an explanation. After losing everything - children, wealth, health - he wanted God to explain why. His friends offered explanations (you sinned, God is punishing you), but Job knew better. He insisted on his innocence and demanded God justify the suffering. When God finally sp
February
Trust Me with all your heart - not just the parts you understand, not just when it makes sense, but completely. Don't lean on your own limited understanding; acknowledge Me in everything, and I'll make your paths straight. You don't need to see the whole journey - just trust the Guide.
February
Lord, today the world celebrates romantic love, and I have complicated feelings about that. If I'm in a relationship, help me love with sacrificial, Christ-like love - not keeping score or demanding performance but serving and forgiving. If I'm single, help me remember I'm not incomplete,
February
Today is Valentine's Day, named for St. Valentine who was martyred on February 14, 269 AD. Legend says he was imprisoned for performing marriages for Christian soldiers (forbidden to marry) and ministering to persecuted Christians. Before his execution, he allegedly healed his jailer's bli
February
You didn't find Me - I found you. You didn't choose Me first - I chose you first. You didn't start loving Me - I started loving you before you even knew My name. Every movement toward Me is actually a response to My prior movement toward you. I loved you first, and I always will.
February
Father, I'm lonely. Not just alone but deeply isolated, surrounded by people who don't really know me. I have acquaintances but not friends, connections but not community, conversations but not real intimacy. I'm exhausted from pretending I'm fine when I'm not, from performing instead of b