Bethany Besteman

Our faith journeys include high and low points. If that was true for the Israelites and true for Christ, why should we expect anything different? Let’s not be surprised by the wilderness, but embrace it as a time of preparation for service, a time in which we are formed as Christ’s servants and our callings clarified. This Lent, let’s embrace the wilderness—the uncertain aspects of our lives and our faith journeys—and wait expectantly for God’s call.

The season of Lent traditionally begins with a service of repentance. Attendees are invited to receive on their foreheads the mark of the cross, made from ashes. We often think of these ashes as a mark of our penitence, but they also mark us as people who live in the way of the cross. What would it mean if we wore ashes on our foreheads every day? When we don’t wear ashes, do the people around us know that we are Christ followers?

A prayer based on Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52, the gospel reading for the 9th Sunday after Pentecost that can be adapted into a prayer of confession, intercession, illumination or application.

A prayer based on Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43 the gospel reading for the 8th Sunday after Pentecost that can be adapted into a prayer of confession, intercession, illumination or application.

A prayer based on Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23, the gospel reading for the 7th Sunday after Pentecost that can be adapted into a prayer of confession, intercession, illumination or application.

A prayer based on Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30, the gospel reading for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost that can be adapted into a prayer of confession, intercession, illumination or application.

A prayer based on Matthew 10:40-42, the gospel reading for the 5th Sunday after Pentecost that can be adapted into a prayer of confession, intercession, illumination or application.