Day 49 - A New Prayer

It is Lent, a time to remember all that Jesus did for us and continues to do every day. Most importantly we reflect on the Passion of Christ. We may give something up or do something extra (I know I have my list of Lenten promises I am working on) but most importantly it is a time to grow in our faith.

With that, I decided that today I would find a new prayer to guide me through the next 40 days, until Easter. I googled and found some websites and there were, of course, plenty of prayers out there - but nothing that really fit what I was looking for. Rather than simply copying a prayer, I am going to add some brief thoughts that I will use through out Lent (and beyond).

Lately, when I pray I have been trying to keep things simple. For a while now I have been praying to find Peace, Hope and Love (and thanks to my dad) I have recently added Grace to this list. I have a pretty good image in my mind for Peace and Love (I mean, we even know symbols created to represent these things) and Hope is something we do probably every day, but Grace is a bit trickier - when I hear the word Grace, I can't help but wonder - what exactly is Grace? After some quick research, this is what I have come up with

Grace is the kindness of God, no matter what - it is there. Grace is beautiful

Also, I wanted to share a simple verse I saw on another great blog, this is worth passing along:

Love never gives up,

never loses faith,

is always hopeful and

endures through every circumstance

(1 Corinthians 13:7)

And lastly, I though I would end with this prayer, that I stumbled across while searching for a new Lenten prayer. I know it's not specific to Lent, but the message really works for me.

Prayer to know the Way of Peace

Father of Heaven and earth,

hear my prayer and show me the way to peace.

Guide each effort of my life

so that my faults and my sins

may not keep me from the peace You promised.

May the new life of grace You give me

through the Eucharist and prayer

make my love for You grow

and keep me in the joy of Your Kingdom.