Day 10 - Dependence on God

I really am non-conformist! Lent is quite an alien concept to me. I turned to the Internet for inspiration and found that “prayer” and “Lent” give many opportunities for Roman Catholic Christian organisations to offer us advice on why and how to pray in Lent. They also remind us that, according to their tradition, prayer is just one “pillar of Lent”, we should also be fasting and giving alms. There are sacrifices to be made as we focus on Jesus spending forty days in the desert and these include giving up both food and festivities.

Many churches do not have flower arrangements on display through Lent (except giving out daffodils or posies on Mothering Sunday) and will not sing hymns that feature the word Alleluia. What do non-conformist Christians and churches miss if we meet each Sunday afresh and ignore the church calendar?

For me, there are two parts to prayer. They feature the cross. First, we set up the upright – our relationship with God. Then we raise the crossbar – our relationship with those around us (and with our current global communication system, this means everyone in the world!) This pattern for prayer echoes Jesus’ words in Mark 12:28-31:

One of the religion scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answer and seeing how sharp Jesus was in his answers, he put in his question: “Which is most important of all the commandments?” Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion, prayer, intelligence, and energy’. And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself’. There is no other commandment that ranks with these.” (The Message)

Perhaps Lent is a time for us to make sure that our two cross components do make a cross: the upright on its own is just a stick, the second on its own is just a plank.

Beginning our prayers with the opening words of the Lord’s prayer helps us to set ourselves right with God: Our Father in Heaven, whose name is holy and whose reign on this earth we desire so much that we try to discern his will for our lives. “Daily bread” is interpreted as filling our bellies or reading the Bible. Then we dig deep and work out what might be preventing us from being truly close to God – we confess.

Then it is time for us to bring our concerns for the world, our community, our church, our friends and family, and lastly ourselves. Mark Johnson, a theology professor at Marquette University, reminds us that “asking for help is a healthy way of acknowledging our dependence on God”.

Heavenly Father, Blessed Redeemer, and Holy Comforter, we thank you for the pattern prayer that Jesus taught his first disciples. Help us to use it wisely in our own personal prayer time with you. Amen.

Elaine Kinchin