Month of Prayer
March 16 - April 20
As we approach Easter Sunday, like so many Christians throughout history before us, we sense the need to prepare ourselves to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and to live more deeply in its everyday power. We desire to strip away the clinging distractions of this world to seek the Lord and press deeper into our union with Jesus who died for our sins and rose from the dead that we too might walk in newness of life.
Like a seed that dies in order that the tree might grow, we desire to spend this season leading up to Easter reaching our roots deep into the soil of God’s Word, while reaching our leaves up to the sky in prayer and fasting. While spiritual disciplines and liturgies can seem rigid, they are meant to be like the healthy trunk of a tree that allows life to flow through it. This is a season of collectively turning our leaves toward the source of life as we anticipate more deeply living in the everyday resurrection power of Jesus.
Let us simplify our lives that we might spend these days seeking the Lord and spreading His gospel by pressing ever more deeply into the life-giving practices of personal prayer, family worship, and communal fasting and feasting. Learn more about each of these practices below:
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This Month of Prayer is an invitation into deeper communion with Jesus through morning and evening personal prayer.
The rhythm of morning and evening prayer is as old as the church. Even before the arrival of the New Covenant, the program of the temple followed a schedule of morning and evening sacrifice, and three daily hours of prayer. After Jesus ascended and sent the Holy Spirit to indwell the church, Christians continued on with the daily hours of prayer, which included morning and evening prayer.
Many of us struggle with prayer, and the idea of praying twice a day may seem daunting. This prayer booklet is intended to help us make a fresh start, wherever we are starting from. There are readings and written prayers to pray through, and prayer prompts to guide us praying in the moment. While these can help us, praying still involves sacrifice and effort. Therefore, even when you don’t feel like praying, trust that God will honor the sacrifice of your time. He is doing something through these moments that is bigger and greater than you can sense or feel.
Practical Helps:
SIMPLIFY
Many of us feel that we don’t have time to pray. But spending time with our Creator and Redeemer should have high priority in our lives. This month is an opportunity to strip back some things in your life in order to make space to pray. Giving up screen time at the bookends of our days is a great place to start.
STRESS
A side-effect of simplifying our lives and stripping back time-filling habits is that there is more time for us to feel anxious and stressed out on the inside. But this is an opportunity to receive Jesus’ invitation to come to him when we are heavy laden. Let us cast our anxieties on Him, because He cares for us. (1 Peter 5:7) Allow the troubles in life to drive you to Jesus, not keep you from him.
SPECIFICS
Life is full of distractions. Intentionally engaging the little things can help you focus your mind and lift your eyes to the Lord. Consider having a devoted space to pray in every time. Make coffee or tea. Pray out loud to help you focus. Kneel to engage your body. Open your hands on your lap and breathe deeply as you pray. Make it a routine so that you know what you’re going to do as soon as you sit down.
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THIS MONTH OF PRAYER IS AN INVITATION INTO DEEPER COMMUNION WITH JESUS THROUGH REGULAR FAMILY WORSHIP.
God instructs parents to talk with their children about God in their homes as they raise them up in the Lord (Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Psalm 78:1-7, Ephesians 6:1-4). At Veritas, we believe the best way to start this ongoing conversation is with regular Family Worship in the home. Family Worship is simply reading, praying, and singing together as a family. It can take only 10 minutes, and can be added on to another part of your day, like a meal time, or bed time. While regularly participating in Family Worship can sometimes feel challenging or mundane, it is a time of faithfully planting the seeds of God’s Word in your children’s lives that you can come to enjoy.
PRACTICAL HELPS:
If Family Worship is new to you, or you’ve just never gotten the hang of it, it can feel intimidating. Most new things feel scary and most good things in life can be hard. But now is a great time to start (or start anew)! Pick a time of day when your family is already together like the beginning or end or dinner, or bed time, or breakfast. Agree as a family to attempt reading, praying, and singing together out of this prayer guide every day during the Month of Prayer. You will undoubtedly miss some days, and that’s okay. Just start again the next day! It can take awhile to start a new routine, but eventually it can become a part of your daily rhythm, and your children will start asking if you’re going to do Family Worship!
If most of your kids can read, then give them their own copy of the prayer guide. Read the passages together or let children take turns doing the different readings. Allow your children to give input into what church members and neighbors you pray for at the end.
If most of your kids cannot read, then consider using a condensed version of the prayer liturgy for Family Worship. Help your children listen quietly while you read one Bible passage and end with “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever!” Then read the catechism questions, pray, and sing the hymn. Things can feel chaotic with young children, so keep it short and simple for a while. Focus on attempting to read, pray, and sing every day and building the rhythm in your life. Pray for God to give you patience and perseverance (and joy!) as you seek to raise your children for Him.
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THIS MONTH OF PRAYER IS AN INVITATION INTO DEEPER COMMUNION WITH JESUS THROUGH COMMUNAL FASTING.
Fasting is an ancient Christian practice wherein you abstain from a certain kind of food or drink (or from food or drink entirely) for a certain amount of time so that you might devote yourself to prayer. Don’t misunderstand - fasting does not manipulate God. It isn’t a means of mechanically getting our prayers answered. We don’t do it to earn extra points from God. Everything we need before him has been given to us through the perfect Son of God. Fasting, then, is meant to be a way to strengthen and intensify prayer.
COMMUNITY GROUPS
During the Month of Prayer, Community Groups are encouraged to fast (as individuals are able) from their meal together to devote more time to pray. Share prayer requests with one another about non-Christian neighbors, coworkers, and family members. Pray for each other’s spiritual growth and renewal during this season. And take time to begin planning your Easter Feast!
PRACTICAL HELPS:
If you’re new to fasting, it might be best to keep your fast more brief. If you plan to fast from food or drink entirely, maybe do so for one single meal. If you want to fast for an entire day, perhaps fast from meat or from any drink but water. Don’t go hard right away - ease into it!
Another important item to note is that you should only fast from food and drink in a manner appropriate for your ability, season of life, or physical health. If you’re unable to fast from food entirely, perhaps you might do a partial fast. If even a partial fast is not possible without endangering your health, you might abstain from a certain pleasure, like entertainment or social media. If you’re not sure if fasting is right for your particular season or situation in life, talk with your doctor.
Remember, the goal of fasting is to take our focus off of food and drink, and to direct our focus toward God in prayer. If you fast during lunch, you might devote your lunch hour to prayer. If you fast throughout the day, you might say a short prayer every time you feel a hunger pang. Remember, fasting is meant to strengthen and intensify prayer.Description text goes here
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THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS THAT WE CELEBRATE ON EASTER AND EVERYDAY, IS AN INVITATION INTO COMMUNAL FEASTING!
Jesus taught that he is the bread of life, and the fountain of living water. He is the satisfying and sustaining source of His people forever. He is our feast, and He is the gracious host who sacrificially makes space for the undeserving to come and be blessed. Whoever trusts in him will never hunger or thirst again! His resurrection is but the firstfruits of our resurrected and glorified lives with Him, and we’ve been gifted the Spirit as a downpayment until we are wrapped up into the full inheritance of the pleasures of his presence.
Feasting together as a church family should be a foretaste of the wedding supper of the lamb that we look forward to with Jesus. As we gather with our Spirit-filled brothers and sisters, we can be full of gratitude for the blessings we have received, encourage one another with hope for our everlasting future, and feed one another the Word of Jesus as we look ahead to the feast that will never end.
PRACTICAL HELPS:
Plan Together - Decide together the location and time and what kind of food will help this feel like a feast. Maybe there’s a culinary theme. Maybe everyone brings the food they like making the most. Maybe everyone brings a dish that made childhood moments seem festive to them. Maybe you’re all tired of cooking and want to pool money to order food. Whatever it is, decide in advance so you can lighten up and enjoy the time together at the feast.
Abundance - Have a bunch of food! Feasts are the exception, not the rule, so unless you’re restricted by a serious allergy or intolerance, break your rules and eat good food. Eat a lighter lunch if that will help you enjoy a fuller meal. And let the kids feast too! Consider joyfully throwing out the rules and letting them put ranch on everything or eat only bread or have dessert without finishing their plate. Invite them into the Easter joy of abundant and undeserved blessing.
Joy-Filled Conversation - This will take a collective effort, but strive to spend the evening talking about whatever is true and lovely and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8) Conversations about the drudgery of our jobs and households and school and the weather can wait. Let this feast be a time where we collectively lift our eyes and speak of the hope and joy we have with Jesus.
LIFE-GIVING CONVERSATION STARTERS:
• What is something you are looking forward to?
• What has ignited your curiosity, interest, or imagination recently?
• What is an unexpected blessing or area of growth you’ve experienced over the past year?
• What is something you’re particularly thankful for in this season of life?
• Do you have any stories you want to tell?
• How does the good news of Jesus seem more lovely to you now than before?
• What aspect of being raised with Jesus excites you the most right now?
• How have you seen growth in another person present here?
Each week in our Month of Prayer includes a specific liturgy, which you can repeat each day of the week. These liturgies can be used for personal prayer, family worship, and even during Community Group.