O Spirit of God who drove Jesus into the desert,
we come,
a Lenten people,
longing for the urgent moving of the Spirit among us,
praying for courage to be driven by your Spirit
even into the wilderness for forty days and nights
In your mercy for us, God,
send the insistent power of your Spirit,
so that as winter gives way to the warmth of spring,
we, too, can peel away whatever is inessential or
false in ourselves,
our communities,
our church
Some of us come to you knowing the fatigue of a burden
that will not be lifted,
the pain of an illness that will not succumb to healing,
the weary path of a loneliness whose ache cannot be dulled.
We wish, like the psalmist, for wings like a dove,
that we could fly away.
But where can we go but to you?
For you are our comfort, our refuge, our strength
Some of us come with a joy so full that this time of Lent
feels a little distant.
We hum songs of praise for the coming of springtime,
anticipating crocuses and new families being born.
We pray for wisdom as we, your holy people,
clap our hands and shout for joy
Yet we also approach you with hushed quiet this morning, God,
wondering how we can welcome the stranger, feed the hungry
in this impoverished and hungry world.
Hear our prayers for all your children who have known
the devastation of natural disasters;
for those affected by:
[List local and global floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, spring storms]
We remember our missionaries:
make their ministry as the fishes and loaves:
[List the names of your denomination’s missionaries and where they serve]
Move among us this Lent, O God.
Remind us again of the mustard seed—
the smallest of all seeds on earth,
but when sown, it grows like a weed,
putting forth shelter
for the birds to find shade and rest
Plant that ineradicable mustard seed within us
and accept our prayers of longing for your presence
AMEN