Lent Devotion: February 28th

Prayer: Pray this prayer together as a family as one person weaves a piece of yarn back and forth across the yarn weave. Then read: John 13:34-35

God we admit that we often want to change the world but don’t want to do the small thing that makes one person feel loved.  Help us to be your hands and feet and share your love today, we know you have placed us where we are because that’s where we can make a difference.  Amen

Lent Devotion: February 27th

Prayer: Pray this prayer together as a family as one person weaves a piece of yarn back and forth across the yarn weave.  Then read: Matthew 23:11

Lord help us to be like Jesus and give our time and talents to help others in need.  Teach us to serve people with joy and help us to find that joy when we focus on others instead of ourselves.  Amen

Lent Devotion: February 26th

Prayer: Pray this prayer together as a family as one person weaves a piece of yarn back and forth across the yarn weave.  Then read: 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

God help us to be cheerful givers who see the needs of the people around us and give happily what you have given us.  Help us to trust more in you and less in ourselves so that we might give as you intended for us.  Amen

Lent Devotion: February 25

Often when we feel depressed or hurt or when we are upset part of the reason is because we focus too much on ourselves.  When I feel like I haven’t done well in my work or on a test I took or whatever it is, I often spend a couple hours thinking about what I could have or should have done differently.  When I feel like I’ve disappointed someone I often start to feel sorry for myself because of the situation I’m in.  I’ll think well I did the best I could those other people need to do better and I tend be somewhat grumpy. 

We all can feel down or upset sometimes that’s part of life and part of being human, but when we do feel that way instead of dwelling on it we should begin to focus on helping other people.  Counselor’s often say that if someone is struggling with depression one of the best things they can do is go out and serve other people someone.  This is because when we try to focus on other people we see how much value there can be in life and we don’t think about our own problems.

So when you start to feel hurt or depressed or sorry for yourself, start thinking about how you can help someone else.  Make dinner for your family, or make dinner for a friend.  Clean up your room without anyone asking you to or make a surprise gift for someone in your family.  When you do that you’ll be living as God wants and spreading his love and you’ll feel better too.

Read: 2 Samuel 9:1-13

Discussion Questions:

· Why did David care for Mephibosheth?

· How do you think Mephibosheth felt?

· What’s one way you can practice showing kindness to others this week?

Lent Devotion: February 24

Prayer: Pray this prayer together as a family as one person weaves a piece of yarn back and forth across the yarn weave. Then read: Colossians 3:17

God thank you for all that you’ve given us, our stuffed animals, our families, our homes.  Thank you for mac and cheese and peanut butter and jelly, thanks for air to breathe and fun places to go, and thank you most of all for your love.  Amen

Lent Devotion: February 23

Prayer: Pray this prayer together as a family as one person weaves a piece of yarn back and forth across the yarn weave.  Then read: Philippians 4:12-13

Jesus help us to be content with the lives you’ve given us, the friends we have, the food we eat, and the house we live in.  Amen

Lent Devotion: February 22

Prayer: Pray this prayer together as a family as one person weaves a piece of yarn back and forth across the yarn weave.  Then read: Proverbs 14:30

God we recognize that we want other people’s lives.  We want other people’s toys, brains, families, looks, and so much more.  Forgive us when we feel jealous and remind us of all that you have given us.  Amen

Lent Devotion: February 21

Prayer: Pray this prayer together as a family as one person weaves a piece of yarn back and forth across the yarn weave. Then read: 1 John 3:1

God thank you how you love us through our families and our friends.  Thanks for how you love us through our pets, and the world we live in.  Help us to see your love and share it with those around us. Amen

Lent Devotion: February 20

Prayer: Pray this prayer together as a family as one person weaves a piece of yarn back and forth across the yarn weave.  Then read: Romans 8:38-39

We confess that sometimes we feel like we’re not good enough or smart enough or funny enough or brave enough.  But we know that you love us and made us who we are, we are exactly who you created us to be God.  Help us to remember that when we feel unworthy.  Amen

Lent Devotion: February 19

Prayer: Pray this prayer together as a family as one person weaves a piece of yarn back and forth across the yarn weave.  Then read: Psalm 1:21-5-8

Jesus, thank you for loving us and for watching over us every step of the way, help us to honor you in all that we do and say.  Amen

Lent Devotion: February 18

Have you ever wanted someone else’s life?  When I was between the ages of 8 and 10, I would spend hours jumping on the trampoline and dreaming about what I wanted to do when I grew up.  I dreamed of being a quarterback in the NFL for my favorite team the Denver Broncos.  Those dreams didn’t end up coming true but I look back fondly on those dreams as aspirations of someone who didn’t know any better. 

That’s not what it means to be jealous of someone else’s life, to be jealous of someone is to look at that person and say why couldn’t I have what that person has, why am I not more successful or smarter or better talking to people.  We all do it to some extent.

If you’re younger you might wish you were better at a sport you play or did better in school, in my life I’ve often looked at both of my sisters and wondered why I’m not smarter or why I don’t have a more influential job or situation, one of them is a political lawyer in DC, and the other is going to Med School and her ultimate goal is to fight world viruses. 

But when we wish we were someone else or had somebody’s else’s success or skills, we actually insult God.  Because when we do that we are telling God that he hasn’t put us in the right situation, that he didn’t create us in the right way.  We’re telling him that we know what we need more than he does. 

This week our prayers will focus on being thankful for what God has given us and asking him to help us find satisfaction and joy right where we has placed us.

Read: Genesis 37:12-28

Discussion Questions:

· Why were Joseph’s brother’s jealous of him?

· What should they have done if they felt jealous?

· Who is someone you might be jealous of?

Lent Devotion: February 17

Prayer: Pray this prayer together as a family as one person weaves a piece of yarn back and forth across the yarn weave.  Then read: Colossians 3:13

Thank your for sending your son Jesus who was broken for us.  Help us to serve others as Jesus lived to serve and help us to carry each other’s burdens as Jesus carries our burdens.  Amen.

Lent Devotion: February 16

Prayer: Pray this prayer together as a family as one person weaves a piece of yarn back and forth across the yarn weave. Then read: Isaiah 53:5

Lord we know that Jesus came to earth and suffered as we have suffered.  Jesus we thank you for dying for us so that we can have salvation.  Help us to remember that you know the pain we feel and you promise to be with us through it.  Amen 

Lent Devotion: February 15

Prayer: Pray this prayer together as a family as one person weaves a piece of yarn back and forth across the yarn weave.  Then read: 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

God we cry out to you because of the pain that we have felt.  Our friends have disappointed us, our family members have angered us, the world we live in has wounded us.  We have felt alone, abandoned, forgotten, and scared.  Give us your love and comfort and draw us into your arms we pray.  Amen

Lent Devotion: February 14

Prayer: Pray this prayer together as a family as one person weaves a piece of yarn back and forth across the yarn weave.  This prayer is designed specifically as an Ash Wednesday prayer that’s a confessional prayer.  Then read: 1 John 1:9

God we confess we have not loved friends and family as much as we should, we have not loved you as much as we should.  We have not helped others as Jesus helped us, we have been impatient and angry, we have forgotten you.  Forgive us for the wrongs we’ve done and help us to follow you.  Amen

Family Lent Prayer Devotional Introduction

The season of Lent is here.  Each year Lent gives us the chance to renew ourselves in our relationship with God and purposely seek to have a deeper relationship with Jesus.  Some people see Lent as a season of giving up some comfort like chocolate or coffee as a way to deny ourselves like Jesus said and follow him.

Here at North Creek Presbyterian we don’t’ follow that model but we don’t think Lent gives us the perfect opportunity to try and build our relationship with Jesus a bit deeper each day.  This family prayer guide seeks to do just that thing.  

Each day of Lent this blog will have a prayer to pray together as a family.  This prayer is to be prayed together as a family each and there's a verse to look up and read after the prayer.  On each Sunday, there is no prayer, but there is a short family devotional with a Bible passage that can be read and a few discussion questions to talk about.  

We hope that this Lent Devotional helps you and your whole family draw closer to God and each other during this Lent season.

Lent Devotion: March 13

Prayer: Pray this prayer together as a family as one person weaves a piece of yarn back and forth across the yarn weave.  Then read: Job 12:7-10

Lord when we do experience hard times and feel lost, help us to instead of turning away from the hurt, turn to it and learn from what we experience.  Help us to learn from those hard times and see you in all that we do. 

Lent Devotion: March 9

Prayer: Pray this prayer together as a family as one person weaves a piece of yarn back and forth across the yarn weave.  Then read: Ecclesiastes 7:9

God we confess that when we feel pain or hurt we often respond in anger and push people away from us.  Help us to instead apologize and forgive.  Help us to learn from this pain and use it to spread your glory.  Amen