top of page

Parents: a prayer for Lent

We're so busy.

Before the egg hunts and bunnies, let's pause.

We all need a moment, right?


How we approach Lent and Easter as parents may be a bit different than before having children. Adapted from Kayla Craig from her book To Light Their Way (p. 146-7) (a wonderful resource about faith formation as a family), we invite you to read and share this prayer:


O Lord, we come to You,

Aware that we have busied ourselves and our family

With full schedules brimming

With places to go and people to see.

But in doing so, we have forgotten You

And Your love

And the mission You have breathed into our lives.


We have chosen the way

Of instant gratification

And of avoidance,

Choosing an abundance of distraction

Over a reliance on You.


O Lord, we come to You,

Unsure of how to best observe Lent.

But even in our unsteady footing,

We come to You,

Arms trembling with the weight

We have taken on—

Weight that was never ours to hold.

O Lord, we want more than this for our kids,

And we thank You that it’s never too late

For us to reorient our hearts to You.


O Lord, we examine our hearts—

Every worry,

Every shortcoming,

Every harbored animosity,

Every selfish act,

Every judgment.


Help us not to pick at our scabs,

But help us rip off the bandage

So that our wounds may heal, O Lord.

Shape our hearts

And the hearts of our children

To look like Yours, O God.


Our culture has beckoned us with shiny objects

And faster internet speed

And we’ve grown accustomed to more

Instead of a daily repentance to—

And reliance on—You.

Help us know what to let go of

And what holy habits to seek.

Help us hunger and thirst for Your Kingdom.

May we teach our children what it is to go without.


We humbly admit the ways we need You,

And the ways are many, O Lord.

Help us resist temptation

And ignite in our family new ways

To join You in acts of mercy and love

To those around us,

In our communities and our streets.


Illuminate the way, O Lord,

For the paths are rocky and the sky is dark.

Illuminate in us

Our need for Your great light.

And may You shine upon our family’s faces

So that our children

Follow Your everlasting light,

For You are the way.


During this season of Lent, O Lord, we turn away from the ways of this world

And the lies of the evil one.

We put ourselves and our children into Your hands

And follow You,

The One who leads from death into life.




Comments


bottom of page