BACKSTORY
For Lent 2026 I invited people from my Presbytery to join me in writing a prayer poem a week based on the psalms listed in the lectionary for Sunday worship. Six psalms in total. Three people joined me, two from Switzerland and one from Sri Lanka.
Each Monday I sent out an email with some introductory material to help guide our reflections. Over the course of the week we wrote our prayer poems and shared them with each other. It’s so interesting how each one approached the challenge in their own unique way, and how we influenced and inspired each other.
Here are the six prayer poems I wrote. I’m particularly proud of the one I wrote in Week 3.
LENT 1A
Tormented and empty are wicked and destructive people,
but the one who trusts in the Eternal is wrapped tightly in His gracious love.
(Psalm 32:10, The Voice)
Covenant-keeper,
banner of love over your fickle people,
life without you is torment
I choose to simply surrender,
to commit myself to acts of trust
in your gracious love
Like a baby,
washed clean and wrapped
in swaddling bands and laid
in a place of safety
Like a corpse,
washed clean and wrapped
in white linen, spiced
to honour a life
Like a wound,
washed clean and wrapped
up tightly, but not too tightly,
so healing can begin
Sing, Lord, I’m listening.
Fill the space and sing
me to life
Lent 2A
The LORD shall preserve you from all evil. He shall keep your soul.
(Psalm 121:7, Revised Geneva Translation)
As I come and as I go
preserve me from all evil,
Keeper of my soul.
At the door of my heart
keep watch for evil on every side.
Purify my desires too
so I’m wholly invested in
your ministry of defence.
At the gate to my garden
keep watch for evil of any kind.
Keep out and weed out what’s wicked.
Pursue in and through me
your ministry of flourishing and fruit.
At the borders of my being
keep watch for evil by degrees.
Drive back those who wish to rob me of peace.
Refresh my soul through
your ministry of rest.
As I come and as I go
preserve me from all evil,
Keeper of my soul.
Lent 3A
For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they do not regard my ways.’
(Psalm 95:10, NRSV)
O God of your people,
Shepherd of your flock,
of that first-taste-of-freedom generation, sadly
only a few knew to trust you.
The rest tested and distressed you.
They could not stomach your ways.
Caleb and Joshua – bless them – they kept the faith.
They spied the promise
and embraced it with hope.
They lamented their quarrelsome contemporaries
and held space for grace.
Forty years of detours
did not dim their confidence
in you and your dream.
O God of your people,
Shepherd of your flock,
may I side with the Calebs and Joshuas
of my generation – bless them.
I want to belong to their tribe.
Lent 4A
Certainly, goodness and mercy will stay close to me all the days of my life,
and I will remain in Yahweh’s house for days without end.
(Psalm 23:6, Names of God translation)
When I’m close to you, Good Shepherd,
‘Goodness’ and ‘Mercy’ stay close to me,
companions for life.
Like two sheepdogs
nudging me on
through tough terrain.
Like guardian angels
whispering wisdom,
‘this is the way, walk in it’.
When I’m close to you, Good Shepherd,
‘Goodness’ and ‘Mercy’ stay close to me,
good company all the way home.
Lent 5A
I pray to GOD – my life a prayer –
and wait for what he’ll say and do.
(Psalm 130:5, The Message translation)
My life a prayer …
if only!
My life a prayer …
I don’t know.
My life a prayer …
really?
My life a prayer …
please, Lord,
make it so.
Lent 6A
Lord, save us!
Lord, grant us success!
(Psalm 118:25, NIV)
God of the faithful ones,
you made this day,
working it like a potter
into a container shaped
for promise and rejoicing,
then gave it to us as a gift.
Fill it with saving grace.
Fill it with your favour.
The time is right!
Save us!
Grant us success!
