Friday 31 March 2023

Today is Friday the 31st of March, in the fifth week of Lent.

Paul Zach sings, ‘Draw Me In’.

In the hunger of the desert
Let your fast renew my senses
Feed me with the words of heaven
Oh my saviour, draw me in
When my days are endless taking
Anything to fill the aching
Show me all the good you're making
Oh my saviour, draw me in
Draw me in with your tenderness
Speak abundance to my emptiness
Set your table in this wilderness
With the feast I long to taste
Christ, you know my deepest longing
Seeds you've planted now are forming
Let me hear the still voice calling
Oh my saviour, draw me in
Draw me in with your tenderness
Speak abundance to my emptiness
Set your table in this wilderness
With the feast I long to taste
As I stumble through this journey
Restless in my endless searching
Fill me with your love each morning
Oh my saviour, draw me in




Today’s reading is from the Prophet Jeremiah.


Jer 20:10-13

For I hear many whispering:
‘Terror is all around!
Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’
All my close friends
are watching for me to stumble.
‘Perhaps he can be enticed,
and we can prevail against him,
and take our revenge on him.’
But the LORD is with me like a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble,
and they will not prevail.
They will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their eternal dishonour
will never be forgotten.
O LORD of hosts, you test the righteous,
you see the heart and the mind;
let me see your retribution upon them,
for to you I have committed my cause.
Sing to the LORD;
praise the LORD!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hands of evildoers.

Take a moment to get a feel and a sense of this passage… are there any particular phrases from the prophet resonating with you?


‘Terror is all around…All my close friends are watching for me to stumble….’ How do you imagine this? Or perhaps you don’t need to imagine… Maybe you have experienced this for yourself…

What was that like? Where was God in this for you?

As you hear the reading again, listen out for the actions of the Lord…

‘Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD!’ As we draw this time of prayer to a close, can you talk to the Lord about your own reasons to sing and praise him?


You have given all to me
To you, Lord, I return it
Everything is Yours
Do with it what you will
Give me only your love and your grace
That is enough for me.
Amen.