Voice: Vincent
Prepare
Today is Thursday, the 19th of February. Welcome to the second day of Lent. We have the Bible readings selected in our lectionary for our Morning Office. Do remember that hearing the Word of God for itself should always be more important than listening to the reflection. And as we write the reflections, we will endeavour to draw you back to God’s Word and to encourage you to listen to His voice..
Let us begin by praying the collect for Ash Wednesday:
Almighty and everlasting God,
you hate nothing that you have made
and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent:
create and make in us new and contrite hearts
that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may receive from you, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Psalm Reading
The Psalm appointed for today is Psalm 77. Reading this lamentation, from verses 1 to 10:
I cry aloud to God,
aloud to God, and he will hear me.
2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
my soul refuses to be comforted.
3 When I remember God, I moan;
when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah4 You hold my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I consider the days of old,
the years long ago.
6 I said, “Let me remember my song in the night;
let me meditate in my heart.”
Then my spirit made a diligent search:
7 “Will the Lord spurn forever,
and never again be favorable?
8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
Are his promises at an end for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah10 Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
Prayer: Lord, in this Season of Lent, grow our capacity to endure suffering. Teach us to cling to you even in seasons of spiritual dryness. Amen.
Scripture Reading
The New Testament reading for today comes from John 4:1-26. It is a familiar story about the Samaritan Woman meeting Jesus at her local village well. Here, we will read verses 7 to 10 and then 13-15.
A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water ….
Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
Reflection: Friends, are you thirsty in the noon-day heat of life? Are you going to a well that refreshes you for a moment, and afterwards, leaves you thirsty again? Ask Jesus for living water; ask and receive from Jesus the water of life that truly and deeply quenches your thirst; ask and become a spring of this life-giving water welling up to eternal life, so that others may drink also.
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, as you held out your promise of living water to this thirsting Samaritan woman, won’t you meet me and quench my thirst also, by granting me to drink from You, the source of this living water; and having tasted of Your goodness, grant that I may share with my family and friends the good news of this life-giving water. Amen.
We end with our Family Prayer:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Amen.
Be blessed by this old Southern Gospel favourite, There is a River, sung by the Gather Vocal Band.
There is a river, and it flows from deep within
There is a fountain, that frees the soul from sin
Come to this water, there is a vast supply
There is a river, that never shall run dry
And there was this thirsty woman, she was drawing from the well
You see her life was ruined and wasted, and her soul was bound for hell
Oh, but then she met the master, and he told her, her sin
And he said, “If you’ll drink this water, you’ll never thirst again”
There is a river, and it flows from deep within
There is a fountain, that frees the soul from sin
Oh, come to this water, there is a vast supply
There is a river, that never shall run dry
2012 Spring House Music Group.
Daily Devotion 