Lent: Holy Saturday Lord Teach Me to Pray/Give Yourself to God

Holy Saturday: Un-Prayer/Silent Prayer
https://katyandtheword.com/2023/04/08/prayer-for-holy-saturday/

Prayer Activity: Create a Black Out Prayer Similar to Black out Poetry https://writers.com/what-is-blackout-poetry-examples-and-inspiration, Step by Step instructions https://arapahoelibraries.org/blogs/post/how-to-blackout-poetry/

Taize Option: Wait for the Lord 

Feel free to Email KatyandtheWord at Gmail for Text version for easy Copy/Paste Formatting
Suggested Donation for Entire Liturgy $75
(you decide what is fair for portions)
Receipt Available upon request
Please give credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”

 Venmo @Katy-Stenta (last four 7841), Paypal @KatyStenta, Google Pay Katyandtheword at gmail, Cash App $bookkats
GoFundMe

Empty hands reaching up

Lent 5, Lord Teach Me to Pray, Give Yourself Up to God

Lent 5 Prayers of the People & Joy

God plants and tends joy as a space of sanctuary in our lives—it is not a feeling of happiness, but rather a place of safety and Sabbath to visit when you are happy or sad. It is the space that allow us to celebrate with others, even when we are in a different place in our own lives. 

Psalm 97 or Psalm 122
Mark 4:30-34

Breath Prayer

Inhale: God be with me
Exhale: God enjoys me

Inhale: I am God’s image
Exhale: God created me

Inhale: God loves the world
Exhale: We are God’s beloved

Inhale: Justice is God’s joy
Exhale: Justice is Love Out Loud

Call to Worship: God is our righteous rule, let the earth rejoice
Clouds and thick darkness surround the Divine, Righteousness and Justice are the foundation of God’s throne
God’s lightenings light up the world, the earth sees and trembles
The mountains melt like wax before God, et all who hear rejoice
Light is sown for those who love justice, Joy lives in those who have equity in their heart
Come let us give thanks in the name of our God!

Call to Confession: God plants the seeds of joy in us, let us confess where we feel we fall short, so that we rest in God.

Prayer of Confession: God, I confess that I often confuse joy with being happy. I confess that I want everything to be easy and that the formula to be “Smile Jesus loves you.” I do not want joy to be a seed that is planted and grown for the birds to nest in. I do not want to be glad to come to church, because it is the place of sanctuary where I can safely be unhappy. I confess, that sometimes I miss the point of tending and growing joy. Teach me how to tend to the needs of joy and the gardens of your kingdom work I pray. (Silent Confession) Amen.

Prayer of Confession: Jesus Christ, I confess that sometimes we as a culture are too obsessed with happiness. We feel like we need something to be happy—money, the perfect profession, a partner. Teach us that we do not have to be happy or joyful all of the time, that lightening moments of joy followed by moments of Sabbath, rest and simple companionship are enough. Teach us to be the birds that nest home in your mustard seed Kingdom we pray. (Silent Confession). Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Jesus Christ promises us peach and love within the Kingdom, and so we know that our confession is seen, heard and accepted. Let us proclaim the Good News, In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. 

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God help us to appreciate and celebrate the joy as we see it in our lives. May we tend it, and let it grow. Help us to laugh with those who are laughing, even as we might weep with those who are weeping—providing sanctuary for all those in need we pray. Amen.  

Taize: Laudate Omnes Gentes

Feel free to Email KatyandtheWord at Gmail for Text version for easy Copy/Paste Formatting
Suggested Donation for Entire Liturgy $75
(you decide what is fair for portions)
Receipt Available upon request
Please give credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”

 Venmo @Katy-Stenta (last four 7841), Paypal @KatyStenta, Google Pay Katyandtheword at gmail, Cash App $bookkats
GoFundMe

Hands lifting golden hearts and fireworks to God

Lent 4, Lord Teach Me to Pray, Give Yourself to God

Lent 4 Assurance of Pardon/Words of Grace

The grace of God is assured, and the healing of God is not just of the body, but instead a healing of forgiveness of sins and a restoration to one’s community. God’s grace is such that we are fully restored in all things. God takes care of our full being and self. 

Psalm 103 or Psalm 23 (this is an option for lament week, to be read uniquely a a lament)
Mark 2:7-12

Breath Prayer

Inhale: God full of grace
Exhale: Fill me with your Spirit

Inhale: God redeems us
Exhale: God fills us with Good things

Inhale: God sent us Jesus
Exhale: Jesus Loves me

Call to Worship:
Bless the Lord, O my Soul
Let all the is within me, Bless God’s Name
Bless the Lord, O my soul, do not forget God’s benefits
God forgives all of my iniquities and redeems me
Come let us praise God who redeems us from the Pit
Come let bless the Lord, our Redeemer whose grace lives in all forgiveness

Call to Confession: Jesus welcomes any in need to come and be comforted, come let us present ourselves to Jesus Christ.

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that it is hard to believe in any kind of healing or wholeness, whether it is physical or emotional. We find it hard to believe that you will forgive us and heal us. Remind us that we, like the paralytic man, do not have to do it alone we pray. (Silent Confession)

Prayer of Confession; Jesus Christ, you assure us that to confess our sins is enough, so here we are, confessing that we are imperfect, confessing that we need healing, confessing that we are too like the paralytic man than we like—in need of healing in more than one way. Forgive us our sins and teach us to accept our imperfections we pray. Remind us that forgiveness is more important than perfections we pray. (Silent Confession) Amen. 

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News, Jesus Christ knows us, loves us and redeems us, He is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Come let us proclaim the Good News to one another In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. 

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God loves us and redeems us, crowning us with steadfast love and mercy—as huge are the heavens are—that is how much God’s love is for us. As far as the East is from the West, so far God removes our sins from us. God has love and compassion for us, loving us from everlasting to everlasting, may we carry that love and compassion into the world. Amen. 

Taize: Nada Te Turbe

Prayer Activity: Option 1: Create Cards of Love and Compassion for people—in congregation or not, present or not, friends, family, etc. Spreading the love and grace and compassion of God in the Spirit of the communal grace and support of who God is. Use Markers, Crayons, Stickers, Stamps to create these cards. Have pre-folded cards and envelopes ready to address—have your care ministry deacons, etc. ready to stamp the cards and send them early the next week. Bless the cards at the end of worship

Option 2: Sing a Hymn, Taize at the end of worship and remind everyone that they are sealed in the love and forgiveness of God: Give everyone a Sticker or Stamp in honor of that Seal. 

Taize Option: Bless the Lord My Soul

Feel free to Email KatyandtheWord at Gmail for Text version for easy Copy/Paste Formatting
Suggested Donation for Entire Liturgy $75
(you decide what is fair for portions)
Receipt Available upon request
Please give credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”

 Venmo @Katy-Stenta (last four 7841), Paypal @KatyStenta, Google Pay Katyandtheword at gmail, Cash App $bookkats
GoFundMe

Hearts zooming around on wind, and Holy Spirit over baptismal waters of grace

Lent 3, Teach me to Pray/Give Yourself to God

Lent 3 Confession, Placing oneself in community

Being your full self in front of God, confessing your self in the midst of community so you are not alone in your humanity. Confession is about confessing the good and bad of what it mean to be part of the human condition, and hopefully remembering that Jesus was human once too. In terms of the paralytic, his sins were forgiven because of the faith and community of his friends, it was a confessional moment. 

Mark 2:1-5
Psalm 30

Breath Prayer

Inhale: I don’t know everything
Exhale: It’s ok to not know

Inhale: I am me
Exhale: I am enough

Inhale: Today I will not achieve
Exhale: Today I will just be

Call to Worship
Come confess yourselves to Jesus Christ
I come, a full and imperfect human being
And yet, somehow, Jesus promises to be particularly present whenever we gather
Here we are, to confess, to worship to pray
Come let us worship our Lord
Come, let us celebrate and worship today

Call to Confession: God does not leave us where we are, but takes us where we need to be—therefore let us confess our full selves to God, so that we might no longer feel alone. 

Prayer of Confession: God, we confess that this whole idea of naming our sins out loud is hard. What if the thing that is named does not exactly apply to me? What if it hits too close to home? Why do we even do this confession thing? Why do I need to say who I am to you? Are you not God? Do you not know me already? And then I remember, that to state who I am, is to reclaim myself. Then I remember that to name my burdens is to lay them at your feet. Then I remember that to name them together, is to remember that no one is suffering alone, that we are in community with one another. Thank you God for giving us a way to practice hope, love, humanity and forgiveness together, remind us that confession is about being our full selves, because you can handle us, we pray. (Silent Confession) Amen. 

Prayer of Confession: Jesus, I confess it is hard for me, some days, to believe that you were fully human, and understood all of the emotions, pain and hardship that entailed. However, here I am, putting my whole human self in your hands. Please hold my pain in your hands. I confess that I am trying to trust that you understand hat I am going through—even as I am trusting that you can help me to walk through it, by holding my hand along the way. (Silent Confession) Amen. 

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News, the yoke of Jesus Christ is light, for Jesus Christ is here not to condemn us but to save us, thus we rejoice In the good news: In Jesus Christ we are Forgiven

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God, let us go into the world remembering that being ourselves is enough. All you want is for us to be our full and true selves. For we are your beloved, and our faith is not about being perfect, but about working to love and serve one another, let us go into the world, and try to be ourselves wherever we go. In Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. 

Taize: My Soul Finds Rest in God Alone

Prayer Activity: 

Confessing the Self Option 1:Write down yourself as characteristics only Physical, Emotional, Intellectual, Vocational, Spiritual, give them to God as a confessional prayer to “give yourself to God in prayer” as pieces and a whole, a confession that you are pieces and a whole, and God accepts you exactly as you are.

Option 2: Everyone Writes Names/draw a self portrait on a piece of paper, papers are woven together to show how we are are all woven together in community through confession—example here https://theresaecho.com/2012/09/20/interactive-way-to-pray-in-worship-part-ii/

Feel free to Email KatyandtheWord at Gmail for Text version for easy Copy/Paste Formatting
Suggested Donation for Entire Liturgy $75
(you decide what is fair for portions)
Receipt Available upon request
Please give credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”

 Venmo @Katy-Stenta (last four 7841), Paypal @KatyStenta, Google Pay Katyandtheword at gmail, Cash App $bookkats
GoFundMe

Big hands dropping a big heart, many small hands lifting hearts

Lent 1, Teach Me to Pray/Give Your Heart to God

Lent 1 Themes: Call to Worship, Being Present with God
Prayer is being particularly present with God, Taking Sabbath is taking stock, and resting in the grace of God

Matthew 12:1-8 or  Mark 2:23-28
Psalm 122

Breath Prayer

Inhale:God is here
Exhale: I am here

Inhale: I am
Exhale: We are

Call to Worship
Praise God for we are bound together
We are present with God when we pray
We are called to be together in this space
We are called to be a Sabbath people
Come let us rest in prayer
Come let us enter the House of Prayer, and take rest

Call to Worship
Our Feet are standing in your gates
We long to be present with you God
We pray for peace
Peace within and peace without, so that we can be present
Help us to be fully present here today
Let us give thanks to God
I was glad when they said, let us go to the house of the Lord
Come let us go, and be present in the house of the Lord

Call to Confession: God invites us in to the house of God with open and welcoming arms, and invites us to lay down our guilt along the way. Let us do that now together.

Prayer of Confession: God, we confess that when we hear the Call to worship, we are hesitant. We do not always feel your house as a place of peace, or a sanctuary. Too often it is a duty, a chore, or an item on the checklist. We do not always see it as a place to simply be. Help us to experience the call to worship as an invitation to simply be human in your presence, and to know your belovedness we pray. (Silent Confession) Amen. 

Prayer of Confession: God, we confess that we do not always hear the call to prayer. What is this prayer thing anyway? Is it praise? Lament? A conversation with God? We confess that we find the concept confusing. Teach us to pray God, to rest in the knowledge that you accept all offerings, and that any sacrifice of prayer is acceptable to you, and allow us to find prayer as a form of sanctuary we pray. (Silent) Amen. 

Assurance of Pardon: God loves us and forgives us, embracing us and calling us beloved no matter what state we are in, therefore we can be assured of the truth In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. 

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: Let us remember that God is calling us to worship, because God loves to spend time with us. God gives us an open invitation. Let us go into the world, bolstered by God’s invitation to spend time with the Divine, knowing we can rest in God’s bosom, no matter what, and let us tell other’s of God’s extravagant hospitality as we go. Amen. 

Prayer Activity: Meditation is being present and letting thing go: Ways to practice meditation: Coloring as Prayer: https://prayingincolor.com/ways-to-pray-in-color Particularly, Spending Time with God in Prayer

Teach Taize singing as Prayer “Bless the Lord My Soul” information about prayer https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/how-to-pray-with-taizé-music

Feel free to Email KatyandtheWord at Gmail for Text version for easy Copy/Paste Formatting
Suggested Donation for Entire Liturgy $75
(you decide what is fair for portions)
Receipt Available upon request
Please give credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”

 Venmo @Katy-Stenta (last four 7841), Paypal @KatyStenta, Google Pay Katyandtheword at gmail, Cash App $bookkats
GoFundMe

Brown, Black and White hands encircling each other, surrounded by hearts

Lent: Lord Teach Me to Pray/Give Your Heart to God

Included:
Two Communion Prayers to use as Needed
Sermon Seeds for Each Week
Breath Prayer of the Day
Traditional Prayers
Prayer Activities for each week
Taize for worship or to sing/play during the Prayer Activities (obviously if you are just playing background music live is fine, but watch your streaming licenses)
Creative Holy Week Worship Ideas

Additional Ideas: 
Prayer Journal
Leave a Space on the Bulletin for Prayers to be written
Pass out Hearts for Joys & Concerns to be written on All of Lent

Workshops following this Lectionary $50 to Brainstorm available Feb 6th at 10am-Noon Eastern time, and February 9th at 12pm-2pm Eastern time–please email me to register KatyandtheWord at gmail

Please note a lot of these texts are in Mark but most do not overlap the lectionary, if they do they are only 1 of the stories so you can choose the other one to preach on later

Feel free to Email KatyandtheWord at Gmail for Text version for easy Copy/Paste Formatting
Suggested Donation for Entire Liturgy $75
(you decide what is fair for portions)
Receipt Available upon request
Please give credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”

Venmo @Katy-Stenta (last four 7841), Paypal @KatyStenta, Google Pay Katyandtheword at gmail, Cash App $bookkats
GoFundMe, if you wish to send a check please email me for info

Narrative Lectionary Sermon Series is Available Here

Communion Prayers

Ash Weds Lord Teach Me to Pray
The Lord’s Prayer
Matthew 6:7-13

Lent 1 Themes: Call to Worship, Being Present with God
Matthew 12:1-8 or  Mark 2:23-28
Psalm 122

Communion Prayers


Lent 2 Themes: Breath Prayer, Orientating Yourself (to God)
Mark 4:25-41 or Matthew 11:28-29
Psalm 150 or Psalm 46

Lent 3 Confession, Placing oneself in community
Mark 2:1-5
Psalm 30

Lent 4 Assurance of Pardon/Words of Grace
Psalm 103 or Psalm 23 (this is an option for lament week)
Mark 2:7-12

Lent 5 Prayers of the People & Joy
Psalm 97 or Psalm 122
Mark 4:30-34

Lent 6 Prayers of the People & Lament, Hosanna, Save me
Psalm 23 as a Lament or James 5:1-6
Revelation 21:1-6 or Mark 11:12-14
Imprecation: Psalm 55 or 58

Communion Prayers

Maundy Thursday: Servant Prayer
John 13:1-17
Mark 10:13-15

Good Friday: Dark Night of the Soul.
Mark 15:1-39
Psalm 22

Holy Saturday: Silent Prayer, Un-Prayer

Easter Sunday: Prayer of the Resurrection
Mark 16:1-8
Psalm 118

Feel free to Email KatyandtheWord at Gmail for Text version for easy Copy/Paste Formatting
Suggested Donation for Entire Liturgy $75
(you decide what is fair for portions)
Receipt Available upon request
Please give credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”

Venmo @Katy-Stenta (last four 7841), Paypal @KatyStenta, Google Pay Katyandtheword at gmail, Cash App $bookkats
GoFundMe

if you wish to send a check please contact me for info