Reflection prayer for Holy Monday
By Heidi Beg
Bible Reading:
“God, make a beautiful heart and place a new and righteous spirit within me. Don’t drive me out of your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
Read or listen to the following:
Easter miracles happen every year. We often refer to the week leading up to Easter as Holy Week. This commemorates the final week of Jesus’ earthly life, including His passion, death, and resurrection. Holy Week Monday was just from Palm Sunday. On this day we remember that Jesus last entered Jerusalem. The crowd waving their palm branches and cried out “Hosanna” and recognized him as the king they had been waiting for. Jesus knew that his journey was coming to an end, only a few days away, on his final walk to the cross.
As we enter Holy Week, we set aside the next few days to truly reflect on the life, passion and ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross. I’m able to walk with Jesus this week, reflecting on the quiet journey through Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and what he was thinking as his death approaches.
These quiet days are an opportunity to prepare our minds. It is to ask us about our faith, priorities and relationships in light of the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus is trying to make. Looking back at this week, look into your mind and remember that he lives within us. In Corinthians 3:16 we read: Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you? ”
In the Old Testament, God dwelled in the garden of Eden. Eden is a beautiful paradise prepared for his creation. Next, God lived in the tabernacle, a mobile space where the Israelites passed through the desert. After that, God lived in Jerusalem Temple. God longed to live in us, but we had one problem. sin. For a while, the priest was appointed to help cleanse sin through the sacrifice of flesh and blood.
Please enter yes. When he came to Earth, he filled the gap. We no longer needed the sacrifice of artificial temples and animals, as the ultimate high priest, Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of the Old Testament and became the ultimate sacrifice of our sins. His final breath and resurrection have finally allowed God’s Spirit to live in us. God loves us so much and meets us where we are. This week, let’s look back at the beautiful stories we are woven into. God wants to live in us and use us as a ship to share the gospel, the biggest story ever told. We are the sacred places where God lives.
This week, look back at what you need to clean. Pride, bitterness, selfishness, anger, or merciless. Is there a crime that you will restrain if you need to surrender? Is there a relationship that you need to repair? Ask God to look into your heart and show you what you need to do. Ask God for His beautiful forgiveness.
“God, find me, know my heart. Test me, know my uneasy thoughts. I will point out anything that will anger you, and guide me along the path of eternal life.” – Psalm 139:23-24.
Let’s pray:
Jesus, I put this Holy Monday aside this Holy Week and looked for something that I needed to surrender. Find out my mind, test me, and know my uneasy thoughts. Point out the ugly things in my life that are hindering my deep relationship with you. I cannot fully appreciate the brutal sacrifice you have made for allowing me to be near you. I don’t want to do anything in my heart, heart or action that prohibits you from using you completely to share your truth and your love. Don’t forget to look back on your experiences this week. Tell us your new things and highlight the details as you read your words and stories. Help me research my life, my priorities, my thoughts, and my relationships. It brings bright hidden sins that I live with and don’t recognize. Please tell me the power to say no to this world. Take new people who can stay accountable to me and help me walk in the Godly honorific way.
Please forgive my sins. Allow all the time I look to the world for you. Please forgive the ugly secular things in my heart. I want to be a ship for you. It’s a tool for you to share your love with the people around me. Please tell me your boldness and courage. Share the gospel with those around me who are hurting and losing it. Thank you, Jesus for having to get out of life alone. You are with me and guide me, guide me and meet me with peace and joy that can only come from you. With your precious name, I pray, Amen.
Photo Credit: ©istock/getty Images Plus/Aramyan
Heidi Beg is a writer, speaker and ministry leader living in West Washington. She is the remarried mother of four who navigated mixed family life after losing her first husband to cancer in 2013. She longs to use her writing as a way to encourage others who have experienced loss and have led her path to healing. She contributed to her blog found at www.mrsheidivegh.com and shares stories and devotions of her loss and healing, her mother, and her mixed and complicated family. She graduated from Southern New Hampshire University with a degree in creative writing and English, and is working on her first book. Heidi is the director of the local church’s Women’s Ministry and has a deep heart to share Jesus with women and encourage them on walks of faith. When she isn’t writing, she loves to travel, read, craft and experiment in the kitchen. For more information, visit her Facebook and Instagram (@mrsheidivegh).
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