Living Water: Creative ways to pray during Lent

Thank you for taking part in Living Water, our Lent devotional series. We’re so grateful that we can join together in prayer. Here are some suggestions for creative prayer activities to go alongside the weekly devotions, which we pray will be a blessing to you.

Week one: ‘Come to me’

‘“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.’ (John 7:37–39)

The empty cup

You will need: a mug or glass and a jug of water.

The action:

• Sit with an empty mug or glass in your hands.
• Hold the cup in front of you. Acknowledge any areas in your life where you feel thirsty for more of Jesus. Do you need peace, direction, refreshment, or a fresh sense of God’s presence or love?

The shift:

• Pour water from the jug into the mug/glass.
• Ask Jesus to fill you with whatever you need from him today. Take a drink and thank Jesus that he provides all that you need and gives you living water.
• Slowly lift the cup as an offering and take a moment to worship and thank Jesus for his sacrifice, that we remember this Lent.

Pray:

Pray for people around the world who don’t have safe access to clean water. Pray that resources would be provided, and that Tearfund’s water, sanitation and hygiene work would bring transformation to many lives, showing God’s love to people living in poverty.

Week two: Waiting at the well

‘Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”’ (John 4:13–14)

The ‘stone to bread’ exchange

You will need: a stone (the rougher and heavier the better) and some bread.

The action:

• Unworthiness can feel like a heavy, cold stone in the pit of your stomach. Take the stone and hold it tightly in your hand. Feel the weight and hardness of it.
• Acknowledge that this stone represents the ‘weight’ of your perceived failures, the feeling that you aren't ‘enough’, or any negative feelings about yourself that come to mind.

The shift:

• Set the stone down and pick up the piece of bread.
• Remind yourself of the verse, ‘Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?’ (Matthew 7:9)
• Hold the bread and ask God what he would like to say to you today about how he sees you.
• Eat the bread and, as you do, pray for the grace to accept the ‘bread’ of God’s love and his truth about who you are, rather than the ‘stone’ of your own judgment. Thank Jesus that through his death on the cross and resurrection, you are able to enter into a relationship with Father God and receive his love.

Pray:

Take a moment to think of a particular group or person who faces stigma, rejection or judgment. Ask God to bring them healing, restoration, and the comfort of his love. Pray for Tearfund’s work to challenge unhelpful cultural norms that cause division or marginalisation and bring God’s healing and restoration to relationships and communities.

Week three: Wash one another’s feet

‘Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.’ (John 13:14–15)

The ‘basin and towel’ reflection

You will need: A basin/bowl of warm water and a towel.

The action:

• Find a quiet space and set the bowl in front of you.
• Instead of washing someone else's feet, wash your own hands slowly.

The shift:

• As you dry your hands, pray: ‘Lord, these hands are yours. Use them to carry burdens that aren't mine, to provide rest for the tired, to hold the hands of people who are lonely, and to serve the people you call me to serve.’
• Keep the towel draped over your arm as a symbol of your readiness to serve as God leads you.
• Ask God who he would like you to serve this Lent and how. It could be a physical action: contacting someone, volunteering, giving, or committing to pray for someone or a situation from now until Easter.
• Thank Jesus that he came to earth as the Servant King, to sacrifice his life for us so that we might receive his living water and the gift of eternal life.

Pray:

Thank God for the ways his global church is serving communities in need. Pray for Tearfund staff, partners and churches around the world, as they seek to model Jesus’ servant heart and show his love to people living in poverty. Ask for God’s protection, provision and refreshment for them this Lent.

Week four: Water into wine

‘Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realise where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.’ (John 2:7–9)

The ‘water into wine’ transformation

You will need: a glass/bowl of water, some food colouring or squash (or anything that will change the colour of the water), and a spoon.

The action:

• Find a quiet place and set the glass of water in front of you.
• Look at your hands and think about the resources that you already have in them – your time, your skills, your heart for a particular place or situation, your prayers etc.
• Slowly add a few drops of the food colouring or squash to the water, imagining the drops are one of the resources you had in your hand. Watch as the colour disperses. Stir the water and see the colour start to change. Thank God that he can take what you already have and use it to do something wonderful and beyond what you could imagine.

The shift:

• Repeat until the water is a completely different colour.
• Ask God what he wants to do with what is in your hands this Lent and how he wants to use it to bless others and bring joy. Is there anything practical he would like you to do?
• As we head towards Easter, thank Jesus that he came to establish a new covenant of grace, represented by the wine, and his blood shed for us. Thank him that we can come to him just as we are and experience the abundant life he gives us.

Pray:

If any specific actions came to mind during the reflection, ask God to guide your plans and commit these to him. Pray for the communities that Tearfund is working in, training churches and communities to use what is in their hands to address the challenges that they face. Bless these communities and what God is doing through Tearfund’s Transforming Communities training.

Week five: Jesus calms the storm

‘Then he arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.’ (Mark 4:39, NKJV)

The ‘peace, be still’ breath prayer

The action:

• Close your eyes and imagine the ‘wind and waves’ of any storm you feel you’re currently facing.
• Imagine the chaos and noise of the storm. Inhale deeply.
• Hold your breath for five seconds: acknowledge God's presence inside the boat with you.
• Exhale slowly and whisper the words, ‘Peace, be still.’

The shift:

• Repeat this until your heart rate slows and you feel calm.
• Thank Jesus for this physical reminder that even in the midst of a storm, he is with you and can bring you his peace.
• Notice that not only does Jesus have the power to calm the storms we face, but he also has the power to quiet the waves of doubt, fear and anxiety inside of us.

Pray:

• Repeat this for any world situation that feels chaotic and you feel prompted to lift to God today.
• Pray for Tearfund’s peacebuilding work and the staff, partners and churches involved. Pray that God would grant them wisdom and favour and that he would use them to bring his peace to families, communities and nations.

Week six: The flood

‘And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”’ (Genesis 9:12–13)

A covenant reflection

You will need: some paper and coloured pens, pencils or crayons, or your phone/computer.

The action:

• Draw a multi-coloured rainbow on the paper (or find a picture of a rainbow online).
• Take a moment to look at it and read the Bible verse above. Thank God for his covenant and this sign of promise not only to Noah, but to you and to every living creature.

Reflect:

Where have you seen beauty in creation recently? Where have you seen harm or neglect?

Pray:

Look at each colour of the rainbow in turn and this list of what it could represent. Pray blessing, protection and restoration for each category, and after each colour pray, ‘God of covenant, teach me to play my part in caring for creation.’

Red – the earth’s soil, mountains and land.

Orange – creatures that roam and crawl.

Yellow – for unseen organisms and creatures that play a vital role in earth’s ecosystem.

Green – plants and trees, and the creatures that live within them.

Blue – oceans and rivers and the creatures that swim in them.

Indigo – the sky and all creatures that fly.

Violet – for human communities across the world.

• Ask God if there is an action, big or small, that he would like you to take this Lent to care for his creation.
• Pray for Tearfund’s work training communities to care for their environments and become resilient to the impacts of the climate crisis.

Week seven: Resurrection

‘But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit… I will say, “Salvation comes from the Lord.’’’ (Jonah 2:6, 9)

Light through the cracks

The action:

• Go into a dark room, close the door and pull the curtains tight.
• Thank Jesus that he died on the cross for you.
• Sit in the dark for a moment and reflect on any aspect of your life that feels like a ‘tomb’ at the moment, or situations in our world that feel like this – hatred, conflict, injustice, or extreme poverty.

The shift:

Slightly open the door or the curtain just enough to let a single beam of light hit the floor. Focus on that beam. Declare, ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’ (John 1:5)

• Thank Jesus that he rose from the grave to bring you new life and to bring restoration to the world.
• Walk toward the light and, as you do so, pray for Jesus’ resurrection power to bring new life and light to a specific area of your life or the world that feels dark and needs God’s transformation.

Pray:

Pray that God would use his global church to bring hope and transformation to communities, and that he would use you to bring new life wherever there is poverty, conflict and injustice.