Lent: A Yearly Reminder of the Daily Call to Come Home is a series of seven writings that incorporate guided imagery, prayer, and questions to use in worship or in your small group.

Imagine

Stopping and turning toward home is only the beginning of the journey. Like Israel in the desert and Jesus in the wilderness, we, too, will experience difficulty after our journey home begins.

Close your eyes and imagine yourself coming to a wilderness or desert place soon after you've started the journey home to the heart of God. Take in the surroundings with all of your senses. Become aware of your thirst and hunger. Notice your vulnerability in this place and any temptations presenting themselves.

Now invite Jesus to join you here. He has experience with being in a place of thirst, hunger, and temptation. Is there anything He wants to say to you or show you? Anything He wants to offer you in this place?

Allow the scene to unfold for a few moments and then close with this prayer.

Pray

God, sometimes the journey home to You is hard. We may discover how far away we are from Your path of Life or how the path of Life doesn't always look like it. We may realize how thirsty and hungry our souls really are and find ourselves in places of vulnerability and temptation.

In the silence we allow ourselves to become aware of this now—If there are no words, simply allowing the ache of our thirst and hunger. If there are words, perhaps naming what we are deeply thirsting and hungering for and where we feel vulnerable and tempted at this time in our life.

(20 seconds or ~ of silence)

We need Your help, God, not just helping us to begin or welcoming us at the end of the journey but along the way, too. Help us have the strength to invite You to join us, whether in our personal wilderness or in our community's desert place. Help us to trust that You are with us giving us what we need and reminding us that this desert time, this wilderness, will pass.
Amen.

Reflect

• Having begun your journey home to the heart of God during Lent, what desert or wilderness place(s) are you discovering in your life? In the life of your church community? What temptations are found there at this time? How can you join Moses in Exodus 17:4 by crying out and listening to God in this desert place?
• Whether through purposeful fasting or the difficult experiences life brings, how might places of thirst, hunger, vulnerability, and temptation deepen trust in God? Why is this important for the journey home?
• In your moments of hunger, thirst, vulnerability and temptation, what do you need to remember? In Matthew 4, when in the desert, Jesus remembered who He and His Father were through the words of Scripture. What words do you need to drink deeply, what images do you need to feast on this week?

The complete series and audio are available here.