PRAYER

‘If You are the Son of God……:’

I tempt You to use Your power to satisfy Yourself, to assert Yourself, to prove Yourself.

But You, Lord Jesus, chose not to yield to temptation.

For You knew that the poor need fed but that bread alone is not enough.

You understood Your mission to bring in God’s rule of justice and peace but that glory belongs only to Him.

You trusted in Your Father’s loving care but refused to abuse it for mere display.

In the wilderness, Lord Jesus, led by the Spirit, You made the right choices and affirmed Your identity.

If we are the children of God

through You, dear Lord, we too are led by the Spirit in our wilderness times of trial and testing.

Like You, Jesus, may we know that we are not alone: For You have been there before us and Your Spirit companions us.

Like You, Jesus, may we make the choices that give God the glory in our love of our neighbours as ourselves.

In this season of decision making, when we are called to make individual choices and to share in corporate ones:

May we choose wisely.

And when we find ourselves living with the consequences of choices made by others that are not of our choosing:

May we respond with grace and the determined hope that God has called His children to work together for the common good.

For when we act like the children of God, the desert rejoices and flowers bloom in the wilderness.

Dear God in Christ, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for Yours is the Kingdom, the power and the glory now and forevermore.

Amen.