Eyes Wide Open: 41-Day Lenten Devotional Sample

Eyes Wide Open to Pray

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” - Matthew 27:46

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” - Luke 23:34

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” - Luke 23:46

In the ancient world, people dying on a cross were not quick to speak. They were fighting for air. Yet, Jesus spoke to the people at the foot of the cross, to the thief next to him, and to his heavenly Father.

The beauty of prayer is that you can talk to God anywhere and anytime—in the most painful moments of life and in the middle of daily routines. I have a chair where I love to sit and talk with Jesus, but the vast majority of my prayer time is not in the quiet of the morning. My holy conversations happen in stores, restaurants, while driving, on hikes, and even in places that don’t seem ‘holy’ at first glance. 

The ultimate conversation is the gospel. It is the good news of Jesus Christ. The God of heaven has spoken through his only begotten Son. The message is clear: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Though we were lost in sin and condemned to death, God offered life through the sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (Rom. 3:23; 6:23; and John 1:29). 

Jesus, the Word of God, has spoken: “Come to me.” We respond to his grace by faith alone and say, “Yes Lord, I come” (Rom. 10:9–10). When we confess our sins and declare our trust in him, we are cleansed (1 John 1:9).

Jesus’ conversation with the Father while he was dying on the cross shows us that holy conversations belong not just in the quiet times of life, but in the tumultuous and painful moments as well.  

Prayer: Crucified and loving Lord, open my eyes, my heart, and my mouth to lift up prayers in the sweet and calm moments, and in the most painful of times. Teach me to have holy conversations with eyes wide open to your presence. Amen.

- Written by Sherry Harney