John Kass, in his column “O Holy Night”, breaks into his Greek Orthodox liturgy, overcome by seeing this need for mercy! He writes, “Kyrie Eliason, Kyrie Eliason, Kyrie Eliason” and then continues:
“For every parent standing quietly in the darkened doorways of the bedrooms—or remembering how they stood there once many years past–watching those small, sleeping shapes tucked in under the covers.”
Yes, there are the loneliest among us. How often it’s those with grown children who have moved away, fallen far from the faith, who have flirted desperately with drugs, addictions, the wrong crowd, and self-harm.
Lord Have Mercy upon those parents distressed at grown children who have headed down a dark and dangerous path…who wonder how it ever got this bad? Who wonder, what did I do wrong as a parent? Am I at fault for my own misery? Or the painful “Why me?” There are those who cry silent tears or loud sobs of sorrow that this fruit of her womb and seed of his humanity could inflict pain of this sort upon those who gave him or her birth.
It’s the deep pain of grown children who are old enough to know better, but don’t do better. Parents who can no longer discipline their wayward sons but must let them go because they can do no other. Parents who truly want to help but are rejected.
Lord, Have Mercy upon both the parent and the child!
The psalmist prays, Psalm 51:6 “Surely You desire truth in the inner parts; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place… 14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. 16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”
Lord Have Mercy!
Prayer Focus: Lord, please watch over our adult children, those in our families, and our neighbors who have wandered from You. In Your mercy, Lord, please restore them to Your fellowship.
===
You can find these “Κύριε, ἐλέησον, ‘Lord, have mercy” devotionals here or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter!
Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:
Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
Revelation in 40 devotionals for 2022 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.
“Created to Display His Image” explored what it truly means to be made in God’s Image and the profound significance of that fact. They are archived beginning February 22, 2023.
“Seeing His Love with New Eyes” was the topic for 2024 and it explored looking at God’s love beyond the superficial and trite notions of love. They are archived beginning February 14, 2024.
“The Way it Had to Be” explored the conversation in Luke 24 by the men on the Road to Emmaus as they walked with Jesus. They discovered their assumption “This is not how it was supposed to be” was precisely what had to happen and had been predicted throughout the Old Testament and fulfilled in Jesus’ ministry. These devotionals are archived beginning March 5, 2025.