Dear gracious and eternal God, life comes from You. You are the sole source of life. Because You live, we also live in and through You. Even death could not overcome You. During this Lenten season we reflect on that very deep reality of life and death. Pain on the cross, persecution, false accusations, humiliation and death tried to stop and crush life in You.

Dear God, we echo Your powerful words spoken in Revelation 1:8 and declare that You are the Alpha and the Omega. There was no one before You and no one will be after You. Our lives are lived in full in between that Alpha and Omega. Through Baptism, You give us a new birth and through Your Word and Communion You give us and assure us of our eternal lives. Thank You for being our Alpha and our Omega.

Dear gracious God, thank You for Your ever-present companionship in our lives. We are never alone because of Your love and Your presence with us. Your presence is our confidence. In Genesis 2:18, Your Word states that it is not good for a man to be alone. That is not only true for marriage or for human relationships—our lives are empty and vulnerable without You.

Dear gracious and loving God, thank You for coming to us through Your son, Jesus Christ. Thank You for speaking to us in very simple and easy to understand statements. You are the vine and we are the branches. We often make the mistake of thinking that we are the main tree and you are one branch of our lives. We repent of that sin and pray that You redeem us from that lie. You are the vine, You are the foundation, You are the solution, You are the source and You are the anchor of our lives.

Dear God, thank You for anchoring and establishing our faith on cornerstone statements like this. Thank You for not leaving us confused over who and what we believe. Our faith in You is not left to options, choices and alternatives. You have called us to go on “the way,” to believe in the “the truth” and to live “the life.” There is absolutely no confusion in this truth. Jesus, help us to have strong and unmovable faith in Your eternal words.

Dear glorious and gracious God, there are so many leaders who labor and work hard throughout their lives along with their servants. However, when victory and glory come they take total credit for the victory and never share their glory with their servants. Not so with You, Jesus!

God of all mercy, by Your power to heal and to forgive, graciously cleanse us from all sin and make us strong.

Dear gracious Jesus, along with You we boldly confess that You are the resurrection and the life. Without You there is no life. You defeated and destroyed death; You have total victory over death. In fact, You are the only victor over death. No other religion or religious leader can make that statement and claim.