Lenten Prayer of Saint Ephraim

This year’s Daily Lenten Journey will be about prayer. I have written extensively on fasting over the years. Other years the Daily Lenten Journey has been about the daily scripture readings. All the fasting and all the bible reading is useless without prayer. So, we will spend the next 40 days discussing various prayers. Today we begin with the Lenten Prayer of Saint Ephraim.

During Great Lent, the Church invites us to recite this prayer several times each day. Let’s break it down…

Lord and Master of my life

We say these words, but do we mean them? Maybe a better question would be, “Who is my lord and master?” If we answer, “Jesus Christ,” then that would be a challenge to allow Him to be our Lord and Master.

During the day today, ask yourself who is shaping your decisions. Are you pleasing God in the choices you make? Do your choices reflect the desire for God in your life and in the way He wants you to interact with others? Great Lent is a great time to focus on this question.

Take away from me the spirit of laziness, idle curiosity, lust for power, and vain talk

We tend to spend our time filling the hours each day with ‘busywork’ to look important at work. Have you ever finished your day and wondered, “Have I even accomplished anything today?” Chances are you spent at least some time today ‘just sitting around’ bored. Why not pray?

The Holy Apostles commanded us to pray the Lord’s Prayer three times each day. When you catch yourself in those ‘lazy’ moments, rather than scrolling on social media, pray the Lord’s Prayer, or even the Prayer of Saint Ephraim.

But give to me the spirit of moderation, humility, patience, and love

Our American society is fixated on excess, self-promotion, immediate gratification, and hate. Everything about society pushes against the way of Christ. Great Lent is about repentance, changing our way of thinking, away from the secular world and toward God.

It may sound like ‘a lot’ to change in one day, or maybe even too much for one Great Lent. Being Orthodox isn’t about ‘fixing’ everything about our failures in one day. Instead of trying to change everything, start by changing the whole attitude. Your behavior will change with time.

Yes, Lord and King, grant me to see my own faults, and not to judge my brothers and sisters

Yesterday was Forgiveness Sunday. Did you take the Church ‘up’ on her invitation to forgive? Holding grudges and judging others might be ‘fun’ but the weight keeps you from climbing to heaven. Pick one person today. Call that person and ask for forgiveness.

When you make the call. Don’t bother with any excuses. There should be no ‘but…’ in your conversation. “I hope you can forgive me.” You will be surprised at the healing that can take place with just a quick phone call. It feels strange at first but ends up with relief.

For you are blessed to the ages of ages. Amen

It is easy to forget to bless God. We are so busy asking Him to bless us, we forget that the prayers of the Church and Holy Scriptures teach us to bless God too. What does it mean to bless God?

The word ‘bless’ means to say a good word about someone or something. In other words, blessing God means that our words glorify Him with prayers and honor. Here’s one way you can try today. Every time someone praises you or thanks you, respond, “Glory to God.”

Saint Paul teaches us to “prayer ceaselessly.” (1^st Thessalonians 5.17) For the next 40 Days, I invite you to include the Prayer of Saint Ephraim as ‘part’ of your ceaseless prayers. Now that you know a ‘bit more’ about the prayer, maybe it will change you.

Lord and Master of my life

Take away from me the spirit of laziness, idle curiosity, lust for power, and vain talk.

But give me the spirit of moderation, humility, patience, and love.

Yes, Lord and King, grant me to see my own faults, and not to judge my brothers and sisters.

For you are blessed to the ages of ages. Amen