Dear Lord, thank you for showing us the way through hard times. During this Lent season, Lord, help me to see there will be victory and that your will for my life is one that will end in resurrection and hope. Thank you, Lord, that I am on the way to the resurrection. Amen.

Dear Creator God, I am sad to say that I, all too often, am just like godless people. Forgive me and fill me with Your Spirit so I can live an upright life as I wait for the blessed hope found in Jesus, my Savior. In His name, I pray. Amen.

Lord create in us a clean heart, O God, and renew within us a right spirit! In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

O Jesus Christ, our Lord, we ask you to help us exchange the joy you have for us with others. We thank you for going to the cross where you paid the horrific costs, enduring the extreme pain of body and soul, to take the punishment for our sins, because you knew the joy of Heaven that was in front of you and us. Amen.

Lord God, I praise you that you have turned your anger away from me, and you have placed it on your Suffering Servant. Grant me joy this day in knowing that you are my salvation, and you promise comfort. Amen.

To non-Christians, of Jesus' time and our own, our belief in the crucified and risen Jesus is ridiculous.

To the Jews, the cross was the tree of shame and a crucified person was "accursed of God" (Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13). To the Greeks, the cross was the punishment for a slave or murderer. Crucifixion was reserved for the lowest of the low. From those perspectives, worshiping one who was crucified was completely idiotic and stupidly superstitious.

Likewise, in today's world of self-help and living on your own terms, putting faith in something other than your own work is naive and ignorant.

This Week in Native American News (3/29/19): Testing, Flooding, and Hoop Dancing

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word that brings to us the person and the words of Jesus. Thank you, Father, that you are always with us no matter what we go through. We pray that you help us live our lives in light of this knowledge. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Father, thank you for revealing your ways to us through the life and death of your beloved Son, Jesus. Send your Spirit to us that we may know your will for our lives and walk in your ways all the days of our life, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Heavenly Father, as we wait for Jesus' return, guide us by the Holy Spirit to share your Word, in love and truth. In your Son's name, we pray. Amen.