Prayer Prompt April 1

SCRIPTURE

John 13:3-5, 12-15

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord — and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

REFLECTION

Jesus knew everything — where he had come from, where he was going, what was waiting for him in the next few hours — and he got down on his knees and washed feet. Power did not make him distant. Knowing the worst did not make him withhold the best of himself. Who in your life are you finding difficult to serve right now? What would it look like to kneel before them, not in defeat, but in the freedom of someone who knows exactly who they are and whose they are?

PRAYER

Servant Lord, you have shown us what love looks like when it is not afraid. Teach us to serve without keeping score, to give without calculating the return. Loosen the pride that makes us reluctant to kneel. Wherever we find it beneath us to serve someone today, remind us of you — the one who holds all things — wrapping a towel around your waist. Amen.

-Anon