Saturday, February 23: Asking for What We Need

Begin your prayer time by lighting a candle or by ringing the opening bell in the right hand column at the website here. Allow the ringing of the bell to draw you into sacred space with God. Take a few deep breaths, breathing in God's love and presence, breathing out any distractions, plans or worries.

Lord, Jesus Christ, teach me to pray.

Prepare yourself for the reading of the scripture passage by quieting yourself and asking God to speak to you in this passage.  Read the passage slowly with both the mind and the heart, at least two times.

A Reading from the Gospel according to John [4:5-13]

Eventually Jesus came to the Samaritain village of Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.  Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime.  Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jeus said to her, “Please give me a drink”.  He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.  

The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans.  She said to Jesus,  “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman.  Why are you asking me for a drink?”

Jesus replied,  “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”

But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket”, she said, “and this is a very deep well.  Where would you get this living water?  And besides, are you greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well?  How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his cattle enjoyed?"  

Jesus replied,  “People soon become thristy again after drinking this water.  But the water I give them takes away thirst altogether.  It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life.”  

Sometimes when we have heard a story over and over again it loses some of the power and wonder that we may have felt when we first heard or truly understood it.  Here is a story that some of us may have heard or read a hundred times.  Certainly, I have heard it since my earliest Sunday school years and so I have always known this phrase “living water”.  But how often, if ever, have I stopped to contemplate what Jesus is truly offering here?  Think about these two words separately.  Living.  Water.  What images or feelings do they bring up for you?  What does each word mean to you?  And now, put them together.  Living water.  Do your images or understanding shift at all from previously?  

How do we accept this Living Water?  How do we take it into ourselves so that we can have that “perpetual spring”.  To be honest, I'm not completely sure.  But, I think that at least part of the answer is that I must ask Jesus for what I want and need.

How do you feel about asking Jesus for a taste of that water?  For an experience of that inner spring?  

I invite you to repeat this prayer for a moment or two.  

Lord Jesus Christ,
Be my living water.
Come and quench my thirst.

For your journal: What are you thirsty for? What specifically do you need in your life right now? Do you believe that Jesus can affect this situation?  Is there anything else that you would like to say to God?  

Loving God, throughout this day, remind me of my need for you. Amen