Reigniting my Passion for Jesus: The Desert as a Place of Prayerful Pursuit
- edenmunciepastor
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Encounter: This week’s 730+ scriptures, Lectio 365 readings along with Colossians 4:2; Matthew 4:1–11.
Reflect: Begin to think about the way the theme of wilderness shows up in these passages
In the third century AD, men and women began leaving the sophisticated metropolitan cities of Cairo and Alexandria to pursue lives of prayer and deep holiness in the wilderness. These remarkable men and women of faith were perhaps some of the most radical prayer warriors of all time.
And surprisingly, having fled the world, they began to change it.
Hundreds of thousands of people began trekking out into the wilds of Egypt, Syria, and
Arabia, seeking counsel and prayer from these holy men and women. Known simply as
the Desert Fathers and Mothers, their lives became a potent, prophetic challenge to the
depravity of contemporary society and the compromises of the Church.
Communities grew up around these prayer warriors, laying the foundations for Christian
monasticism to come.*
“One of the Desert Fathers, Abba Anthony, once reminded his followers that even devotion must be held with wisdom. He compared our spiritual lives to a bow — drawn too tightly for too long, it will snap. Lent is not about snapping the bow. It’s about learning a rhythm of prayer that can sustain us for the long journey.”
“The wilderness is not where God exhausts us —
it is where God teaches us how to stay awake without breaking.”
This week, as we will begin our Lenten journey, we step into the wilderness with Jesus — a place not of punishment, but of preparation.
In our shared 730+ reading, Jacob finds himself alone, between where he has been and where he is going. He falls asleep on a stone and wakes with a startling realization:
“Surely the Lord is in this place — and I was not aware.” (Genesis 28:16)
The wilderness often works like that. God is present before we recognize Him.
Jesus enters the wilderness in Matthew 4 not to escape life, but to become rooted for what lies ahead. And Colossians 4:2 invites us into a simple Lenten posture: “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”
Prayer does not rush us through the desert. It teaches us how to stay awake within it.
Like a cactus thriving in dry ground, prayer helps us store God’s grace deep within — sustaining us even when life feels sparse or uncertain.
May this Lent be a season not of striving, but of noticing — trusting that even in the wilderness, God is at work. Perhaps it is the place we encounter God most often.
With you in the wilderness,
Pastor Tammy
Next: Click below for this week’s video about our 1st week desert father, Antony and what we can learn about how we reignite our passionate pursuit of Jesus.
Gather: Discuss
1. As you enter this period of Lent, take a moment to reflect on your relationship with God and the particular “season” you may be in right now. For example: does regular prayer or Bible reading feel
easy or difficult at the moment? Are you coming into Lent with any big questions in life?
2. Where do you want to grow in your relationship with God this Lent? What are some intentional steps you can take that might help you?
3. Pete shared the story about the hunter’s bow. How do we get the balance between being highly intentional without being too intense about our faith?
4. The people we spend a lot of time with can have a significant impact on our discipleship. Reflect on the relationships around you – both helpful and harmful. Perhaps take time as a group to consider how you can encourage one another practically this Lent.
Spiritual Practice:
Close your time by praying through this poem by Jan Richardson:
Beloved Is Where We Begin
If you would enter
into the wilderness,
do not begin
without a blessing.
Do not leave
without hearing
who you are:
Beloved,
named by the One
who has traveled this path
before you.
Do not go
without letting it echo
in your ears,
and if you find
it is hard
to let it into your heart,
do not despair.
That is what
this journey is for.
I cannot promise
this blessing will free you
from danger,
from fear,
from hunger
or thirst,
from the scorching
of sun
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or the fall
of the night.
But I can tell you
that on this path
there will be help.
I can tell you
that on this way
there will be rest.
I can tell you
that you will know
the strange graces
that come to our aid
only on a road
such as this,
that fly to meet us
bearing comfort
and strength,
that come alongside us
for no other cause
than to lean themselves
toward our ear
and with their
curious insistence
whisper our name:
Beloved.
Beloved.
Beloved.
—Jan Richardson
from Circle of Grace
*Excerpts in quotes from Lectio 365 Lenten Series, The Desert Mothers and Fathers