Lent Worship Resource Index

For worship resources for Ash Wednesday, see the Ash Wednesday Resource index.

This list includes more generic resources for the Lent season, or resources that could be used on more than one Sunday in Lent.  If you’re looking for worship resources related to the specific scripture passages for a particular Sunday in Lent, click on the following links in the “Labels” at the lower right side of the page:

Lent 1 Year B (February 21, 2021)

Lent 2 Year B (February 28, 2021)

Lent 3 Year B (March 7, 2021)

Lent 4 Year B (March 14, 2021)

Lent 5 Year B (March 21, 2021)

Calls to Worship

Call to Worship: Ash Wednesday

Call to Worship: Covenant-Making God
Call to Worship for the First Sunday in Lent
Call to Worship: God is Gracious
Call to Worship at the Start of Lent
Call to Worship Litany for Lent
Call to Worship for the Start of Lent

Call to Worship for the Beginning of Lent
Call to Worship: Psalm 51
Call to Worship: Psalm 130

Call to Worship: Into the Wilderness
Call to Worship: We Worship
Call to Worship: Reconciling God
Invitation to Worship: Lent 
Lent: A Call to Journey

Lent Call to Worship: Covenant

Lenten Litany: Jeremiah 31

Litany for Lent: Year B

Prayers

A Prayer for Lent

A Prayer for Lent (commitment)
A Prayer for the First Sunday of Lent
A Prayer of St. Ignatius (commitment) 
An Opening Prayer for Lent
Centering Prayer for Lent

Centering Prayer: Come, Fill Us
Gospel Reflection: Temptations of Christ (petition)
Lent: A Prayer of Letting Go
Lent Intercessions

Lent Intercessions
Lent Intercessions
Lent Prayer (petition)

Lent Prayer: A Time for Turning Round
Lent Prayer: Hope & Solidarity (commitment)
Lenten Affirmation (commitment)

Lenten Litany (opening prayer, invocation)

Lenten Prayer: Holy Mystery (pastoral prayer)

Lenten Prayer: In the Desert
Lenten Prayer: A Prayer for New Life
Lenten Prayer: God of the Wilderness
Lenten Prayer: St. Ambrose of Milan (petition)

Litany: A Chosen People (confession, commitment)

Litany: We Need You, God
Mardi Gras Prayer

Offering Prayer for Lent
Opening Prayer for the Start of Lent
Opening Prayer: Psalm 130

Pastoral Prayer for Lent

Prayer at the Beginning of Lent
Prayer at the Start of Lent
Prayer at the Table: Lent

Prayer: Facing the Desert Places in our Lives
Prayer for Faithfulness at the Start of Lent
Prayer for Lent
Prayer for Lent (petition, commitment)

Prayer for Light
Prayer: In the Midst of Winter
Prayer: Late have I Loved You
Prayer near the end of Lent
Prayer of Adoration 
Prayer of Adoration: O Come, Let us Adore Him

Prayer of Adoration: We Adore You

Prayer of Intercession for Lent

Prayer of Invocation for Lent

Prayer of Request at the Start of Lent
Prayer of Thanksgiving: Life of Christ
Prayer: Pierce My Soul with Your Love
Prayer Reflection: A Desert Planet
Prayer Reflection: Longing for God
Prayer: This is Love
Prayers of the People: Lent 1
Prayers of the People: Lent

Praying Isaiah 58 (pastoral prayer)

Confession

A Litany of Repentance for Lent

Ash Wednesday Prayer of Contrition
Confession & Assurance: Lent

Confession: 1 Corinthians 5-6
Confession: Forty Days Alone
Confession: In the Blazing Light (Confession & Assurance)

Confession: Through the Wilderness
Confession: Wilderness Places
Lent: A Prayer of Letting Go
Lent Confession: Facing the Wilderness
Lenten Prayer: St. Ambrose of Milan (Confession)

Litany: A Chosen People (confession)

Litany: Confessions along the Journey
Litany of Confession: Lent
Litany of Humility

Prayer: Late Have I Loved You
Prayer of Confession for the Start of Lent
Prayer of Confession: Forgive Us
Prayer of Confession for Lent
Prayer of Confession: Lent

Benedictions

Benediction: Hebrews 12

Benediction: Hebrews 12:1

Benediction: Hebrews 12:1-2

Benediction for Lent
Benediction for Lent 1
Lenten Blessing: Into Lent
Lenten Fast: John Chrysostom

Miscellaneous

A Lenten Creed

Affirmation of Faith: Lent

Invitation to the Table at the Start of Lent
Lent Candle Litany

Lent Candle-Lighting Litanies: Year B

Lenten Litany: Fasting and Feasting

Lenten Litany: Show Us Your Cross

Lenten Prayer: A More Comfortable Savior
Lenten Reflection: Anywhere Else
Litany: Marked by a Cross
Litany: A Special Lenten Fast

Litany: We Wait

Miracles Litany

New Hymn: Isaiah 58

New Song for Lent: Jesus, You Have Called Us
New Song for Lent: I Thirst
Responsive Litany: Jesus Christ
Words about Wilderness: A Lenten Reflection
Video Suggestions for Lent

Words from the Life of Jesus

Ash Wednesday Worship Resources

For more resources for the season of Lent, see this Lent Worship Resource Index.

Calls to Worship

Ash Wednesday: Call to Worship

Ash Wednesday Call to Worship
Ash Wednesday Litany: We Come
Call to Worship: God is Gracious

Call to Worship: Turn Back to God
Call to Worship: Joel 2

Call to Worship: Ash Wednesday 
Call to Worship: Ash Wednesday

Call to Worship for Ash Wednesday

Call to Worship Litany: Joel 2

Call to Worship for Ash Wednesday

Call to Worship: Psalm 51
Jesus calls us to the light of the world
King of all the earth, Creator of the Universe (Psalm 51)

Prayers

Ash Wednesday Litany: We Come

Ash Wednesday Ashes (prayer before imposition of ashes)
An Ash Wednesday Prayer (commitment, Lord’s Supper)

Ash Wednesday Prayer: Marked by Ashes
Ash Wednesday Prayer (commitment)
Ash Wednesday Prayer
Ash Wednesday Prayer
Ash Wednesday Prayer: Come and Save Us (petition)

Ash Wednesday Prayer: Yesterday

Ash Wednesday Opening

Ash Wednesday Prayer (pastoral prayer)

Ash Wednesday: Prayer for Guidance

Ash Wednesday Prayer of Contrition
Centering Prayer for Lent

Intercession: Create in me a clean heart (Psalm 51)

Invitation to the Table: Isaiah 58

Invocation for Ash Wednesday

Lent Prayer: A Time for Turning Round
Lent Prayer: Hope & Solidarity (commitment)
Mardi Gras Prayer
Opening & Closing: Ash Wednesday

Opening for Ash Wednesday

Opening Prayer for the Start of Lent
Opening Prayer: Worshiping with Our Lives
Praying Isaiah 58 (pastoral prayer) 
Prayer: A New Vision
Prayer at the Beginning of Lent

Prayer: Courage to See
Prayer for Faithfulness at the Start of Lent
Prayer: Marked by Ashes
Prayer: Isaiah 58:6
Prayer: Pierce My Soul with Your Love
Prayer: On the Lenten Journey
Prayer of Request for Ash Wednesday
Prayer: Psalm 51
Prayer Reflection: Psalm 51

Prayer Reflection: The Wisdom of Ash 
Prayer: Restore to Us the Joy of Your Salvation (Psalm 51:12)
Prayer: Psalm 51:12-19

Confession

An Ash Wednesday Confession

Ash Wednesday Confession
Ash Wednesday Opening

Ash Wednesday Confession
Ash Wednesday Confession (Psalm 51)
Ash Wednesday Liturgy 

Ash Wednesday Prayer
Ash Wednesday Prayer of Contrition

Confession and Approach: Psalm 51

Confession: Ash Wednesday

Confession at the Start of Lent: Borrowed Time
Confession based on Psalm 51

Confession: In the Blazing Light (Confession & Assurance)

Confession, Preparation: Ash Wednesday

Confession for Ash Wednesday (Confession & Assurance)

Confession: Our Faulty Fast (Isaiah 58)
Confession: Psalm 51
Confession: Psalm 51
Confession: Restore what has been broken
Confession: Purposeful Prayers
Corporate Confession: Ash Wednesday

Listen and look into our hearts

Litany for Healing and Forgiveness

Litany of Confession

Litany of Confession: Forgive Us, O God

Litany: Psalm 51

Penitential Litany for Ash Wednesday

Prayer Litany: Psalm 51

Prayer: We Would See Jesus

Prayer of Confession from Psalm 51

Prayer of Confession: 1 Corinthians 5-6
Prayer of Confession: Isaiah 58:1-9
Prayer of Confession: Psalm 51

Prayer of Confession: Lent

Benedictions

An Ash Wednesday Prayer

An Ash Wednesday Benediction

Ash Wednesday: Marked by a Cross

Ash Wednesday: Sending

Benediction for Ash Wednesday

Benediction for Ash Wednesday
Blessing: Psalm 51
Blessing: Treasure

Closing Litany: All Belong to God
Closing Prayer: Ash Wednesday

Lent Blessing: Into Lent
Lenten Fast: John Chrysostom

Miscellaneous

Litany: A Special Lenten Fast

A Liturgy for Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday Blessing

Ash Wednesday: Blessing the Dust

Ash Wednesday Invitation: Rend Your Hearts
Ash Wednesday Reflection: On Dust and Glory
Litany of Commitment: Isaiah 58:1-9
Litany: Psalm 51

Poem for Ash Wednesday

Statement of Faith: Silence

Ash Wednesday Litany: We Come

New Hymn: Isaiah 58

The Gift of Ashes (imposition of ashes)

Video suggestions for Lent

If your congregation uses video in worship, here are a few you might want to consider using during Lent.

The Work of the People (TWOTP) offers a wide selection of short videos, loops and stills.  Check out Lent and Dying to Yourself, a short conversation with author and historian Diana Butler Bass on what it means to ‘die to oneself.’

Tempted by the Devil, is a video presentation based on Scripture (Isaiah 40, Matthew 4, Matthew 6, Mark 1, Luke 4, Luke 11) set to a Gregorian chant melody.

Individual videos at The Work of the People cost $15 to download, or you can purchase a package of 10 videos for $50.  If you use video extensively in worship, you might want to consider becoming a member (1-year unlimited downloads for $250). 

The entire 2011 Lent Film Volume is also available ($20).  It includes:

Ash Wednesday: Psalm 51 & Window Reflection Loop
First Sunday In Lent: Tempted By The Devil & Tempted Loop
Second Sunday In Lent: Psalm 121 & Psalm 121 Loop
Third Sunday In Lent, March 7: A Spring Within
Fourth Sunday In Lent: Psalm 23 & Man Walking In City Loop
Fifth Sunday In Lent, March 21: Palm 130 & Man Walking Through City 2 Loop
Liturgy Of The Palms: Palms To The Cross & Palms To The Cross Loop

If you’re exploring the temptations of Christ this season, I’d also highly recommend a YouTube video I came across.  It’s a set of 40 cartoons by UK cartoonist Simon Smith.  A  number of people have set the cartoons to music and posted them on YouTube.  They’re a great way to re-imagine the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness, and the temptations he endured there.

Here are two versions you might consider:

“40”   or   “40 – A video of Jesus in the Wilderness”

Prayer for Lent

Here’s another prayer for Lent.  This one comes from the Christian Brothers of the Midwest.

Prayer for Lent

O God, grant that we may be sensitive to Your presence in our lives;

by taking time to pause for reflection and remembrance.

Lord Jesus, may we use the freedom You have given us;

to liberate those with burdens too heavy to bear.

During this Lenten season, O God,

You enlighten us to walk in truth and in love;

lead us to share the blessings we receive from You.

Creator God, enkindle within our hearts;

a cheerfulness of spirit as we approach each day.

O Christ, Lent is the season to renew our lives;

may Your Spirit help and guide us.

Lord Jesus, You count as done to You all that we do for others;

help us to love others as You love them.

Christ Jesus, You are the Way, the Truth and the Life;

come to the aid of those searching for meaning in life.

God of mercy,

as we journey through this season of Lent,

opening ourselves to Your grace,

we ask that You will guide us into a true change of heart

and reorientation of our lives.

We ask this in the name of Jesus, our Brother and Savior,

who showed us how to live and to love. Amen.

— posted on A Prayer During Lent, on the Christian Brothers of the Midwest website.  http://www.cbmidwest.org/

For more resources for Lent, click on Lent in the list of “Labels” at the lower right side of the page. For more prayer resources, see the Scriptural Prayer Index at the upper right side of the page.

Lenten Call to Worship: A Call to Journey

Here’s a Lenten call to worship from Thom Shuman’s Lectionary Liturgies blog.

Call to Worship for Lent

Lent calls us to journey, this and every day,
following Jesus wherever he leads us.

Lent calls us to journey:
to the place where God covenants with us,
to receive the new names we are given.

Lent calls us to worship together,
to tell future generations the good news.

Lent calls us to practice justice,
to bring God's hope to all people.

Lent calls us to faithful living,
to trust the One who gives us life.

Lent calls each of us to take up our cross,
to trust the One who bears it with us.

Lent calls us to journey with God.

Let us worship God, who walks with us,
this and every day.

~ written by Thom Shuman, and posted on Lectionary Liturgies. http://lectionaryliturgies.blogspot.ca/

Invitation to Worship: Lent

Here’s an invitation to Lenten worship from Bruce Prewer.

Invitation to Worship

for the Lenten season

Lent is not a time for being miserable,

but for taking stock and resetting our aims for following Christ.

Loving God, in you we trust,

let us never fool ourselves.

Lent is an opportunity for healthy repentance-

repentance for our indifference in face of the permeating evil of the world,

repentance for personal sins which we have glossed over as “mere foibles.”

According to your loving kindness,

remember me, God of goodness and saving grace.

Lent is a time for joy; the exhilaration that comes-

from defying temptations,

from turning our face to the light that shines

on the narrow path of Christ Jesus,

from walking into adverse winds and enjoying small victories day by day.

Make me to know your ways, O God, teach me your paths,

for you are the God of my salvation and my true happiness.

— written by Bruce Prewer, and posted on Bruce Prewer’s Homepage.  http://www.bruceprewer.com/

For more resources for Lent, click on Lent in the list of “Labels” at the lower right side of the page. 

Prayer at the Table: Lent

Here’s a thoughtful Lord’s Supper prayer for Lent written by Bruce Prewer, and posted on Bruce Prewer’s Homepage – a wonderful collection of lectionary-based resources.

Prayer at the Table: Lent

The Lord be with you.

and also with you.

Lift up your hearts!

We lift them up to God!

Let us give thanks to our loving God.

It is our joy and privilege to do so.

We thank and praise you, loving and glorious God,

bountiful in creation and prodigious in redemption.

We praise you for the Christ from Nazareth

who heals the sick, befriends the misfits,

forgives the sinner and wakes the dead.

Our thanks and praise are yours, most wonderful God.

Particularly in this holy season of Lent

we thank you for Christ’s tough love:

for his conquest of beguiling temptations,

for his resolute final journey to Jerusalem,

for his zeal for your house of prayer,

for his faithfulness under betrayal, trial and abuse,

and for his love willingly poured out on the cross.

Our thanks and praise are yours, most wonderful God.

We give thanks for you undying care of him,

for his risen presence face to face with women and men

who became his witnesses to the end of the world.

Today even we have become numbered among those millions

who have been granted the gift of faith

and have received from his lips the Spirit of peace.

Our thanks and praise are yours, most wonderful God.

Therefore with angels and archangels.......

— written by Bruce Prewer, and posted on Bruce Prewer’s Homepage. http://www.bruceprewer.com/

For more resources for Lent, click on Lent in the list of “Labels” at the lower right side of the page.

Lent Candle-Lighting Litanies: Year B

Here is the first in a set of Lent Candle Litanies for Year B.  They were written by Rev. Mindi, and posted on her Rev-o-lution blog.  To see the entire set of litanies, click here. 

First Sunday: Water

In this season of Lent we reflect on our journey of faith with Christ, remembering God’s covenant and the sign of the rainbow. God will never again destroy the earth by flood, and water, once a way of destruction, is now a way to new life through baptism.

We light this candle on the first Sunday of Lent, remembering God’s faithfulness through the sign of his covenant.

(light the first candle)

Prayer: As the days lengthen and the rivers fill with spring waters, dear God, may we be filled with your love. Let wellsprings of living water spring up in us. In the name of Christ, with whom we journey towards the cross, we pray. Amen.

— written by Rev. Mindi, and posted on her Rev-o-lution blog. http://rev-o-lution.org/

For more resources for Lent, click on Lent in the list of “Labels” at the lower right side of the page.