The prayer service calls for spiritual renewal and filling our minds and hearts with love. The poem "Ashes" reflects on rising again from our failures and shortcomings to create ourselves anew. It encourages offering our failures, attempts, unfinished gifts, and unrealized dreams to God so he can give direction and a wider view, creating the world anew from our offerings. The reflection asks people to think of specific examples from their lives to offer up during Lent relating to failures to do good, ways to improve themselves, failures, and dreams.

1. LENTEN PRAYER SERVICE
“O God, bless during this season of spiritual
renewal. Fill our minds and heats with
love, that we may be a sign of Jesus to all those
living in our midst.”

2. ASHES
We rise again from ashes, Then rise again from ashes,
from the good we’ve failed to do. let healing come to pain,
We rise again from ashes, though spring has turned to winter,
to create ourselves anew. and sunshine turned to rain.
If all our world is ashes, The rain we’ll use for growing,
then must our lives be true, and create the world anew
an offering of ashes, an offering to from an offering of ashes, an
you. offering to you.
We offer you our failures, Thanks be to the Father,
we offer you attempts, who made us like himself.
the gifts not fully given, Thanks be to his Son,
the dreams not fully dreamt. who saved us by his death.
Give our stumblings direction, Thanks be to the Spirit
give our visions wider view, who creates the world anew
an offering of ashes, an offering to from an offering of ashes, an
you. offering to you.

3. “ASHES”
 “From the good we’ve failed to do”
 “Create ourselves anew”
 “We offer you our failures, we offer you attempts”
 “The gifts not fully given, the dreams not fully
dreamt”

4. HOW CAN WE LIVE THESE WORDS? THINK OF
EXAMPLES YOU CAN OFFER UP FOR LENT.
 Good we’ve failed to do
 Times we have not done what was rights
 Times we knew we were sinning and did it anyways
 Ways to make ourselves anew
 Pledgesto do better
 How can we live better in God’s light
 Failures
 Times we have not succeeded
 Dreams
 What do we want in the future
 What do we want to be when we grow up