Eagles’ Wings 9th Day in Lent (Friday)
Read: Isaiah 40:1-8, 28-31
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 440:31 (NIV)
In January of 1991, I left Australia to join a Lutheran Youth Encounter team out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. I had no idea what that would entail. It was a journey of faith. Looking back, I realise how incredibly unprepared I was for this ministry. Training was to be held in the Black Hills of South Dakota (camping) for two weeks, but as I left Australia early, I missed all the correspondence of what to have and bring.
I didn’t have a sleeping bag, or pillow, or towel – just me, clothes, guitar and flute. As part of the training in South Dakota, we were to spend 24 hours in solitude in the bush, away from people and tents, just a sleeping bag, food and a Bible. I was rather concerned, not knowing if there were bears or mountain lions. Anyway, off I went – just me! I hiked to a hill above the camp – could just see it through the trees, it was at a point called ‘Eagles’ Nest’. There I lay my sleeping bag on the ground and sat on it. Silence can be very loud.
Well, I thought, let’s see what God has to say to me, so I just closed my eyes and opened my Bible, and it came to Isaiah 40. That day these verses spoke to me and gave me comfort. The Word of God is living, and the Bible says different things to me each time I open it. As I was reading the above verse, Isaiah 40:31, I looked up and there was an eagle soaring above me. I truly felt God’s presence and left all my fears of bears and mountain lions with God. To show me His presence, when I awoke the next morning, there was a small deer one metre from where I lay.
That time of solitude showed me so much about placing my hope and trust in a loving God. I pray that you also can experience this strength and comfort. Open your Bible and have it speak to you. Put your hope in God and feel yourself soar like on eagles’ wings!
Prayer: In you Lord, I put my trust. In you I hope and this gives me strength for each day. Help me to read your Word regularly and allow myself space and time to fully comprehend what you are saying. Amen.
Our Present Hope 8th Day in Lent (Thursday)
Read: Proverbs 23:15-19
“There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.” Proverbs 23:18 (NIV) A year ago, my nephew went on a Youth With A Mission (YWAM) expedition taking a wooden sailing boat called the Vaka Hop’e from the Philippine Islands to the Solomon Islands. (You can google it to get all the tales of their journey.) The name signifies that it is a boat bringing hope across to the Solomon Islanders who will use it through mission activities and development within the community. During my nephew’s journey which took three months, and sailed over 2,900 nautical miles, the crew of four experienced many adventures.
It was a simple catamaran tied together with ropes to give flexibility on the seas. While travelling through the Indonesian waters in the night a rudder broke in heavy seas, then the second of the rudders broke. They thought they would be carried on to the rocks, but somehow using an oar as a rudder, they got to the shore of an island where a local islander made them two new rudders. In Papua New Guinea they encountered thieves and pirates, but all escaped unharmed. God was with them through their journey, and many friends and family (including us) were lifting them all up in prayer.
Throughout the journey, they felt the calling to do God’s work to bring and provide the Solomon Island community with this boat for their work and mission. We all are on a journey. Maybe not one like the Vaka Hop’e, but it is a personal journey through life. In Proverbs 23:15-19, the writer gives wisdom to his son. It is also wisdom to us.
We are to be wise and put our hope in the Lord. God is our present hope and our future hope. In your life, whatever adventures and mishaps that may steer you off path and cause concern, “…be wise, and keep your heart on the right path.”
(verse 19) When your heart and sight is set on God, everything else will fall into place. Meditate on God’s Word this Lenten season and watch Him steer your life. Our future hope starts with our present hope.
Prayer: My loving Saviour, through your life and the adventures you encountered, you never swayed from where your sight was set. God set your course to the cross to secure my future hope. Thank you. Amen.
Hope builds faith
The devotions for the coming week are taken from Lutheran Tract Mission’s 2026 Lenten devotional, ‘Hope for Our Future’. Written by Anne Hansen, Lutheran Tract Mission’s Tract Development Officer, the devotions focus on how our futures and hopes are assured in Jesus Christ. The Lenten devotional is available here. It can be downloaded, printed or used as a digital flipbook.
by Anne Hansen
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love (Psalm 147:11).
Read Psalm 147:1–11
I believe that God gave farmers a mammoth share of faith. Year after year, they sow their crops in the hope that God will send rain for a good harvest. Other farmers spend money and time on feeding their animals in the hope that God will give a good return at the market.
While in Loxton, South Australia, I truly got to understand the meanings of faith and hope. In verses 8 and 9 of Psalm 147 is written:
He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call.
But what happens when this doesn’t occur in our timing?
My farmer friends from Loxton have faced desperate times without rain, as well as seasons of good harvests. God asks us and those farmers to fear him (respect him) and to continue hoping that, in his unfailing love, he will provide what is needed. It may not be the desired rain, but it may come in the form of help from friends, neighbours and family coming together in faith.
When we are in need and hope, we pray! God hears the prayers of the faithful, and he will uphold you with the strength to cope for another day. Throughout the Bible, we read of God’s love and faithfulness – we only need to hold onto this hope and promise.
This is a beautiful psalm of promise in remembering all that God does for us:
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit (Psalm 147:3–5).
Our God is an incredible God. If he knows the billions and trillions of stars by name, he knows your name and hears the prayers of his children. God wants us to rest in the hope that he loves us and hears all our concerns. This Lenten season, open your hearts to pray – for your family, your neighbours, those in need and the world.
Hope builds faith!
Loving Father, you know all my needs and concerns. I come to you in prayer, asking for help for our farmers. Knowing that you hear my prayers, I place my hope in your promises. Amen.
Anne Hansen has worked as the Lutheran Tract Mission Development Officer for almost 20 years. She lives in Noosa, Queensland, with her husband Mark (a pastor). She enjoys leading Know Your Bible (KYB) and Mainly Music. For relaxation, she loves walking, reading, gardening and playing pickleball.
Hope-filled waiting
The devotions for the coming week are taken from Lutheran Tract Mission’s 2026 Lenten devotional, ‘Hope for Our Future’. Written by Anne Hansen, Lutheran Tract Mission’s Tract Development Officer, the devotions focus on how our futures and hopes are assured in Jesus Christ. The Lenten devotional is available here. It can be downloaded, printed or used as a digital flipbook.
by Anne Hansen
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning (Psalm 130:5,6).
Read Psalm 130:1–8
It was 1980, and I sat at the bus stop, waiting and waiting for my bus to come to take me to the city, where I would catch another bus to Immanuel College in Novar Gardens, an inner south-western suburb of Adelaide.
The bus had been due 10 minutes ago; I was going to miss my connection with the city bus. What could I do? There were no mobile phones to call or to check if the bus was on time. I was unable to contact my mum, so I just had to sit, wait and hope that it would come.
Eventually, I learnt that my bus had broken down. Another arrived to take its place and take me to my destination. I was late to school that day. I sat there, trusting that a bus would come to take me to school. I knew I had the right time and the right place, but I just had to sit and wait in hope.
How many times have you sat and waited in hope for God to come and act? Waiting for a family member to come home when they are late? Sitting by the bedside of a loved one as they struggle in pain? Waiting by the phone to hear the results of a test, but it seems to take hours? God hears and cares; still, we wait in hope for the Lord.
The writer of this psalm, presumed to be King David, repeats a part of the above verse: ‘… more than watchmen wait for the morning.’ I have learnt that things repeated in the Bible are emphasised for a reason.
Watchmen were night workers; they worked all night and finished when the sun came up. They knew that their shift would end, for morning does come, but it just takes time.
We are to put our hope in the Lord our God. He hears our cries, prayers and pleas – we must wait for the morning to come. It will inevitably come … just wait with hope!
We wait as ‘watchmen wait for the morning’.
My Lord and Saviour, help me to wait and to trust that you will bring me an answer in your timing. Sometimes it is difficult to wait, but please give me patience in my hope for your help. Amen.
Anne Hansen has worked as the Lutheran Tract Mission Development Officer for almost 20 years. She lives in Noosa, Queensland, with her husband Mark (a pastor). She enjoys leading Know Your Bible (KYB) and Mainly Music. For relaxation, she loves walking, reading, gardening and playing pickleball.
Psalm 119
The devotions for the coming week are taken from Lutheran Tract Mission’s 2026 Lenten devotional, ‘Hope for Our Future’. Written by Anne Hansen, Lutheran Tract Mission’s Tract Development Officer, the devotions focus on how our futures and hopes are assured in Jesus Christ. The Lenten devotional is available here. It can be downloaded, printed or used as a digital flipbook.
by Anne Hansen
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word (Psalm 119:81).
Read Psalm 119:41–48,81
So, what do you know about Psalm 119? It is the longest chapter in the Bible with 176 verses. Did you know that Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem written in eight-verse stanzas, and each stanza is named after a letter of the Hebrew alphabet?
It is not known who wrote this chapter – some say King David, others Ezra and others Daniel. What we do know is that the author has a profound love and desire to obey all of God’s words, which are a source of life, hope and wisdom. The overall theme of this chapter is that through obeying God’s word, we will be blessed with happiness, guidance and security.
The word ‘hope’ appears only five times in this chapter, but each time it is mentioned, the hope is related to God’s word. God’s word, the Bible, has power. The laws, testimonies, commandments, judgements, promises and words are all written to guide, comfort and give security, life and hope.
God’s word is described as ‘sweeter than honey’ (verse 103), ‘a lamp to my feet’ (verse 105), ‘more precious than thousands of pieces of silver and gold’ (verse 72) and ‘a refuge and shield’ (verse 114). The writer faces persecution and opposition because of their devotion to God; however, they find security and comfort in all of God’s promises.
The Bible is not just an old piece of history written about people from ancient times, but it is God’s living word. Every time it is opened and read, something new about God’s love and faithfulness is discovered. God’s word is a ‘light for my path’ (verse 105), and ‘All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal’ (verse 160). It is in God’s word that our answers can be found, and our lives have purpose. In our God, we find strength for each day, comfort in pain and hope for a blessed future with a loving God.
Read the Bible – it will give your life purpose and hope for the future!
It is in your word, Lord, that I find direction and peace for my life. Your Bible is living and active. Help me to read it regularly and apply the messages to my life. Amen.
Anne Hansen has worked as the Lutheran Tract Mission Development Officer for almost 20 years. She lives in Noosa, Queensland, with her husband Mark (a pastor). She enjoys leading Know Your Bible (KYB) and Mainly Music. For relaxation, she loves walking, reading, gardening and playing pickleball.
Castles fall
The devotions for the coming week are taken from Lutheran Tract Mission’s 2026 Lenten devotional, ‘Hope for Our Future’. Written by Anne Hansen, Lutheran Tract Mission’s Tract Development Officer, the devotions focus on how our futures and hopes are assured in Jesus Christ. The Lenten devotional is available here. It can be downloaded, printed or used as a digital flipbook.
by Anne Hansen
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken (Psalm 62:5,6).
Read Psalm 62:1,2,5–8
The United Kingdom is home to many amazing castles, each with a unique story and incredible history. While nannying in England in 1991, I was asked to take the children to visit their grandparents in Perth, Scotland. A short plane trip later, we were in Scotland. On one of my days off, I borrowed a car and drove to St Andrews (the birthplace of golf), but I didn’t stop there. I went further to St Andrews Castle, built on the shore and cliffs overlooking the North Sea.
The first castle on this site was built from 1189 to 1202. It housed the wealthy and powerful lairds of that time. During various Scottish wars, it was destroyed and rebuilt as it changed hands from the Scots to the English over the next couple of centuries. It was rebuilt around 1400, and while the ruins visible today date from that period, their foundations reach back hundreds of years earlier.
St Andrews Castle has a colourful history and, at one stage in the 1500s, it was the centre of religious persecution and controversy. The ‘bottle dungeon’ can still be seen, and many Christians were imprisoned there. Visiting such a historic site enables the imagination to run riot with all that could and would have happened within the grounds of the walls. Castles were built as a fortification against enemies. A place where the ruling government could be secure, rest and find safety. But really, could they? There was always an enemy plotting their overthrow and wanting to take over the castle.
When King David wrote some of the psalms, I am sure he was relating God’s strength to the castles and fortresses of the time. It would have felt so secure and invincible living in them, but we know through history that castles do fall. But that was the closest King David could come to describing the security he felt when in God’s presence. We know that earthly buildings and structures will decay and fall away, but to have our hope built on the rock that is Christ Jesus, we have a foundation for life and beyond.
Place your hope and life on the rock of Jesus!
My Loving Father, help me not put my trust in earthly things, but to build my life on the rock of Jesus. He is the only one who can give me security and safety, and in him, I find hope for my future. Amen.
Anne Hansen has worked as the Lutheran Tract Mission Development Officer for almost 20 years. She lives in Noosa, Queensland, with her husband Mark (a pastor). She enjoys leading Know Your Bible (KYB) and Mainly Music. For relaxation, she loves walking, reading, gardening and playing pickleball.
The joy of being found out
by Noel Due
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered (Psalm 32:1).
Read Psalm 32
Psalm 32 opens not with instruction but with blessing. Before David describes confession, discipline or repentance, he announces the outcome: forgiveness. This order matters. Grace is not the reward at the end of repentance; it is the ground that makes repentance possible at all.
David speaks from experience. When sin was hidden, not denied but concealed, it hollowed him out. Silence before God did not preserve dignity; it consumed him. ‘My bones wasted away … day and night your hand was heavy upon me.’ This is the law doing its proper work – not to destroy, but to expose. God’s hand presses in until self-justification collapses. The sinner learns that secrecy before God is not safety but bondage.
Then comes the turn: ‘I acknowledged my sin to you … and you forgave.’ No bargaining. No improvement plan. No delay. Confession is not performance; it is truth spoken into mercy. Here, the Lutheran distinction between law and gospel is unmistakable. The law uncovers sin; the gospel covers it. What David could not hide, God chooses to cover – not by ignoring sin, but by forgiving it through its destruction on the cross.
The psalm then widens from personal testimony to communal instruction. ‘Let everyone who is godly offer prayer.’ Forgiveness is not a private spiritual technique; it is the pattern of life for the whole people of God. Those who trust this mercy are freed from panic and self-defence. Importantly, Psalm 32 does not end in introspection but guidance. The forgiven are taught a new way to live, no longer driven by fear like a horse or mule, but led by trust. Obedience follows forgiveness; it does not precede it.
Thus, Psalm 32 teaches the rhythm of the Christian life. Sin confessed. Forgiveness given. Joy restored. The blessedness David proclaims is not moral success but absolution. To be forgiven is to be released – from silence, from self-accusation, from the crushing labour of pretending. This is why the psalm ends with rejoicing. The righteous are not those without sin, but those who live from forgiveness.
Dear Father, you have given us all in giving us Christ. In him is our forgiveness, righteousness, life and love. In him is hope and true faith. Let us this day cease to hide from you, but to open our hearts to your gaze, so that our experience may be like David’s: ransomed, healed, restored and forgiven. Amen.
Noel is a semi-retired Lutheran pastor, writer, teacher and professional supervisor. He is married to Kirsten, a medical doctor, and they have three children and nine grandchildren. They also have two cats.
Help my unbelief
by Noel Due
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
I believe; help my unbelief! (Mark 9:24b)
Read Mark 9:14–29
The scene at the foot of the mountain is chaos. The glory of the Transfiguration has faded, and Jesus descends into argument, failure and desperation. A father brings his tormented son to the disciples, but they cannot help. The contrast is deliberate: the power of God revealed above meets the weakness of human faith below.
Jesus’ rebuke – ‘O faithless generation’ – is not aimed only at the scribes or the crowd, but at everyone present, disciples included. This strips away any confidence in technique, spiritual rank or past success. The disciples had cast out demons before, but yesterday’s faith cannot be relied on today. Faith is not a possession we store; it is a relationship of continual dependence.
The father’s cry stands at the centre of the passage. When Jesus says, ‘All things are possible for one who believes,’ the man does not pretend confidence. He does not offer polished faith or heroic trust. He brings what he has – and names what he lacks. ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’ This is not a contradiction but true faith speaking honestly. Faith is not certainty about oneself, but reliance on Christ precisely where certainty fails.
Jesus receives this prayer. He does not demand stronger faith before acting. He delivers the boy while the crowd thinks him dead. The resurrection language is intentional: Jesus takes him by the hand and lifts him up. God’s saving work often looks like defeat before it looks like life.
Later, the disciples ask why they failed. Jesus’ answer – ‘This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer’ – is not a technique but a diagnosis. Prayer confesses dependence. It refuses self-trust. It places the entire burden back onto God.
Mark 9 teaches the church how faith actually lives in a broken world. Not triumphantly, not confidently, but honestly. True faith does not hide unbelief; it brings it to Jesus. And Jesus, who does not despise weak faith, answers with mercy and power all the same.
Father, the cry of this dear man is also our cry. We believe, but help our unbelief. Receive our prayer and raise us up. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.
Noel is a semi-retired Lutheran pastor, writer, teacher and professional supervisor. He is married to Kirsten, a medical doctor, and they have three children and nine grandchildren. They also have two cats.
When worship forgets the neighbour
by Noel Due
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Render true judgements, show kindness and mercy to one another (Zechariah 7:9b).
Read Zechariah 7:4–10
The question that frames Zechariah 7 is a religiously sincere one: Should we continue fasting as we have done? The context is important: for decades, the people have observed ritual fasts commemorating Jerusalem’s destruction. They are not at home; they are in exile. God’s answer, however, bypasses the calendar and goes straight to the heart. The issue is not whether the fasts were kept, but for whom they were kept. ‘When you fasted … was it for me?’ the Lord asks. Here is a searching word of law: religious practice can be meticulously correct and still be curved inwardly.
God’s response is not to abolish fasting, worship or feasts. Instead, he exposes a deeper problem – ritual without repentance, devotion without love. True worship is never merely vertical. The God who hears our prayers also hears our cries. Thus, the command follows: justice, kindness, mercy, protection of the vulnerable – the widow, the orphan, the sojourner, the poor. These are not optional ethical add-ons, but the fruit God has always desired.
Zechariah does not teach that acts of mercy earn God’s favour. The people were already God’s covenant people. Yet faith that trusts God’s promises cannot be sealed off from love of neighbour. Where faith clings to God’s mercy, mercy flows outward. Where religion becomes self-referential – fasting for ourselves – the neighbour disappears. All we see is ourselves.
The warning embedded here is sobering. God reminds them that earlier generations heard these same words ‘by the Spirit through the former prophets’ and yet refused to listen. Hardened hearts did not lack information; they lacked trust. The result was exile – not because God delights in punishment, but because unrepentant self-righteousness cuts itself off from life.
For the church today, Zechariah speaks clearly. The call is not to abandon worship, but to let worship reshape the heart. True fasting, true prayer, true devotion are received first as gifts of grace – and then lived out as mercy toward others. Where God’s mercy is trusted, it is never hoarded.
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for loving us with an everlasting love. Even when we have cut ourselves off from you, you have still had your face set toward us. You keep coming to us to give and redeem. Let your love for us truly reshape our hearts into your image day by day. Amen.
Noel is a semi-retired Lutheran pastor, writer, teacher and professional supervisor. He is married to Kirsten, a medical doctor, and they have three children and nine grandchildren. They also have two cats.