Opening Prayer – Third Sunday of Lent
Father,
You put a thirst in us that only You can quench.
You lead us through rocky and desert places
to a wellspring with the water of life.
May the Word we read today satisfy our desire
and fill us with Your Spirit so we may overflow!

Journal/Reflection Questions
Exodus 17:3-7
• Can you relate to this feeling of thirst? Have you ever been “dying of thirst”? How does this translate into ones spiritual life?
• Why was Moses afraid? When have you felt like Moses? Where was God? How did God help you?

Romans 5:1-2, 5-8
• An agreement made between two people requires each side to give something. God gave us His Son, Jesus gave us His life and the Holy Spirit gave us the Bible. What are you being called to give?
• Where do you see the Holy Spirit working in your life? What does it look like? Feel like? How do you know it is the Holy Spirit?

John 4:5-42
• What does Jesus ask for and then offer in return? Imagine Jesus asking you the same thing. How might you respond, how have you already responded? What has He asked for in return, what do you give?
• Define “living water”.

General Questions for Journaling
• The Trinity is God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. How do you relate to each part of the Trinity?
• Do you thirst for things in your life? Take time to be honest with yourself and reflect on things you thirst for each day. Are these things life giving or do they drain life from you?
• What do you think the woman at the well was feeling when Jesus told her all of the things of her past. How would it make you feel if a stranger did the same to you? How does it feel to know Jesus does know your past?
• Put yourself in the Gospel story as one of the villagers. How would you react when the woman came back to share what had just happened at the well? Would you believe her? Would the encounter change how you felt about her?
• The woman at the well shows how humans long to be loved and Jesus is the only one who can give the everlasting love humans desire. What do you desire? Are there things in your life you cannot live without?
• When you are in the desert and look out into the horizon, you can see a mirage, an image of water in the distance. Use this image to describe an experience in your life. What was your desert experience? What was your mirage?
• How does the story of the woman at the well, help give you encouragement to continue to work on your Lenten sacrifices?

Closing Prayer
Rain down your love, oh Lord
Rain down your peace.
Rain down your mercy, oh Lord
Rain down your compassion.
Rain down your grace, oh Lord
You are our living water!

Challenge for the Week: Consider all of the ways we use water every day. It is one of life’s necessities. As Americans, we often take for granted how much we use water. We use water when we flush the toilet, take a shower, brush our teeth all just to get “ready” in the morning. Water is needed to brew coffee or tea and to prepare or cook our food. If you have ever had to turn off the water to your house or gone camping in a primitive spot then you might begin to be able to understand what was like for the Israelites. Despite all of our advances, there are still people in the world who live without clean water to drink, cook or wash. It is also important to drink plenty of water for our bodies to run better because water for our bodies is like oil for our car. The challenge this week is to be more aware of the water we use and why we use it. Say a prayer of thanksgiving each time you use water, pray for those who don’t have clean water, ask God to help you trust in him to provide for you just like you rely on the water to come out of your faucet. Also try to drink the recommended amount of water and pray each time you go to fill up your cup. At first, drinking so much water will cause extra trips to the bathroom to use more water, but then our bodies adjust; but the extra water equates to more time spent in prayer and perhaps we will adjust to having Christ with us more often too!