Did you know that Easter Sunday and the 50 days following are called Eastertide or Paschaltide in the church calendar? Similar to the weeks of Advent (but sort of in reverse), Easter Sunday is counted as the first Sunday of Eastertide. The Sunday after that is called the second and so on, leading up to Pentecost Sunday (or Whitsuntide). In some traditions, the period is celebrated as a single “feast,” called “the great Lord’s Day.”
I love that. I want my Easter celebration to endure. I want it to run deep. And I want to pray differently post-Easter this year. I want to pray “resurrection prayers.”
Prayers Before the Resurrection
What do I mean by that? Think of it this way. Do you remember the prayers of Jesus’ first followers before His resurrection? Prayers such as:
- Peter’s “Never, Lord!” (Matthew 16:22 NIV)
- James and John’s petition, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory” (Mark 10:37 NIV)
- The disciples’ frantic cry in the storm, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:35 NIV)
Prayers After the Resurrection
To be fair, they were still learning and adjusting to the mind-boggling realities of who Jesus is and what life with Him is like. But after the resurrection things changed:
- They worshiped Him. (Matthew 28:9, 17)
- “They remembered his words.” (Luke 24:8 NIV)
- Their hearts burned within them. (Luke 24:32)
- Thomas said, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28 NIV)
- Peter said, “You know all things; you know that I love you.” (John 21:17 NIV)
- Stephen prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” (Acts 7:60 NIV)
- The persecuted Jerusalem Christians prayed, “Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.” (Acts 4:30 NIV)
Those are Eastertide prayers. They’re “great Lord’s Day” prayers. They are worshipful, passionate, faith-filled, forgiveness-drenched, and bold.
So, for this Eastertide, I’m asking God to help me pray like that to my Risen Lord. I will focus on worshiping and remembering His words until my heart burns within me. I will pray:
- “My Lord and my God!”
- “You know all things; you know that I love you.”
- “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
- “Enable your servant to speak your word with great boldness.” Amen.
