Each week for this season our devotions will be centered around the practice of PRAYER. Like the disciples we too have the opportunity to ask Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.” We encourage you to read all prayers and Psalms out loud – let the words of Scripture fill your prayers!
Prayer of Confession
Gracious God, our sins are too heavy to carry, too real to hide, and too deep to undo. Forgive what our lips tremble to name, what our hearts can no longer bear, and what has become for us a consuming fire of judgment. Set us free from a past that we cannot change; open to us a future in which we can be changed; and grant us grace to grow more and more in your likeness and image, through Jesus Christ, the light of the world. Amen.
Psalm 105:1-22
1 Give thanks unto the Lord and call upon his Name;
tell the peoples what things he has done.
2 O let your songs be of him, and praise him,
and let your speech be of all his wondrous works.
3 Rejoice in his holy Name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his face evermore.
5 Remember the marvelous works that he has done,
his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,
6 O seed of Abraham his servant,
O children of Jacob his chosen.
7 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the world.
8 He has always been mindful of his covenant,
and the promise that he made to a thousand generations,
9 Even the covenant that he made with Abraham,
and the oath that he swore to Isaac,
10 Which he appointed to Jacob for a law,
and to Israel for an everlasting testament,
11 Saying, “To you will I give the land of Canaan
to be the portion of your inheritance.”
12 When there were yet but a few of them,
and they were strangers in the land,
13 And they wandered from nation to nation,
and from one kingdom to another,
14 He allowed no one to do them wrong,
but reproved even kings for their sakes:
15 “Do not touch my Anointed,*
and do my prophets no harm.”
16 Moreover, he called for a famine in the land
and destroyed all the provision of bread.
17 But he had sent a man before them:
Joseph, who was sold to be a bondservant,
18 Whose feet they hurt in the stocks;
they put an iron collar around his neck.
19 Until the time came that his sayings were fulfilled,
the word of the Lord tried him.
20 The king sent and delivered him;
the ruler of the people let him go free.
21 He made him lord over his house,
and ruler of all his possessions,
22 That he might instruct his princes according to his will
and teach his elders wisdom.
The Lord’s Prayer
Jesus, in teaching the disciples how to pray, prayed the follow prayer in the Gospel of Matthew and Luke. We learn as well as we join with the prayers of Jesus!
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Thanksgiving Prompt
What 3 things you love about the town, area or neighborhood you live in?
Intercession Prompt
Take a few minutes and pray for your needs and the needs of those around you.
Closing Prayer
Father in Heaven, Holy is your name. We pray for your kingdom to come and your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Grant us boiling hot spirits, that we may come to love your bride, the holy church, as you do. Deposit within us the humility that Jesus embodied as he was nailed to the cross. When we are tempted to back away, may your Holy Spirit remind us to choose to move forward in humble curiosity, grace, mercy, trust, authenticity and forgiveness. Amen.