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 119:49-72
49 O remember your word to your servant,
in which you have caused me to put my trust.
50 This is my comfort in my trouble,
for your word has given me life.
51 The proud have held me exceedingly in derision,
yet I have not turned aside from your law.
52 For I have remembered, O Lord, your judgments from of old,
and by them I have received comfort.
53 I am filled with indignation,
because of the ungodly who forsake your law.
54 Your statutes have been my songs
in the house of my pilgrimage.
55 I have thought upon your Name, O Lord, in the night season,
and I have kept your law.
56 This has been my reward,
because I have kept your commandments.
57 You are my portion, O Lord;
I have promised to keep your law.
58 I made my humble petition in your presence with my whole heart;
O be merciful to me, according to your word.
59 I have called my ways to remembrance
and turned my feet to your testimonies.
60 I made haste and did not delay
to keep your commandments.
61 The cords of the ungodly have encircled me,
but I have not forgotten your law.
62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks to you,
because of your righteous judgments.
63 I am a companion of all those who fear you
and keep your commandments.
64 The earth, O Lord, is full of your mercy;
O teach me your statutes.
65 O Lord, you have dealt graciously with your servant,
according to your word.
66 O teach me true understanding and knowledge,
for I have believed your commandments.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I keep your word.
68 You are good and gracious;
O teach me your statutes.
69 The proud have slandered me with lies,
but I will keep your commandments with my whole heart.
70 Their heart has become gross with fatness,
but my delight is in your law.
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
that I may learn your statutes.
72 The law of your mouth is dearer to me
than thousands in gold and silver.
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 about your career, job, or life stage are you grateful for?
Intercession Prompt
Take a few minutes and pray for your needs and the needs of those around you.
Closing Prayer
Father, you sent your Son not to be served, but to serve. He served all the way to the cross as an example for all humanity. Forgive me for the ways I serve with an absent heart or wrong motive. Grant me the desire and the energy to walk out your good works that have been planned in advance. Amen