Daily Prayer – December 16
(Download PDF For Today’s Daily Prayer Guide)
Setting aside even a brief time each day to pray helps us create a stable spiritual center in our lives. This guided prayer is largely based on the Morning, Noon and Evening Prayer cycle found in the Book of Common Prayer.
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Online Text Version
INSTRUCTIONS: The underlined text are headings and do not need to be read. [Brackets] are instructions to be followed but not necessarily read. (Parentheses) are references and not to be read. FOR INDIVIDUAL PRAYER: I suggest you read the prayer sheet aloud, but reading silently is fine too. Don’t pay any attention to the Bold Italic Type. FOR GROUP PRAYER: have one person act as leader. The leader reads the regular print and everyone reads the Bold Italic Type together.
Daily Prayer for December 13
Opening Sentences:
Merciful God of peace,
your word, spoken by the prophets, restores your people’s life and hope. ff
Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. (Hebrews 1:1-3)
Praying Together
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Alleluia.
Confession*:
God of love, we pray to you for forgiveness and mercy. You watch in sorrow as nation rises up against nation, as brothers and sisters live in strife.
Forgive us for tolerating injustice. Forgive us for the fear that leads to hate. Forgive us when we fail to lead the way to peace.
Guide us by your light to the dawn of Christ’s reign of peace where strangers bearing gifts meet to worship Christ our Lord.
God’s mercy falls on us like rain on new mown grass. May his forgiveness and mercy grant us peace. Amen
From Psalm 89:1-2
I will sing of thy steadfast love, O Lord, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.
I declare that your steadfast love is established forever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.
[Silent Prayer; or Music may be listened to; or a Hymn is sung.]
Prayers of the People:
Almighty God, guide the people of this land, and of all the nations, in the ways of justice and peace; that we may honor one another and serve the common good. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer. [Silent Prayer]
We pray for the equitable and sustainable use of our natural resources which you so carefully created for the common good of all your creatures.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
[Silent Prayer]
We pray for the world to be a global community, Lord, that we all may be one and work as one together. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
[Silent Prayer]
We pray for the poor, the persecuted, the dispossessed refugee, prisoners and all who are in danger; protect them Lord, and deliver them from their burden.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
[Silent Prayer]
Amen.
We pray for our enemies, dear Lord, that they may be transformed into comrades and friends. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer. [Silent Prayer]
Hear us, O Lord,as we pray together:
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.
Closing prayer:
As we leave this time of worship let us not give up hope in your coming, but seek with joy your light of peace, sharing the love that is God in Christ with each and every person we meet. May we work only for your glory, dear Lord, to love and serve you always. Amen.
ff From Revised Common Lectionary Prayers, Consultation on Common Texts.
*Blair Gilmer Meeks, Season of Light and Hope, p. 102
Image: The River of Life by Corrine Peterson. From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56247.
Music Selection from The Hymnal Project
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