Daily Prayer – December 7
(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 7
Opening Sentences:
God of hope, you raised up John the baptizer as a herald who calls us to conversion. As we joyfully await the glorious coming of Christ, we pray to you for the needs of the world.ff
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. (Isaiah 40:5)
Praying Together:
Lord, open our lips.
Our mouth shall proclaim your praise. 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.
Confession:
Eternal God, in whom we live and move and have our being, whose face is hidden from us by our sins, and whose mercy we forget in the blindness of our hearts.
O Lord, cleanse us from all our offenses, and deliver us from proud thoughts and vain desires, that with reverent and humble hearts so we may draw near to you, confessing our faults, confiding in your grace, and finding in you our refuge and strength; through Jesus Christ your Son. Amen.
Great is God’s lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has God removed our transgressions from us.
From Psalm 28:
7 Blessed is the Lord!
for he has heard the voice of my prayer.
8 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I have been helped;
9 Therefore my heart dances for joy,
and in my song will I praise him.
10 The Lord is the strength of his people,
a safe refuge for his anointed.
11 Save your people and bless your inheritance; *
shepherd them and carry them forever.
[Silent Prayer; or Music may be listened to; or a Hymn is sung.]
Prayers of the People:
Show us your mercy, O Lord; And grant us your salvation.
Clothe your ministers with righteousness; Let your people sing with joy.
[Silent Prayer]
Give peace, O Lord, in all the world; For only in you can we live in safety.
Lord, keep this nation under your care; And guide us in the way of justice and truth. [Silent Prayer]
Let your way be known upon earth; Your saving health among all nations.
Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten; Nor the hope of the poor be taken away. [Silent Prayer]
Create in us clean hearts, O God;
And sustain us with your Holy Spirit. [Silent Prayer]
In your mercy Lord, hear our prayers. Amen.
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:
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Sources
ff From Revised Common Lectionary Prayers, Consultation on Common Texts.
Image: John the Baptist, Schwabach Stadtkirche — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schwabach_Stadtkirche_-_Katharinenaltar_Fl%C3%BCgel_4a.jpg
Music Selection from The Hymnal Project