Daily Prayer – December 9
(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 9
Opening Sentences:
God of hope, you call us from the exile of our sin with the good news of restoration; you build a highway through the wilderness. 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:
Dear Father in heaven, we come into your presence as imperfect, sinful children, who do many foolish things and who are involved in much that is evil and corrupt.
We come to you, Father, knowing that your fatherly love is with us through all eternity. Be gracious to us and free us from all the harm and injury we are bound to suffer in this earthly life.
May the grace your kingdom brings on earth finally blot out the sins of all people, so that as your children they may rejoice because you have helped them.
May your name be praised among all people. Amen. (Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt)
Based on Psalm 116:
I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications.
Because he has inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish.
Then I called on the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I pray, save my life!
The Lord. Protects the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.
Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord our Lord is gracious and merciful and has dealt bountifully with you.
[Silent Prayer; or Music may be listened to; or a Hymn is sung.]
Prayers of the People:
That we may end our lives in faith and hope, without suffering. And without reproach, let us pray to the Lord. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
[Silent Prayer]
I ask your prayers for all who seek God, or a deeper knowledge of God. Pray that they may find and be found by God. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
[Silent Prayer]
Have compassion on those who suffer from any grief or trouble; that they may be delivered from their distress.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
[Silent Prayer]
Comfort and heal all those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit; give them courage and hope in their troubles, and bring them the joy of your salvation.
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:
Be with us, Lord, every moment and in every place so that we may respond to your call to minister to the broken, the lonely and the needy; giving hope and sharing your gracious presence in all our work and ways, forever and always giving glory to you, O God our Father.
Amen.
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Sources
ff From Revised Common Lectionary Prayers, Consultation on Common Texts.
Image: Holy Family, Niclaus Weckmann , from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu
Music Selection from The Hymnal Project