Time to Pray – Daily Prayer for Tuesday 10 October, 2017

Through Christ let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God,

the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

Hebrews 13.15

Glory to God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit:

as in the beginning, so now, and for ever. Amen.

A poem: The Song of Christ’s Glory

Christ Jesus was in the form of God:
but he did not cling to equality with God.
He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant:
and was born in our human likeness.
Being found in human form, he humbled himself:
and became obedient unto death,
even death on a cross.
Therefore God has highly exalted him:
and bestowed on him the name above every name,
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow:
in heaven and on earth and under the earth;
And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord:
to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2.5b-11

The opening prayer

By night and by day we worship the Lord; let us pray with one heart and mind.

We remember God’s presence and pause in silence.

As we rejoice in the gift of this new day, so may the light of your presence, O God, set our hearts on fire with love for you; now and for ever. Amen.

The readings

Jonah 3

The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying, ‘Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.’ So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, ‘Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.

When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.’

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

Psalm 130

Out of the depths have I cried to you, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice;
let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.

If you, Lord, were to mark what is done amiss,
O Lord, who could stand?

But there is forgiveness with you,
so that you shall be feared.

I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him;
in his word is my hope.

My soul waits for the Lord, more than the night watch for the morning,
more than the night watch for the morning.

O Israel, wait for the Lord,
for with the Lord there is mercy;

With him is plenteous redemption
and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins.

Luke 10.38-end

Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’

The Prayers

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever.
Amen.

This week’s prayer:

Generous God,
whose hand is open
to fill all things living with plenteousness:
make us ever thankful for your goodness,
and grant that we, remembering the account that we must one day give,
may be faithful stewards of your bounty;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

We thank God for what we have and pray for what we need.

Today we pray for ourselves, that God would teach us to love him with everything we have and teach us to love our neighbours as ourselves. In our local church, we ask God to care for those who are ill or housebound. In our world, we pray for people who work in our emergency services. We remember before God those who have asked for our prayers, or who are in need of them.

A prayer for the day

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
Amen

The Lord be with us

now and forever.

Let us praise the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

May Jesus, the Lord of peace, give us peace at all times and in all ways. Amen.

2 Thessalonians 3.16