Time to Pray – Daily Prayer for Monday 5 November, 2018

Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call upon him while he is near.

Isaiah 55.6

Glory to God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit:

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

A poem: The Hymn to the Word

In the beginning was the Word:
and the Word was with God,
And the Word was God:
He was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through him:
and without him, was not anything made that was made.
In him was life:
and the life was the light of all people.
The light shines in the darkness:
and the darkness has not overcome it.
He was in the world:
and the world was made through him
yet the world knew him not.
He came to his own home:
and his own people received him not.
But to all who received him who believed on his name:
he has given power to become children of God;
Who were born not of blood
nor of the will of the flesh:
nor of the will of a man but of God.
And the Word became flesh:
and dwelt among us full of grace and truth;
We have beheld his glory:
glory as of the only Son from the Father.
And from his fullness have we all received:
and grace upon grace.

John 1.1-5, 10-14, 16

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.

Father of lights, receive the prayer and praise we offer you as our daily sacrifice; make us a light for all the world, delivered by your goodness from all the works of darkness; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.

The readings

Psalm 131

O Lord, my heart is not proud;
my eyes are not raised in haughty looks.

I do not occupy myself with great matters,
with things that are too high for me.

But I have quieted and stilled my soul, like a weaned child on its mother’s breast;
so my soul is quieted within me.

O Israel, trust in the Lord,
from this time forth for evermore.

Philippians 2.1-4

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

Luke 14.12-14

He said also to the one who had invited him, ‘When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’

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:

God our Father,
whose will it is to bring all things
to order and unity in our Lord Jesus Christ:
may all the peoples of the world,
now divided and torn apart by sin,
be brought together under his sovereign rule of love;
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 keep us strong in prayer. In our local church, we ask God to help families of children baptised here to grow in their faith. In our world, we pray for the local representatives who speak for us in government and decide on our laws. We remember before God those who have asked for our prayers, or who are in need of them.

A prayer for the day

Creator God, whose praise and power are proclaimed by the whole creation: receive our prayers, we pray, and renew us in your service; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lord be with us

now and forever.

Let us praise the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

May the Lord bless us and keep us; the Lord make his face to shine upon us, and be gracious to us; the Lord lift up his countenance upon us, and give us peace. Amen.

Numbers 6.24-26