Morning Prayers
May 12 – 18, 2024
Prayer as a Rule of Life
Sunday, May 12
Rest as a Rule of Life
This is a day for rest and renewal of body, mind, and spirit.
Daily Prayer for a Rule of Life
May our lives be a prayer;
May God work through our prayers;
May our work be an answer;
To God’s will working through us.
May we rest in God’s love;
May God’s rest feed our souls;
May our table be open;
May we welcome friends and foes.
May the poor be our neighbors;
May our neighbors be blessed.
Amen
Lectionary Readings for the Week: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26; Psalm 1; 1 John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19
Monday, May 13, 2024
Prayer as a Rule of Life
“Not for our sake, God, no, not for our sake, but for your name’s sake, show your glory.Do it on account of your merciful love, do it on account of your faithful ways.Do it so none of the nations can say, “Where now, oh where is their God?””
Psalm 115:1-2 The Message
Silence
We are alive and sing God’s praise for God is with us. God is with all the nations.
Prayers of Gratitude
God, who raises up our praise, we are glad to share our gratitude. You created us in your image and gave us life where we can breathe, laugh, cry, move, dance, kneel, and jump. We can hear the songs of heaven and smell the sweet aroma of resurrection. You sculpted us not of stone or metal as viewable figurines, yet spirit-sustained bodies blessed by you to be a blessing.
Give thanks for God’s glorious work in and around you.
The Lord’s Prayer
A Reading
Philippians 1:3-11
Reflect on those things that trigger prayer.
Intercessions
We pray thanksgiving for those in our lives.
We remember those with whom we are in partnership for the Gospel.
We seek your love that purifies our heart and mind.
We long to flourish as we learn to love with the heart of God.
O God, hear our prayers…
Sending Forth Prayer
As Jesus was sent to us, let us go as we are sent to our neighbors near and far away.
Daily Lectionary Readings: Psalm 115; Exodus 28:29-38; Philippians 1:3-11
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Prayer as a Rule of Life
“Let God bless all who fear God— bless the small, bless the great.Oh, let God enlarge your families— giving growth to you, growth to your children.May you be blessed by God, by God, who made heaven and earth.”
Psalm 115:13-15, The Message adapted
Silence
Breathe. Take in the air that nourishes all creation. Receive God’s blessing for life.
Prayers of Gratitude
The law of the Lord is love, and we delight in your law. Your grace prospers like fruits and flowers from the trees rooted deeply along the riverbanks. Your blessing for all creatures, great and small, throughout the whole wide earth. You know our hearts and pray for us as you collect the diversity of our gifts, sending them forth with your blessing into a world that needs them. You gave yourself as the purest gift for us, a gift of love.
Delight in God’s gift of love and the blessings offered to us.
The Lord’s Prayer
A Reading: John 17:6-19
Reflect on Jesus praying for us.
Intercessions
We love for you first loved us. We pray for you prayed for us.
We are yours and living in a world that often rejects us.
Our human divisions squawk and scream rally cries
delineating red and blue, shirts and skins, white-collar and blue-collar,
clergy and laity, red, yellow, black and white.
Your prayer was and is and forever will be oneness with you, t
he Holy Trinity, the great three-in-one,
who moves among and around us,
redeeming the brokenness that separates us.
Forgive our divisiveness and give us the Spirit that draws us closer to you so that we may all be your friends.
Hear our prayer…
Sending Forth Prayer
Go into the world with the spirit of friendship that keeps us from
loneliness as we live with each other.
Daily Lectionary Readings: Psalm 115; Numbers 8:5-22; Titus 1:1-9
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Prayer as a Rule of Life
“Dead people can’t praise God— not a word to be heard from those buried in the ground.But we bless God, oh yes— we bless him now, we bless him always!Hallelujah!”
Psalm 115:17-18, The Message
Silence
Hallelujah! Alive with God. We are blessed to be a blessing as we live resurrected.
Prayers of Gratitude
Death, life. Grief, joy. Darkness, light. Mourning, dancing. An era ends, and a new life begins. We are not dead; we are alive with Jesus, who rose from the grave. We shout our “Hallelujah” and see new life all around us. The trees, the flowers, the grasses - the sound of Hallelujah that whistles through the wind. The creatures of the land, air, and sea - the sound of “Hallelujah” as creatures sing their praise. We who have voice praise the Lord, giving thanksgiving with our whole bodies - heart, soul, strength, and mind.
Give thanks for God’s glorious work in and around you.
The Lord’s Prayer
A Reading
John 16:16-24
Reflect on what you need to ask for your joy to be complete.
Intercessions
God of the open ear, you hear us. We have questions; you listen. We cry, you listen. We shout, you listen. Our curiosities, emotions, and every fiber of our being come to you, and you bless us. We bring our pain, our suffering, our sorrow. We bring our celebration, our glee, our wonderment. We bring the pieces of ourselves so that we may be made whole through the restoration of resurrection. We also bring our friends, families, neighbors, the strangers we see at work and play, the leaders we read about and see from far away - they may not come in body yet, only in our hearts and minds, for they too are broken. Some were cut by the scalpel; others were poked with needles. Some have doctored themselves, and others are being overburdened by caregiving. Some are so full of themselves that they don’t see their bloated brokenness;
others are so weak they’ve become crushed gravel for others to walk over.
God of the open ear, hear our prayers for the broken to be restored to joy.
Sending Forth Prayer
Come with your questions and leave with the answer, for the risen Christ is with us wherever we go, ready to listen, wanting to give you joy.
Daily Lectionary Readings: Psalm 115; Ezra 9:5-15; John 16:16-24
Thursday, May 16, 2024
Prayer as a Rule of Life
“From high in the skies God looks around,
he sees all Adam’s brood
From where he sits
he overlooks all us earth-dwellers.
He has shaped each person in turn;
now he watches everything we do."
Psalm 33:13-15, The Message
Silence
Created in God’s image, we look around and see differences while God sees a reflection. Open your eyes to see God in everyone who inhales the breath of God.
Prayers of Gratitude
Life is good. Yes, we’ve maligned God’s perfect masterpiece and contributed our share of stresses, stretches, and disfigurements. Nevertheless, life is good, for God gifted us with a heavenly breath that gave life to molded dirt and then began restoring the masterpiece with the divine resuscitation of God’s son, once dead and buried, who rose from the grave before blowing us into mission with a breath of peace. Life is good.
Give thanks for God’s glorious work in and around you.
The Lord’s Prayer
A Reading
1 Corinthians 15:42b-49
Reflect on the resurrection and the restoration of our heavenly bodies.
Intercessions
God, you are our salvation. We cannot restore your masterpiece on our own. Our knowledge and wisdom too often seek human gain instead of heavenly praise. Our architecture too often pours foundation over your creation instead of building on you, our rock and sure foundation. We too often craft you in our image as we overlook that you crafted us in your image. We pray for our brokenness. Our bodies need the potter’s hands to shape and mold them into something new. We need the resuscitation of resurrection to give us new life beyond the stress, trauma, and challenges of the world that place these earthen vessels under crushing pressure. O Lord, hear our prayer for new life, new bodies, and fresh air as we live a new life with you.
Sending Forth Prayer
God watches us as a parent watches a child go forth to play, to school, to work.
A caring eye that beams a glare of love.
A cautious eye that searches for what lurks in the shadows.
A graceful eye that weeps when we fall and gushes tears of joy when we return home. God is watching us through the Son who walks with us.
Daily Lectionary Readings: Psalm 33:12-22; Genesis 2:4b-7; 1 Corinthians 15:42b-49
Friday, May 17, 2024
Prayer as a Rule of Life
“Watch this: God’s eye is on those who respect him, the ones who are looking for his love.He’s ready to come to their rescue in bad times; in lean times he keeps body and soul together."
Psalm 33:18-19, The Message
Silence
God is watching with the eye of a lifeguard, ready to pull us in from the sinking depth to breathe life into us once again. Don’t fight. Let go. Rest in the mercy of the life-saver.
Prayers of Gratitude
God of mystery, from your stand, you look over all creation. With eyes wide open, you marvel at our work for you and weep as we overlook you. The world is changing, for we pray “on earth as it is heaven.” We await the twinkle of your eye and the trumpet’s blare to come like lightning striking sand to create a glassy lens where we can see the transformation of now into forever. Clear our eyes and open our ears to see
and hear the goodness of your renewing of creation.
Give thanks for God’s glorious work in and around you.
The Lord’s Prayer
A Reading
1 Corinthians 15:50-57
Reflect on God’s mystery.
Intercessions
God is speaking. “Let there be” was the prelude chant as creation was brought into being. Let there be…
… light
… dome-of-sky
… waters
… lights
God’s thunderous, roaring voice brings forth great things.
God’s mouth releases heaven’s breath for all life and new life.
God’s directions give order to our everyday chaos.
God, speak. Let there be a day of new life as we share prayers you already know, for you give us words to declare the work you are doing for the hurting, the marginalized, the down and out, the heavy laden, the neighbor who lies at the gate.
Lord, hear the words we speak.
Sending Forth Prayer
God is watching us. Go where God is looking and delight in the work of heaven happening there.
Daily Lectionary Readings: Psalm 33:12-22; Job 37:1-13; 1 Corinthians 15:50-57
Saturday, May 18, 2024
Prayer as a Rule of Life
“We’re depending on God;
he’s everything we need.What’s more, our hearts brim with joy
since we’ve taken for our own his holy name.Love us, God, with all you’ve got—
that’s what we’re depending on.”
Psalm 33:20-22, The Message
Silence
We are swimming in a sea of mercy. Everything we need, God provides.
Rejoice and soak in God’s grace.
Prayers of Gratitude
“I’m singing my heart out to God—what a victory! God is my strength, God is my song, and, yes! God is my salvation.This is the kind of God I have and I’m telling the world!This is the God of my father— I’m spreading the news far and wide!God is a fighter, pure God, through and through.”
Give thanks for God our strength and salvation.
The Lord’s Prayer
A Reading
John 7:37-39
Reflect on where you thirst.
Intercessions
Come, Holy Spirit, pour into us a thirst-quenching spirit
like the living water of a never-ending stream.
Overfill so we may overflow with mercy
and grace to share a cup of grace with our neighbors.
Burst our hearts with joy that the whole world knows we are alive with Christ. The powers and principalities oppress us of earthly fare. Good news: we rely on God who provides - Jehovah Jireh. There was manna from heaven and water from a rock. There was a lamb to sacrifice instead of Isaac, and there was God’s son sacrificed for the forgiveness of all our sins. Come, Holy Spirit, and pour out your abundant spirit to those we name before you so they can sing God’s praise.
Sending Forth Prayer
Prepare your hearts for the coming Holy Spirit. Pour out yesterday's lukewarm, stagnant liquid for what is coming:
the living water of eternity.
Daily Lectionary Readings: Psalm 33:12-22; Exodus 15:6-11; John 7:37-39
Peace be with you.
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