November 3 – November 9, 2024
Focus: Prayer as a Rule of Life
Sunday, November 3, 2024
Prayer as a Rule of Life
This is a day for rest and prayerful communion in the Three-in-One God, who binds all things together as Beloved creation.
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
Sunday, November 3, 2024: Ruth 1:1-18; Ps 146; Heb 9:11-14; Mark we: 28-34
Monday, November 4, 2024
Prayer as a Rule of Life
Opening
For you deliver a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down. It is you who light my lamp; the LORD, my God, lights up my darkness.
Psalm 18:27-28
Silence
Be still and aware of God’s presence within and all around.
Prayers of Gratitude
Holy One, we pray for your allegiance,
You say, return no evil.
We pray for our peace,
You say, I am peace for all.
We pray our adversary destroyed,
You say, my vengeance is grace.
We pray to meet you, Oh God,
“My Beloved, meet your enemy for I am there.”
Thank you, Holy Disrupter, you save us from us.
(From: Romans 12:17-21)
The Lord’s Prayer
Matthew 6:9-13 or other versions
A Reading
Ruth 2:15-23
Reflect on the scripture and consider the prayers who come to us in the breath of another.
Intercessions
In a whisper, hope is kindled,
In a sigh, a yearning for rest,
In a tear, the need for solace,
In a cry, a heart revealed,
In a nod, I see you.
In a kiss, a sacred wonder.
In your heart, Agape God, all of it.
Sending Forth
Holy Eternal Bard, sing the melody of joy within us once more, that we may dance in the notes of your endless love.
(from Psalm 51 – a response)
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 Monday:
Psalm 18:20-30; Ruth 2:15-23; Romans 12:17-21; 13:8-10; Psalm 51;
Deuteronomy 6:10-25
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Prayer as a Rule of Life
Opening
The Lord rewarded me for doing right; he restored me because of my innocence. For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not turned from my God to follow evil.
(Psalm 18:20-21)
Silence
Be still and aware of God’s presence within and all around.
Prayers of Gratitude
Holy Purveyor of the Unexpected,
You weave redemption through daring and defiant living prayers.
Tamar’s bold claim for justice, Rahab’s protection of the promise,
Ruth’s relentless pursuit of hope,
Bathsheba’s persistence amidst the violence,
Mary’s holy “yes” from the edges of deemed respectability,
You reveal God’s Kin-dom – maternal holy volition beyond patriarchal horrific violation,
Form us, Oh God, in the tenacity of sacred resistance, loving as living prayers.
The Lord’s Prayer
Matthew 6:9-13 or other versions
A Reading
Ruth 3:1-7
Reflect on the scripture considering risk, trust, subversion, respectability, and hope.
Intercessions
O God of the Burning Bush,
Ignite our hearts with the fire of your justice,
Teach us wisdom that we open our eyes to oppression,
Give us boldness to intervene,
Allow us patience for persistence,
Guide us through deserts of uncertainty,
Where we sing songs of liberation,
And live prayers of love, that we all are set free.
Sending Forth
Unseal our broken lips, Oh God of Mercy, that we might proclaim your forgiveness, rebuilding crumbled realities and singing songs of hope.
(from Psalm 51:14-18 – a response)
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 Tuesday:
Psalm 18:20-30; Ruth 3:1-7; Acts 7:17-29; Psalm 51; Deuteronomy 28:58-29:1
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Prayer as a Rule of Life
God’s way is perfect. All God’s promises prove true. She is a shield for all who look to her for protection. (Psalm 18:30)
Silence
Be still and aware of God’s presence within and all around.
Prayers of Gratitude
Holy God, Source of All Goodness,
I breathe, and you answer as life,
I yearn, and you answer as promise,
I falter, and you answer as comfort,
I yield, and you answer as blessing,
I doubt, and you answer as mystery,
I love, and you answer and answer and answer.
The Lord’s Prayer
Matthew 6:9-13 or other versions
A Reading
Ruth 3:8-18
Reflect on the scripture considering loyalty, courage, redemption, and providence.
Intercessions
Sometimes it seems our prayers are unleashed into emptiness,
An unknowable reality where nothing is heard.
We urge them heavenward,
praying that holy wind will do that which is lost to us.
And still, it feels our prayers die in silences,
Empty echoes,
resounding off the unresponsive rock.
We are lost, Oh God – You find us in the void.
Sending Forth
“God has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does God require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
(Micah 6:8)
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 Wednesday:
Psalm 18:20-30; Ruth 3:8-18; John 13:31-35; Psalm 51; Micah 6:1-8
Thursday, November 7, 2024
Prayer as a Rule of Life
Opening
Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.
(Psalm 127:1)
Silence
Be still and aware of God’s presence within and all around.
Prayers of Gratitude
Whispering God,
In the silence, we find you.
Words, thoughts, requests, demands,
They are but obstacles.
In the silence, you dwell,
Beyond answers, surpassing promises, transcending belief,
Seeking us, luring us, calling us,
Into the infinite mystery of love.
The Lord’s Prayer
Matthew 6:9-13 or other versions
A Reading
Ruth 4:1-10
Reflect on the scripture considering breaking of boundaries, public witness, inclusion, and sacred legacy.
Intercessions
Holy One, We believed we were unworthy,
You saw us in love.
We believed we were unclean,
You called us daughters.
We believed we were too broken,
You named us sons.
We believed we were unholy,
You drank, ate, and partied with us,
and then -- called us disciples.
We believed we were unreachable,
You stepped beyond the tomb.
We believe, Savior Christ, heal our unbelief.
Sending Forth
Sacred Liberator, shatter our shame, that we may dwell deep in your love and join in your work of restoration and justice.
(from Psalm 146, a response)
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 Thursday:
Psalm 127; Ruth 4:1-10; Romans 5:6-11; Psalm 146; Numbers 36:1-13
Friday, November 8, 2024
Prayer as a Rule of Life
Opening
I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.
(Psalm 146:2-4)
Silence
Be still and aware of God’s presence within and all around.
Prayers of Gratitude
Holy One,
In the midst of whispering pines, luminous blooms, shimmering moths,
We pray.
In the wonder of crashing oceans, singing whales, glowing plankton,
We pray.
In the unknowing of cosmic movements, fields of starlight, ethereal veils,
We pray.
In the mystery of eternal secrets, hallowed riddles, heavenly whispers,
We pray.
For it is all You.
And you are all prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer
Matthew 6:9-13 or other versions
A Reading
Ruth 4:11-17
Reflect on the scripture and consider community blessing, restoration, and transformation.
Intercessions
Remove our fear, Oh God, from attempting in the midst of discomfort,
From struggling in the face of cruelty,
Standing in the realm of adversity,
Striving when failure seems certain,
Fighting for good when evil demands its way,
Immanuel, God With Us, remove our fear from
Weeping when we can do no more,
Loving in the face of doom,
Remove our Fear, for all we have is you and one another,
And that is enough.
Sending Forth
Living Word,
Before the Word – you were,
In your life – inspiration,
In your death – invitation,
In your resurrection – affirmation,
In your Spirit – unification.
Go Into the World – a proclamation.
((from Hebrews 9:24, a response)
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 Friday:
Psalm 127; Ruth 4:11-17; Hebrews 9:15-24; Psalm 146; Deuteronomy 15:1-11
Saturday, November 9, 2024
Prayer as a Rule of Life
Opening
God made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. She keeps every promise forever. He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry.
God frees the prisoners. Praise God!
(Psalm 146:6-7)
Silence
Be still and aware of God’s presence within and all around.
Prayers of Gratitude
Holy and Endless Compassion,
You meet us where we are, in all of our strangeness,
In our foibles, in the beating, pulsing, blubbering places of our Being.
You meet us in welcome, come sit by the fire,
Come, share a meal,
Come, journey on my road.
You meet us, even when we did not know ourselves.
And you call us Friend.
We were a stranger, but no longer.
The Lord’s Prayer
Matthew 6:9-13 or other versions
A Reading
Deuteronomy 24:17-22
Reflect on the scripture and those we consider as foreigner.
Intercessions
Break our hearts, Oh God,
For families separated,
For violence that shatters,
For roads that are too hard,
For cages holding Children,
For wars without end,
For hardened souls that feel no pain,
For all the times we fail to care.
Break our hearts, Oh God,
That we might love you, that we might love ourselves.
Sending Forth
May we produce the fruit of compassion, that feeds the soul of a starving world.
(from Mark 11:12-24, a response)
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 Saturday:
Psalm 127; Ruth 4:18-22; Mark 11:12-14, 20-24; Psalm 146; Deuteronomy 24:17-22
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