Saturday, January 20, 2024
Opening Prayer:
O Lord, God of my salvation, every day I call upon you, in the morning my prayer comes before you. Incline your ear to my cry! For my soul is full of troubles, and my strength fails. Renew me each morning with your steadfast love, that I may rejoice and be glad all my days.
Confession of Sin & Prayer for Grace
Gracious and merciful God: I confess to you today my lack of faith. You have saved me by grace, yet still I try to earn your favor by my works. You have met my deepest need in Christ, yet still I doubt your fatherly care. You have given me your Spirit, yet still I walk according to the flesh. Forgive my lack of faith, and strengthen me by your grace, that I may walk with you in freedom, joy, and worship. Amen.
Old Testament Reading: Nehemiah 8:1-10
The Lord’s Prayer
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 debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
New Testament Reading: Mark 1:14-28
Prayer of Adoration:
Jesus, I worship you for your authority. Thank you that all authority in heaven and on earth belongs to you. Your power over evil is total and absolute; and for that I praise and rejoice in you.
Psalm Reading: Psalm 62
Prayer of Consecration
The refrain of this psalm, O Lord, beckons me to wait for you in silence. Sometimes that means waiting for you in the silence of emptiness and suffering, when my usual sense of communion with you has gone quiet. Sometimes it means fighting to clear the noise, both without and within, so that I can find the center of silent prayer. I live in a world filled with noise and distraction; and my own hopes are often attached to lesser things. So make me a seeker of silence. Reform my focus and my desires so that my soul waits for you alone. Meet me in the silence in such a powerful way that I am drawn back to your presence again and again. Let me not be content to know about you; rather, help me KNOW you as my rock, my refuge, my salvation and my glory. “For God alone my soul waits in silence… He alone is my rock and my salvation.”
BENEDICTION
And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and always, until the day of Christ's return.
