Thursday, January 23, 2025
Opening Prayer
O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know my thoughts before I think them. You know my words before I speak them. You know my past, my present, and my future. Awaken me now, to seek you while you may be found, to call upon you while you are near, and to live a life that brings glory to your name.
Confession of Sin & Prayer for Grace
Merciful God: You created me in your image, with a mind to know you, a heart to love you, and a will to serve you. But my knowledge is imperfect, my love inconstant, my obedience incomplete. Day by day, I fail to grow into your likeness. I confess my failure to glorify you as you designed me to. In your tender love, forgive me by the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Strengthen me by your Spirit to walk in a manner worthy of the calling I have received, for the glory of your name. Amen.
Pause to confess specifically any sins the Holy Spirit may be convicting you about.
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 56:1-8
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: Luke 4:14-21
Prayer of Adoration
Lord Jesus: I glorify you because you are the fulfillment of all the prophetic hopes of the Scriptures. In you has come liberty to the captives, sight to the blind, and liberty to the oppressed. What good news this is!
Psalm Reading: Psalm 144
Prayer of Consecration
O God: today I invite you to search me and know me. You’re already intimately acquainted with everything that will happen today. You’re already aware of my every thought and word. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? I confess all the ways that I live as though I can hide from you; as though you don’t already know my deepest parts. In reality, you know me more deeply than I know myself. So transform me through your intimate knowledge and steadfast love. When I’m tempted to pursue satisfaction in false things, don’t let me wander. Hem me in, behind and before, and let your right hand hold me fast. Whether my life today requires me to travel great distances, or whether I hold my outpost in one place, you’re here with me. Lead me in the way everlasting.
Take time now specifically to intercede for yourself, your neighbors, your church, your city, and the world, bringing your needs and the needs of others before the Lord.
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.
