Monday, August 23, 2021
Opening Prayer:
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Confession of Sin & Prayer for Grace
Almighty God: I confess with the Psalmist that your law is perfect. The way of your commandments is the way of life; your statutes are full of wisdom. Yet I have violated your law; I have broken your commandments; I have dishonored your name. I ask your forgiveness; and I thank you for sending Jesus, who perfectly obeyed your law and died for my sin so that I might live to righteousness. By Your grace, fill me with Your Spirit, that I might walk in wholehearted obedience to you. Amen.
Old Testament Reading: Exodus 3:1-15
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: Matthew 16:21-28
Prayer of Adoration:
Lord, I know that if I am to truly follow you, I must follow you in your death. Yet you promise that in daily dying to sin, I will find life. I praise you for the great promise that whoever loses his life for your sake will find it.
Psalm Reading: Psalm 1
Prayer of Consecration
Lord, you know my innermost being. I long to obey you perfectly. I want to avoid the counsel of the wicked, the way of sinners, and the seat of scoffers... but I cannot meet that standard on my own. So thank you that Jesus IS the righteous man of Psalm 1, whose delight is in the law of the Lord. I ask you to form my inner being so that I become more and more like Jesus. Sharpen my appetite for your law, help me meditate on it throughout the day, and make it my delight. Let me be a tree planted by streams of water, satisfied and made strong by your presence. I do not know what this day will bring, but you know the way of the righteous. So guard my steps and keep me in your truth today.
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.
