Saturday, January 27, 2024
Opening Prayer:
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.
Confession of Sin & Prayer for Grace
Glorious God: I confess today the great sin of Pride. I have thought too highly of myself. I have spoken boastfully, loved selfishly, and lived independently. Forgive me, and conquer my pride through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, who humbled himself to the point of death. Make me humble like him, that I might bear his image more faithfully. Amen
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 29:13-24
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: 1 Peter 2:2-12
Prayer of Adoration:
Lord Jesus: I worship you today as the Cornerstone. You are the stone rejected by men, but chosen by God and laid in Zion. To some, you are a rock of stumbling; but to your people, you are chosen and precious. Thank you that whoever believes in you will not be put to shame!
Psalm Reading: Psalm 84
Prayer of Consecration
Lord God, a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. In the time this Psalm was written, the Psalmist had to choose between being in your house and being elsewhere. But now, in Jesus, you have come near; you dwell among your people. And so I don’t have to choose between dwelling in your courts and being away from your house. Rather, in the very mundane and ordinary parts of this day, I can experience the presence of your Spirit with me always. So give me special grace to sense your presence today. Draw my awareness back to you even as I do the tasks at hand. Cultivate in me a deepening delight in your nearness, and a deepening communion with you throughout the day. Keep me from all evil today; let me not dwell in the tents of wickedness. And in the times when my desire for you is weak and I cannot feel your presence, let me rest in your good and gracious promises. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; Amen.
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.
