Tuesday, July 18, 2023
Opening Prayer:
Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes! I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word. Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things in your law.
Confession of Sin & Prayer for Grace
Lord God, in Christ you have adopted me as your beloved child. But I confess that deep inside my soul I doubt your love for me. Instead of being satisfied in your acceptance, I look for acceptance elsewhere. Instead of resting in your love, I am restless with fear, control, and worry. Forgive my lack of trust in your promises. Forgive my doubt of your great love. Let your perfect love cast out all fear, and free me to glorify and enjoy you fully. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Old Testament Reading: Genesis 28
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 6:1-13
Prayer of Adoration:
Lord God, I adore you because you use flawed, foolish disciples as the means of making your kingdom known in this world. Thank you for your power which works mightily in me, and in all who bear your name and live for your glory.
Psalm Reading: Psalm 85
Prayer of Consecration
O God: this Psalm looks back to your faithfulness in the past as our hope for revival in the present. Because you have restored your people, I know you can restore your people. But we are fickle, O Lord. We are prone to wander, to spurn your steadfast love, and to turn back to folly. I see this in my own life, and I see it in the lives of those I love. Our hope is not in our faithfulness, but in yours. So restore us again, O Lord! Renew our love for you, our obedience to you, our fear of you. Speak peace to your people, to your saints. Revive us again, that we may rejoice in you!
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.
