Thursday, February 16, 2023
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
Holy God: Dust I am, and to dust I shall return. I am like a flower of the field, that appears for a little while and then vanishes. But I confess my tendency to live days, weeks, even months at a time with little thought for my mortality, and little consideration for eternity. Forgive my presumption and self-reliance. Humble me to the dust, that I might be ever-mindful of my frailty, and freshly awed by your eternal, infinite beauty. Through Christ, our Lord: Amen.
Old Testament Reading: Jeremiah 17:5-13
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 Corinthians 6:12-20
Prayer of Adoration:
Lord Jesus, I adore you that I am not my own but belong to you in body and soul. My whole being is yours, in life and in death, for your purposes and for your glory. Thank you that you are faithful to keep, protect, and guide me.
Psalm Reading: Psalm 149
Prayer of Consecration
Oh Lord, you invite your people to extravagantly praise you with dancing and loud music. Maybe I love to worship with this kind of joy, or maybe I’ve never worshipped this way in my whole life. Thank you that you invite us to know you so intimately and enjoy you so deeply that our inner lives flow with praise. Cultivate a joyful and wholehearted response in me and set me free from passive worship. In that spirit, help me wage war against evil using the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Before I look at the faults of others, help me to reckon humbly and truthfully with the sin in myself. Then, freed by the righteousness of Christ given to me, help me fight sin and worship you with all my heart 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.
