Thursday, August 3, 2023
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
Merciful God, I confess before you that I have sinned. I have sinned in what I have thought and said; in the wrong I have done and in the good I have not done. I have sinned in ignorance; I have sinned in weakness; I have sinned through my own deliberate fault. I repent and turn to you. Forgive me, for the sake of my merciful Savior Jesus. By your Spirit, transform my desires, renew my affections, and strengthen my obedience, for the glory of your name.
Old Testament Reading: 2 Samuel 7:18-29
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: Romans 9
Prayer of Adoration:
I adore you, God, for the mystery of your sovereign grace. You have mercy on whom you have mercy, and you harden whomever you will. Because your purposes are beyond my capacity to understand, kindle in me reverence and awe, and grant me wholehearted confidence in you.
Psalm Reading: Psalm 50
Prayer of Consecration
O God, there’s nothing I give you that is not already yours. Every beast and bird is yours; the world and all its fullness belong to you. So deliver me from the superstition that my obedience and worship gives you something you need, or fills up some lack in you. Rather, remind me that worship and obedience are my grateful response to your salvation and benevolence. You are fully satisfied in yourself, and you invite me into the joy of your eternal happiness. So help me today be faithful to your covenant. Help me not cast your words behind me. Rather, let me order my way rightly and be faithful to the covenant vows I’ve made to you. May the water of baptism drench my imagination, and may the taste of the bread and wine linger upon my tongue.
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.
