Monday, September 16, 2024
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
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: Exodus 17
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 21:23-32
Prayer of Adoration:
Lord, I praise you for the great mercy and patience you extend toward sinners. Instead of judging by the appearance of righteousness, you see the heart. Like the tax collectors and prostitutes who left everything to follow you, I too long to forsake my sin, to walk with you, and to obey you.
Psalm Reading: Psalm 25
Prayer of Consecration
Prayer is the ascent of the soul toward you, Lord, and I join with this psalm to lift my mind, my heart, and my soul upward. My natural instinct is to focus on the things of this world. I constantly give my attention to things like money, control, and reputation. I know deep in my bones that though these things seduce me, they’re cheap. Insubstantial. They really can’t bear the weight of my desires. Make me like the psalmist, whose desire and longing is aimed toward you. Use the events of this day - the good things, as well as the loneliness and trouble - to change my sense of what is worthy of longing, so that I lose my taste for lesser things. Sharpen my hunger for the substance, beauty and weight - the glory - of you. I know you are good in my intellect; teach me these things at the deepest level of my experience. Guard my soul, O Lord. With the psalmist I say, may integrity and uprightness keep me.
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.
