Monday, September 9, 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
Heavenly Father, with my eyes fixed on Jesus, I ask you to forgive my sins. Forgive me for hurting people I love by my impatience, by my irritation, and by my unkept promises. Forgive me for caring more about what others think about me than what think about me. Forgive me for being too busy to behold your beauty in Word, meditate on your mercies in Christ, and hear you call to me in the gospel. Have mercy on me, Father, in the name of Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
Old Testament Reading: Exodus 16:2-15
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 20:1-16
Prayer of Adoration:
Lord, all things in heaven and earth belong to you. I adore you for the abundant mercy you've extended me, and for the open invitation of forgiveness you hold out to all people. Help me not to begrudge your generosity, but instead to glorify you with gratitude and thanksgiving.
Psalm Reading: Psalm 91
Prayer of Consecration
Lord, you are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. This Psalm promises me that you will deliver me from evil. And yet, this is also the very Psalm that Satan used to tempt Jesus, urging him to throw himself down from the temple, because “angels will bear you up.” So today Lord, let me rest in this Psalm as Jesus did - confident of my final vindication, but aware that in this world I will have trouble. Help me not to put you to the test by making demands of you. Instead, let me rest in the good of the gospel, confident in the promise of eternal life. 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.
