Call to Worship:

“Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NET

Let us confess our sins to Almighty God:

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against You this day, in thought, word, and deed; by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole hearts; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of Your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us, that we may delight in Your will, and walk in Your ways, to the glory of Your Name. Grant to Your people pardon and peace, that in Your great mercy, we may be forgiven all our sins, and serve You with a quiet and contrite heart. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

(BCP)

This is what the Word of God says:

“If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.”

1 John 1:8-9 NET

Now let us ask the Lord to help us in the reading of a chapter His Word:

Ever-speaking God,

Who spoke the world into being,

Who sustains it by Your all-powerful word,

Who breathed out the Scripture we approach today:

In coming to Your Word,

We come to You Yourself.

Open our eyes to behold You,

Our ears to hear the Good Shepherd ‘s voice,

Our hearts to love You,

And our wills to follow You

All the days of our lives,

In the name of Jesus the living Word.

Amen.

Let us listen together to this portion from God’s Word:

Psalm 130

A song of ascents

Out of the depths I call to you, Lord!

Lord, listen to my voice;

let your ears be attentive

to my cry for help.

Lord, if you kept an account of iniquities,

Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness,

so that you may be revered.

I wait for the Lord; I wait

and put my hope in his word.

I wait for the Lord

more than watchmen for the morning—

more than watchmen for the morning.

Israel, put your hope in the Lord.

For there is faithful love with the Lord,

and with him is redemption in abundance.

And he will redeem Israel from all its iniquities. ”

Psalms 130:1-8 CSB

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Continuing in our prayers for the day:

“O you who are full of compassion, I commit and commend myself unto you, in whom I am, and live, and know. Be the goal of my pilgrimage, and my rest by the way. Let my soul take refuge from the crowding turmoil of worldly thoughts beneath the shadow of your wings; let my heart, this sea of restless waves, find peace in you, O God. Amen.”

Augustine (354-430)

“Jesus of the Scars”

“If we have never sought, we seek Thee now;Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow,We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars.

“The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;In all the universe we have no place.Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars, we claim Thy grace.

“If, when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near,Only reveal those hands, that side of Thine;We know today what wounds are, have no fear,Show us Thy Scars, we know the countersign.

“The other gods were strong; but Thou wast weak;They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.”

Edward Shillito (1872-1948), a Free Church minister in England during World War I

Intercession

My Lord and my God,

This day I offer you my thoughts, feelings, words, and actions;

My trials and my joys;

My desires and my disappointments;

My anxieties and my gratitude;

My loved ones,

My enemies,

And myself,

For Your glory and every good, loving design You have for us.

Please take anything the enemy intends for our harm,

Anything meant for evil toward us,

And transform it by weaving it together for glorious good not only to us but to many.

We ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Let us also pray specifically for government leaders:

O Most High God,

King of kings and Lord of lords,

Who rules the kingdom of humanity and gives it to whom You will:

All Your works are right and Your ways just;

The hearts of the greatest in power and wealth are like streams of water You turn where You wish;

In Your great mercy and steadfast love,

Guide and direct our governing authorities

So that we may lead peaceful and quiet lives,

Godly and dignified in every way;

Draw our leaders always nearer to Yourself,

That they might do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before You,

Until Your kingdom comes in fullness, on earth as it is in heaven,

In the mighty name of Jesus.

Amen.

Please join me in praying after the pattern the Lord Jesus taught His disciples, saying:

“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 also have forgiven our debtors;

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil.”

Matthew 6:9-13 RSV

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.

Amen.

(Final phrase present in some manuscripts but not all; in the marginal note for RSV.)

In conclusion:

“‘The Lord bless you and protect you; The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.’”

Numbers 6:24-26 NET

For Those Who Wish to Go Deeper in Today’s Passage:

The next step is to read or listen to the passage prayerfully, with an attentive, listening heart, at least 3 times. Reading from multiple translations may be helpful. Do read at least once in your heart language, if that is not English. Let it steep in your soul like tea leaves or ground coffee, until it begins to flavor your heart and mind.

Next, still in an attitude of prayer, bring the 5 W’s and H into your observation. Ask and answer who, what, when, where, why, and how questions from the text. If the answer isn’t in the text, you might make a note of the question for later in the process. Read it like a note from your first childhood crush. Slow down and really notice as many details as you can. See if you can record 25 observations. If that seems easy, try 25 more. Keep going until you get stuck. Then try again tomorrow. I still notice new details after 38+ years of daily Bible reading.

Here are a few specific suggested questions to help you begin:

· Who is praying here? An “I” or a “we”?

· To whom is the psalm addressed? To God, to self, to community, or some combination?

· What requests are made?

· What is stated about the situation of the psalmist?

· What attributes or characteristics of God are mentioned?

· Do you see any repeated words or phrases? If so, list them. Are they exact repetitions? If not, what is different?

· Are there any promises from God? Promises to God?

· What does the psalmist hope for?

· You may wish to pray this Psalm again for yourself. You are allowed to pause and tell the Lord more specifically what help you need, what iniquities you need to confess, what promises ground your hope, what needs to be redeemed…. If you have a journaling Bible or a Bible with wide margins, you might find it helpful to make that kind of annotations beside the relevant lines of this Psalm.

Remember to stay in conversation with God throughout. Ask Him questions and look in the Bible for answers. Don’t forget that this is His Word, and study is one way we hear His voice. Linger in reflection and meditation on what you read and the details you observe. Thank God for His promises and what He reveals about Himself.

This concludes another installment of pretend Bible study, where we prayerfully read the Scriptures one chapter at a time, but it need not end your time alone with God. Blessed studying to you all. Until next time, courage, dear hearts.

Downloadable document for prayer offline

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