Guided Daily Prayer (Series 2)

December 20, 2023
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Instructions: The underlined text are headings and do not need to be read. [Brackets] are instructions to be followed but not necessarily read. FOR INDIVIDUAL PRAYER: I suggest you read the prayer sheet aloud, but reading silently is fine too. FOR GROUP PRAYER: have one person act as leader. The leader reads the regular print and everyone reads the Bold Italic Type together.

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Opening Sentences:

In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. (Isaiah 40:3)

Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and love; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP,1979)

Praying Together:
Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Amen. (from Psalm 95)

Prayer of Confession:
Gracious and forgiving God, we come to you in prayer knowing our weakness.
We confess that in our selfish desires, we have not loved you with our whole heart, we have not done your will, we have not loved our neighbor, we have not taken care of the widow and the orphan. We have fallen short and our hearts are heavy with that truth. Forgive us Lord, repair our hearts and turn us toward your loving and merciful ways. Lord in your mercy hear our confession and forgive. Amen.

Words of Assurance:
Thanks be to God for the assurance that, if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Scripture Reading John 3:17-21:
¹⁷“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. ²¹But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

[Silent Prayer / or Music may be listened to / or a Hymn is sung.]

Prayers of the People:

“With all our heart and with all our mind, let us pray to the Lord, saying “O Lord, hear our prayer.”

We pray for justice and peace, dear Lord, and goodwill toward all humankind, let us pray to the Lord. O Lord, hear our prayer. [Silent prayer.]

For those in prison or captivity, unlock their chains and set them free. Let us pray to the Lord. O Lord, hear our prayer. [Silent prayer.] *

We pray for the poor and the oppressed, for the unemployed and the destitute, for prisoners and captives, and for all who remember and care for them, let us pray to the Lord. O Lord, hear our prayer. [Silent prayer.]

As we await the coming of Christ, make us messengers of your kingdom. Let us pray to the Lord. O Lord, hear our prayer. [Silent prayer.] *

For our individual and special prayers this day, we lift them up to the Lord. [Silent Prayer]

The Lord’s Prayer:

“Hear us, O Lord, as we pray together:”

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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Closing Prayer:

Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” Now go in peace to love and to serve the Lord. Amen. (Teresa of Avila)