GREETING (Psalm 141:2)
Let our prayer be counted as incense before you, God,
and the lifting up of our hands as an evening sacrifice.
HYMN 362 “Nothing but the Blood”
PSALM 80
PRAYER
(Think back to the beginning of this day. Start there, and mentally walk through the day again, while you thank God for the day's blessings and God's continuous work of love. Confess and repent of those times when you forgot, ignored or rebelled against God. Continue to pray with your personal prayer list.)
SCRIPTURE LESSON
(Choose a passage of scripture to read. It can be a chapter, a paragraph, or a particular story. Daily lectionaries are available online or in print that assign a lesson each day from the gospels, epistles, Old Testament and psalms on a three-year cycle. Or you can create a plan to read a book of the Bible, or the whole Bible. Then follow the steps below.)
Read a passage of scripture. Read it out loud, very slowly and carefully as if for the first time. Continue reading until a word, phrase or sentence captures your attention. Stop there to repeat the word, phrase or sentence over and over, listening to it deeply in your heart.
Reflect on why the passage got your attention. Consider the area of your life to which this may apply. Is God saying something to you in this passage? Take time to listen carefully to whatever God may be saying to you.
Respond to God in prayer (or with journaling, music, art or whatever you choose) about what you have heard. Ask questions. Open yourself to God’s will for you.
Rest in God’s company. Be still and quiet. Move beyond thinking, practicing interior silence. Let yourself be open to God’s presence. Savor this moment with God.
PRAYER
You sent Jesus among us, Father,
as one who was so gentle and tender,
full of this incredible love for your children.
He saw us for who we really are,
but he was all compassion and mercy,
treating us with total, unabating forgiveness.
To an ugly, immoral, selfish world,
he brought goodness and a real hope,
built on his obedience to your heart, Father.
His enemies were beyond count.
Yet he stood strong and faced violence,
with the confidence that love conquers hate.
As insults and blows pounded him,
thorns pierced brow and nails his hands,
he was peaceful, acting and speaking in love.
As vines draw strength from roots,
he drew strength and peace from you.
Your love made possible his awesome heart.
Now as he grows around our world,
graft multitudes of branches to his love.
Make us gentle, peaceful and strong like him.
Let us face our enemies with his love,
apply his compassion and mercy to all,
and live out of his gentle strength and peace.
Then we will know with certainty,
that we are truly one with Jesus Christ,
and we have your love beating in our hearts.
Amen.
SILENCE AND COMMITMENT
(Pause to reflect and listen. Work to push out of your mind any distracting or irrelevant thoughts. Concentrate your thoughts on the words of the hymns and choruses you have sung, the prayers you have spoken and the scriptures you have read. Be aware of what you are feeling. Listen for anything that God might be saying to you in this time you have spent together. As God responds to your prayer-time, seek guidance for how you can best respond to God’s will. Then commit to serving God’s will for you.)
HYMN 638 “This Is the Feast of Victory”
CLOSING PRAYER
Night comes, we are tired and need rest,
but if we close our eyes will they open again?
You are the resurrection and the life.
In you, Lord, our eyes will always open again.
Tomorrow we will again be hungry,
but you are the bread of life that will fill us.
Tomorrow we might again get lost,
but you, light of the world, will always lead us.
Will we be safe and free tomorrow?
You are still the gate, protecting and opening.
What will keep us going tomorrow?
You are the vine sustaining us your branches.
Will you always be there for us, Lord?
You are the good shepherd whose care lasts.
Where should we go? What is true?
How will we live when our eyes open again?
You are the way, the truth and the life.
Trusting you for tomorrow, we can finally rest.
Guard our sleep, and give us dreams
of the tomorrow that we will spend with you. Amen.
Copyright 2020. Robert D. Ingram, 32746 Jourden Rd., Albany, Ohio 45710 (dr.bobingram@gmail.com). Used by permission.
