GREETING (Psalm 139:23-24)
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
HYMN 453 “More Love to Thee, O Christ”
PSALM 63
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 (with references to Psalm 148 and 150)
How do I speak my love to you, Holy One?
There are not enough words in all the world's languages
to even begin a list naming your divine attributes that call forth my love.
If I try to speak and describe your beauty,
is there anything in creation to which I can compare you?
All created things spring from your voice, and all together they fall short.
If I try to calculate your awesome strength,
what measure can I use? There is no scale for the infinite.
Our hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanoes are like putty in your hands.
If I try to trumpet your goodness and mercy,
no list can chronicle all your deeds where we find blessing.
The whole expanse of history is but a moment in the narrative of your love.
If I try to tabulate your purity and faithfulness,
what earthly standard judges that which exceeds them all?
What gauge measures a faithfulness that lays the foundation for eternity?
My whole life is not enough to state my love.
Sacrificing the totality of myself is still as nothing because
every breath I draw, every beat of my heart, has always been a gift from you.
Can my meager service increase your honor?
Is there any radiance I can add to a glory outshining the sun?
Yet, I will serve you to the best of my ability because I can do nothing less.
Can I add one drop to the ocean of your being?
And yet, God, I can no more cease lifting up my love to you,
than the sea can cease being wet, or the stars can cease filling the night sky.
You are larger than all, bigger than everything,
more than complete, greater than total, and beyond eternal.
and I will love you in life, in death and in our life beyond death forever. 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 408 “The Gift of Love”
CLOSING PRAYER
Father, as we lift our hands from this day’s work
put out the fires of any left-over anger you find in us,
let forgiveness wash away the wrongs done to us today.
Wrap our families in your strong, lasting protection,
and draw them deeper and deeper into your heart.
Close their eyes and hearts to every temptation that nears,
and give them peace, knowing your saving grace.
As we sleep, give our spirits peace, our bodies rest,
and our minds the dreams of those you truly love.
Help us listen in the quiet for the whispers of your Spirit,
who teaches us to walk in the ways of blessing.
And when we awake, God, in this world or the next,
let us do a better job worshiping you with our service,
in the new day you provide citizens of your kingdom. Amen.
Copyright 2020. Robert D. Ingram, 32746 Jourden Rd., Albany, Ohio 45710 (dr.bobingram@gmail.com). Used by permission.
