GREETING (Adapted from Psalm 113:2-9)
Blessed be your name, O Lord,
from this time on and forevermore.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
your name will be praised.
You are high above all nations,
and your glory above the heavens.
Who is like you, O Lord our God,
who is seated on high,
who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
You raise the poor from the dust,
and lift the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of your people.
You give the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
We praise you, O Lord!
HYMN 432 “Jesu, Jesu”
PSALM 75
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
Almighty and omnipotent God of the small, the timid, and the docile,
those gentle, submissive souls, without pretension and free of arrogance;
mold us in the rich examples of those meek and faithful saints of yesterday.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, found blessing in submitting to your will.
She did not seek her role, but willingly opened herself to your purposes;
and by doing so, saw Jesus from birth, to his first miracle, to his resurrection.
Timothy, co-worker of Paul and pastor of the church, quietly served.
The idea of suffering for the gospel troubled him, but did not deter him.
He faced danger traveling to conflicted churches, to comfort, correct, pastor.
Nicholas Copernicus, mathematician, doctor, theologian, astronomer;
discovered the earth was not the center of the universe, and kept it quiet.
Knowing he could not take this truth to his grave, he published it late in life.
Brother Lawrence, a French monk, fixed his mind on your presence.
Working as a lowly kitchen aide, he awoke daily, “happier than a king.”
To pick up a straw from the ground for the love of God was enough for him.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, “a little bit of a woman,” in her own words,
found her blessing writing a simple story that declared a human’s worth.
This “mere drudge with few ideas” helped end the ugly institution of slavery.
Phoebe Palmer, a Christian from birth, sought a powerful conversion.
Not finding this, she learned to rely on the still, small voice in the Bible.
“Laying her all upon the altar,” her example inspired the Holiness Movement.
Our Savior, Jesus Christ, hid from fame and celebrity in his ministry.
He raised no armies, conquered no cities, acquired no wealth or property.
He sought no elected offices, no positions of authority, and no earthly thrones.
Jesus left it to us to found his universities, hospitals and orphanages.
He quietly faced controversy with simple honesty and long-suffering love.
Your Son was a ceaseless champion of your will, Father, and never his own.
Let the meekness of Christ, and his disciples, frame our own behavior.
Build in us the submissive, gentle, and humble timidity of true conquerors.
Then let our quiet natures win praise, glory and power for you and your Son.
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 430 “O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee”
CLOSING PRAYER (adapted from Psalm 146:5-9)
Blessed are those whose help you are, God of Jacob.
Our hope is in you, our Lord and our God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them.
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry,
whose hope is in the Lord their God,
You set the prisoners free.
You open the eyes of the blind.
You lift up those who are bowed down;
You love the righteous.
You watch over the strangers.
You uphold the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked you bring to ruin.
We believe these things, Lord,
and as we put aside today’s struggles,
we will rest happy for your help with it all. Amen.
Copyright 2020. Robert D. Ingram, 32746 Jourden Rd., Albany, Ohio 45710 (dr.bobingram@gmail.com). Used by permission.
