GREETING
Blessed are those who love you and enjoy your company, God;
for beauty, peace, joy, life and your love will be theirs forever.
Be our blessing today, God of grace and glory. We love you.
HYMN 417 “O For a Heart to Praise My God”
PSALM 37
PRAYER
(Consider some of the following concerns of people for prayers of thanksgiving, intercession, and petition. Follow with your personal prayer list.)
That the church hunger and thirst for righteousness Those threatened by righteousness
That I hunger and thirst for righteousness Those not desiring righteousness
Test and examine our ways Those exposed by righteousness
Root out the sin in our lives Those buried in their sins
That we burn with desire for justice That the unrighteous be forgiven
Put us to working for all kinds of good Unjust laws
That we be faultless in generosity Laws that conflict with God’s will
That we live our morality faithfully The immorality in our culture
That our witness be pure and real For righteous leaders in government
Fill us with a genuine love for friend and foe For righteous pastors and priests
That we burn with steadfast love for you, God _____________________________
Save the righteous from the sin of pride _____________________________
Let Christ be our model and our standard _____________________________
THE LORD'S PRAYER
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
God of righteousness and love, you are the purest righteousness,
and you desire and expect the same in all the children of your kingdom.
Yet, as you know, righteousness does not come easily to us, God.
If not for Jesus, we would claim it impossible. “We are only human.”
But Jesus, although like us, made righteousness appear so simple.
It was natural for him. It poured so easily from his heart full of love.
Jesus is the standard against which we measure our righteousness,
but our shabby performance in righteousness is far from his perfection.
Of course we know our salvation is not set by our righteousness.
Christ has already carried away all our guilt and sin when he died for us.
And Jesus works nonstop to build your kingdom of righteousness.
God, we seek the privilege and responsibility of joining in this work.
But we will never measure up alone. We need your Holy Spirit,
so that each day we can make progress in becoming more like your Son.
Let your Holy Spirit work within us, to not just eradicate our sin,
but to build us up to become the righteous men and women you desire.
Disregard our faltering strategies. Let your Spirit rule our hearts.
Fortify us with your holy wisdom and power to build our righteousness:
by creating a burning love for righteousness in our hearts;
by increasing in us every day the purity of our thoughts;
by building our moral behavior to the measure of Christ’s;
by adding daily to our drive to win justice for your people;
by helping us to stand up for the poor and the powerless;
by multiplying our good works both nearby and far away;
by sharing Christ and witnessing to all he has achieved;
by growing our love to desire and accomplish your will.
In all these things we pray that Christ’s influence be visible in us,
and that you receive the credit for the transforming work you have done. 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 441 “What Does the Lord Require”
CLOSING PRAYER
God who takes yesterday’s evil,
and turns it into today’s blessing,
help us to see what Christ sees
when troubles trample over us.
Help us live today trusting you
to know the way to all goodness.
Send us out in faith to see you
working to turn evil into good.
Reveal to us the many wonders
you initiate everywhere around us.
Help us hold to the eternal truth
that you will love and care for us,
and this day can bring us no evil
that you cannot turn to a blessing. Amen.
Copyright 2020. Robert D. Ingram, 32746 Jourden Rd., Albany, Ohio 45710 (dr.bobingram@gmail.com). Used by permission.
