Daily Prayer, Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Morning
Invitatory Psalm 100

Holy God,
who calls your people to sustain the weary
and protect the oppressed.
Uphold us in our concern
and strengthen us,
that we may not only speak our prayers
but also act on behalf of their fulfillment....Amen.
(from RCL Prayers, Fortress Press).

Psalms 120, 121, 122, 123, 124

Daily Lectionary Reading, Isaiah 50:4-9; Psalm 70; Hebrews 12:1-3; John 13:21-32

Lectio Divina
The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens--wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught (Isaiah 50:4).

But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay! (Psalm 70:5)

Prayer for Wednesday of Holy Week

Troubled God,
in every generation
you call your people to contend
against the brutality of sin and betrayal.
Keep us steadfast even in our fear and uncertainty,
that we may follow
where Jesus has led the way. Amen.
(RCL Prayers, Fortress Press).

Midday Psalm 119:153-160

Evening
Psalm 130

A Light to the Nations, Reflection on Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 71:1-14

Repeat from previous year:

How is your evangelism project doing? How has the world changed for the better because you are living your life according to principles that you have learned from God's Word?

Isaiah had been a prophet long enough to have learned disappointment. God did not let him give up. Instead, God expanded his job description: "You've been trying to do too little to too few."

Use Psalm 71 to help you pray in times of disappointment:
In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.
In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me.

Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.

For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.

Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.

I have been like a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge.

My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all day long.

Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength is spent.

For my enemies speak concerning me, and those who watch for my life consult together.

They say, “Pursue and seize that person whom God has forsaken, for there is no one to deliver.”

O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!

Let my accusers be put to shame and consumed; let those who seek to hurt me be covered with scorn and disgrace.

But I will hope continually, and will praise you yet more and more.

Daily Prayer, Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Morning

If any want to become my followers,
let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
For those who want to save their life will lose it,
and those who lose their life
for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, will save it (UMBOW 343).

Invitatory Psalm 84

Psalms 97, 98, 99, 101

Daily Lectionary Reading
Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 71:1-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; John 12:20-36

Lectio Divina

Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. (John 20:25-26a)

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).

Prayer for Today:

Holy and compassionate God, your dear Son went not up to joy before he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified. Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it the way of life and peace; through Jesu Christ your Son, our Savior. Amen. UMBOW 347.

Midday Psalm 119:137-152

Evening
Psalms 115, 116, 117

A Light to Nations, Reflection on Isaiah 42:1-9

Repeat from previous year:

Reading for Monday of Holy Week: Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 36:5-11; Hebrews 9:11-15; John 12:1-11

As we move through this week that began with the triumphant entry into Jerusalem, we remember Isaiah's words to a people who needed saving, as do all people who need saving.

He described their savior and reminded them what God is like.

God created heaven and earth
and gave life to the people who walked on it.

And Isaiah reminded them that this salvation was not restricted to a small group of persons; rather, these who were to be saved would be a message for the whole world.

We need to continue to remember that God is our source, our provider, and our rescuer. Use as a prayer today this excerpt from Psalms:

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.

For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the upright of heart!

Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me, or the hand of the wicked drive me away. (36:5-11)

Daily Prayer, Monday, April 18, 2011

Morning

How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings (Psalm 36:7).

Read Covenant in Plain Sight: A Poem for Monday of Holy Week Based on Isaiah 42:1-9, A 21st Century Africana Liturgy Resource by The Rev. Dr. Valerie Bridgeman Davis

• • • •

If any want to become my followers,
let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
For those who want to save their life will lose it,
and those who lose their life
for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. (UMBOW 343).

Invitatory Psalm 95

Psalms 94, 96

Daily Lectionary Reading
Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 36:5-11; Hebrews 9:11-15; John 12:1-11

Lectio Divina

I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness (Isaiah 42:6-7).

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds (Psalm 36:5).

Prayer for Today:
God of strength and mercy, by the suffering and death of your Son, free us from slavery to sin and death and protect us in all our weakness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (UMBOW 346).

Midday Psalm 119:129-136

Evening
Psalms 110, 111, 112, 113, 114

Jesus Christ is Lord, Reflection on Philippians 2:1-13

From previous year:

Paul encouraged Christians to live in community and to care for one another. How might such a community look now?

Generations of Hope is a nonprofit adoption agency that has designed a community to resemble a nurturing small town, complete with surrogate grandparents. Created out of a shuttered Air Force base, Generations of Hope seeks to rescue children from foster care and place them with adoptive parents who have moved here. About 30 children currently live with parents in 10 homes. The community is also home to 42 older people who have subsidized rent.

Read more about this amazing experiment in the New York Times, September 16, 2008: For Distant Generations in Illinois, Unrelated but Oh So Close


Christ Jesus could have chosen a different kind of life, a different kind of death, but he didn't. He chose to live as one as a Jew in a Roman-occupied land. He accepted a cruel and what would have been considered a shameful death at their hands.

Paul is not preaching any prosperity gospel. Quite the contrary. He himself had given up privileges due him and had accepted a life of threat and pain and imprisonment.

"Don't be ruled by ambition. Look to the interests of each other."

Paul hadn't done it alone, nor is he expecting the Philippians to "God is at work within you. God will give you the ability both to want to do what is right and also to do it."

(With help from Neil Elliott, Liberating Paul)

Daily Prayer, Sunday, April 17, 2011

Morning

Almighty God, you sent your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ,
to suffer death on the cross.
Grant that we may share in his obedience to your will
and in the glorious victory of his resurrection;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
One God, now and ever. Amen. (UMH 281)

Invitatory Psalm 24

O Lord, the earth is yours and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it;
....
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in your holy place?
Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
who do not lift up their souls to what is false
....
Who is this King of glory?
the Lord of hosts,
You are the King of glory.

Psalms 90, 92, 93

Daily Lectionary Reading, Philippians 2:5-11

Lectio Divina

He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death--even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name (Philippians 2:8-9)

My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors (Psalm 31:15).

Prayer for today:

O God, on this day that we remember the warm welcome given to Jesus as he entered Jerusalem, we also praise him and welcome him into our lives. And as we remember what awaited him there in Jerusalem, we give thanks for his willingness to sacrifice himself. Inspire us to give up clinging to worldly status so that we too might be obedient to your will for the needs of our world. Amen.

Evening
Psalms 108, 109

God's Servant, a Reflection on Isaiah 50:4-9a

Repeat from previous year:

Jesus explained to Peter--who really would have rather heard something else--that being a messiah included rejection and suffering.

Long before their conversation, the prophet Isaiah told what it is like to be God's servant and what God's servant is to be like.

"Every day I listen to God. I pay attention to God not to those who oppose me. My call is to help the weary and to ignore those who oppose me."

Isaiah reminds us that when we accept God's help and prompting, we can together overcome our adversaries.

Daily Prayer, Saturday, April 16, 2011

Morning

Almighty God, you sent your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ,
to suffer death on the cross.
Grant that we may share in his obedience to your will
and in the glorious victory of his resurrection;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
One God, now and ever. Amen. (UMH 281)

Invitatory Psalm 67

Psalms 81, 82, 85

Daily Lectionary Reading, Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16

Lectio Divina

Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens--wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught (Isaiah 50:4).

Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love (Psalm 31:16).

Prayer for Today:
O Lord, as we pray toward Sunday, we remember the celebration that Jesus met when he entered Jerusalem, and we remember what followed the celebration. We turn to you in our distress, as have so many before us voicing our pain and our grief. And we turn to you as so many have before us voicing our confidence in your care. Deliver us from our enemies. Let your face shine upon us. Save us in your steadfast love. Amen.

Evening
Psalm 107

Crucifixion, a Reflection on Matthew 27:38-69

Crucifixion was cruel and sadistic. Crucifixion was not only physically painful; it was intended to humiliate and degrade. Morna Hooker in Not Ashamed of the Gospel says that

In the Roman Empire it was used primarily to punish slaves: the threat of crucifixion was used to keep slaves subservient, and the threat was no idle one, for the punishment was often carried out. But it was used also to punish traitors (even Roman citizens, who by their treachery lost their rights) and of course rebellious subject people such as the Jews.

As Jesus hung naked on the cross, the two others being crucified with him, taunt him, saying "You who are the Son of God, come down from the cross." The chief priests, scribes, and elders who are watching the painful, humiliating death also mock him saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself." Their words remind us of Satan's temptations in 4:1-11. Morna Hooker reminds us:

As there, so here, Jesus 'proves' himself to be the Son of God by renouncing power, not exercising it.

Also watching were the many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and have been providing for him.

After Joseph from Arimathea had received permission to take Jesus' body to the tomb, the women kept vigil there. Jesus' accusers also stood watch, in their case, to make sure that nobody tried to steal the body so as to be able to fake resurrection.