Good morning.
Today is Thursday,
October 15,
2020.
Oh Lord,
Let my soul rise up to meet you as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to God,
The three in one creator,
Redeemer and sustainer.
As it was in the beginning is now and will be forever.
Amen.
Come let us bow down and worship.
Let us kneel before the Lord,
Our maker.
Remind yourself that you are in God's presence.
Notice how God may be speaking to you today.
Let yourself dwell on a word or a phrase that jumps out at you and let your heart respond to God in prayer.
Please repeat these words.
Blessed be the Lord day by day.
The God who bears our burdens.
The scripture this morning is Psalm 9 verses 1 through 10.
I will praise you God who was and is and always will be with my whole heart.
I will tell of all your marvelous works.
I will be glad and rejoice in you.
I will sing praise to your name most high.
When my enemies are turned back,
They stumble and are lost in your presence.
For you have maintained my right and my cause.
You occupy the judgment seat,
A righteous judge.
You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the violent.
You blotted out their name forever and ever.
The enemy has been cut down.
Their ruins are endless.
You have overthrown their cities and even the memory of them has vanished.
But you,
Oh God,
Who was called the great I am,
Reign forever and have established your throne of judgment.
You will judge the world in justice and govern the peoples with equity.
For you,
Oh Lord,
Are a refuge for the oppressed,
A stronghold in times of trouble.
Those who know your name trust in you for you,
Oh Lord,
Have never forsaken those who seek you.
Please repeat these words.
Blessed be the Lord day by day,
A God who bears our burdens.
On Thursdays,
We pray for our families.
So I invite you now to hold your family before God.
Or perhaps if your mind rests on an individual in your family,
Hold that individual before God.
Don't worry about diagnosing the needs or telling God what to do.
Just hold your family members before the Lord.
And as you hold your family before God,
Hear these words of blessing spoken over them.
May the light of Christ go before you and behind you,
Beneath you and above you,
On your right and on your left when you rise and when you lie down.
May the light of Christ be with you.
May the light of Christ be in you.
May the love of God go before you and behind you,
Beneath you and above you,
On your right and on your left when you rise and when you lie down.
May the love of God be with you.
May the love of God be in you.
In the name of Jesus who taught us to pray.
Our Father which art in heaven,
Eternal God,
Earth maker,
Pain bearer,
Life giver,
Source of all that is and all that shall be.
Not only Father but Mother of us all.
May the hallowing of your name echo through the universe.
May the way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world.
May your heavenly will be done by all created beings.
May your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another,
Forgive us.
In times of temptation and test,
Strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure,
Spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil,
Free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love now and forever.
Amen.
Gracious and eternal God we rush into a future we don't know or understand.
Give us wisdom.
May we listen and learn with humility,
Trusting that you are always before us,
Calling us,
Wanting to show us the way if only we will calm our anxious egos and listen.
Still our anxious souls to rest in your hope,
Your provision,
Your strength and your justice.
Through Jesus.
Amen.
And now my friends may the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ go with you wherever he may send you today.
May he guide you through the wilderness,
Protect you through the storm.
May he bring you home rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you.
May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
Go in peace.
