A Service of Prayer at Midday
March 14, 2024
Lent Five
CALL TO WORSHIP
It is good Lord to be in your holy house.
We come with joy.
We stand secure within.
Here we find peace and security and security
Because of your saving hand and strong right arm.
Always Lord we seek your goodness.
INVOCATION AND DIALOGUE
Behold, now is the acceptable time;
Now is the day of salvation.
Turn us again, O God of our salvation.
That the light of your face may shine on us.
May your justice shine like the sun;
And may the poor be lifted up.
CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.
Holy and gracious God,
I confess that I have sinned against you this day.
Some of my sin I know – the thoughts and words and deeds
of which I am ashamed – but some is known only to you.
In the name of Jesus Christ I ask forgiveness.
Deliver and restore me, that I may rest in peace.
By the mercy of God we are united with Jesus Christ, in whom we are forgiven +. We rest now during this time of prayer that we may continue to serve in the peace of Christ throughout the day. Amen.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
O God, with steadfast love you draw us to yourself, and in mercy you receive our prayers. Strengthen us to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, that through life and death we may live in your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Psalm 51:1-12
1Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
3For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgment.
5Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.
6You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
11Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.
Psalm 119:9-16
9How can young people keep their way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
10With my whole heart I seek you;
do not let me stray from your commandments.
11I treasure your word in my heart,
so that I may not sin against you.
12Blessed are you, O LORD;
teach me your statutes.
13With my lips I declare
all the ordinances of your mouth.
14I delight in the way of your decrees
as much as in all riches.
15I will meditate on your precepts,
and fix my eyes on your ways.
16I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.
Gloria Patri
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be. Amen.
READING: Jeremiah 31:31-34
31The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt — a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. 33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
REFLECTION
DIALOGUE
Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Into your hands I commend my spirit.
You have redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth.
Into your hands I commend my spirit.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Into your hands I commend my spirit.
A prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi
Lord make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine master grant that I may
Not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
To be understood, as to understand.
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
And it is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Make me an instrument of your peace.
Amen.
PRAYERS
In peace let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the peace from above and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the church of God and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For this holy hours, and for all who offer here their worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
Help, save, comfort and defend us gracious Lord.
Amen.
Gathered together across the miles, we as a community of faith offer our prayers this evening
for the peace of the whole world…
for this holy assembly and all the faithful everywhere who worship and pray…
for God’s good creation …
for those who are suffering or grieving…
for those in need of deliverance from hardship and oppression…
Gracious God, grant peace among the nations. War and conflicts abound in the world you have created and we are particularly mindful this day of the conflict and danger in Ukraine and Israel and Gaza and the Red Sea. Stir the hearts and minds and wills of all people and leaders that peaceful solutions may be found and further violence averted. Grow in all people and nations an awareness of and a care for the common good above individual desires, a common good that is so strong that it cannot be torn by the evils of war. Help us all to be people who seek peace and pursue. We trust you O Lord, because of your love for us poured out in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus who is our peace. Amen.
Magnificat
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my savior,
for you, Lord, have looked with favor on your lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
you, the Almighty have done great things for me
and holy is your name.
You have mercy on those who fear you,
from generation to generation.
You have shown strength with your arm
and scattered the proud in their conceit,
casting down the mighty from their thrones
and lifting up the lowly.
You have filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.
You have come to the aid of your servant Israel,
to remember the promise of mercy,
the promise made to our forebears,
to Abraham and his children forever.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.
BENEDICTION
Portions from Sundays&Seasons.com under license # SAS016761 and from the Book of Common Prayer, public domain.
