Welcome to Morning Prayer

Welcome! Consider this your invitation to join our on-line morning prayer group. We gather every Wednesday and Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. Central Time.

If you would like to join us, simply  go to our Zoom hangout at the appropriate time and go to the Common Prayer page.

The prayer liturgies below have been used previously and you are welcome to use in your own context. Prayers are not date specific except in terms of following the international prayer calendar from the World Council of Churches.

For more information about me, please see my primary blog, Spacious Faith.

Thanks for stopping by,
Joanna

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August 24, 2017

Song: Be Thou My Vision
(Can be viewed prior to or after group prayer time.)

O God, let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning
for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.

Glory be to the Creator, and to the Christ, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.

Psalm 20

God answer you in the day of trouble!
The name of the God of Jacob protect you!
May God send you help from the sanctuary,
and give you support from Zion. 
May God remember all your offerings,
and regard with favour your burnt sacrifices.

May God grant you your heart’s desire,
and fulfill all your plans.
May we shout for joy over your victory,
and in the name of our God set up our banners.
May God fulfill all your petitions. 

Now I know that God will help the anointed;
will answer from holy heaven
with mighty victories by the divine right hand.
Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses,
but our pride is in the name of Yahweh our God. 
They will collapse and fall,
but we shall rise and stand upright. 

Give victory to the ruler, O God;
answer us when we call.

Silence

Gospel Reading: Mark 10:32-52

The word of life.
Thanks be to God.

Silence

Prayer

Holy One, we cry out to you: in the morning our prayers come before you.
Along with the worldwide fellowship of churches, we pray this morning for Sierra Leone.
God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Individual prayers may be spoken with the above response given.

Lord’s Prayer

Blessing

I pray that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may have power together with all the saints
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Amen.

August 22, 2017

Song: Pacific Crest Trail Hike-Through
(Can be viewed prior to or after group prayer time.)

O God, let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning
for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.

Glory be to the Creator, and to the Christ, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.

Psalm 19

The heavens are telling the glory of God;
 and the firmament proclaims God’s handiwork. 
Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
yet their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world. 

In the heavens God has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
and like a strong man runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them;
and nothing is hidden from its heat. 

The law of God is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of God are sure,
making wise the simple; 
the precepts of God are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of God is clear,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of God is pure,
enduring for ever;
the ordinances of God are true
and righteous altogether. 
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
and drippings of the honeycomb. 

Moreover by them is your servant warned;
 in keeping them there is great reward.
But who can detect their errors?
Clear me from hidden faults. 
Keep back your servant also from the insolent;
 do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression. 

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
O God, my rock and my redeemer.
Silence

Gospel Reading: Mark 10:1-31

The word of life.
Thanks be to God.

Silence

Reading: from Anne Lamott

“So a little spring prays to the ocean, so the beating heart prays to the heart of the universe, so the little word prays to the great Logos, so a dust speck prays to the earth, so the earth prays to the cosmos, so the one prays to the billion, so human love prays to God’s love, so always prays to never, so the moment prays to eternity, so the snowflake prays to winter, so the frightened beast prays to the forest silence, so uncertainty prays to beauty itself.

And all these prayers are heard.”

Prayer

Holy One, we cry out to you: in the morning our prayers come before you.
Along with the worldwide fellowship of churches, we pray this morning for Liberia.
God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Individual prayers may be spoken with the above response given.

Lord’s Prayer

Holy God, our uncertainty prays to your glory and beauty. Thank you for hearing our prayers.

Blessing

I pray that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may have power together with all the saints
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Amen.

August 10, 2017

Song: You are Salt
(Can be viewed prior to or after group prayer time.)

O God, let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning
for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.

Glory be to the Creator, and to the Christ, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.

Psalm 18:31-50

For who is God except the Lord?
And who is a rock besides our God?—
the God who girded me with strength,
and made my way safe.
God made my feet like the feet of a deer,
and set me secure on the heights. 
God trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 
You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your right hand has supported me;
your help has made me great. 
You gave me a wide place for my steps under me,
 and my feet did not slip.
I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
and did not turn back until they were consumed. 
I struck them down, so that they were not able to rise;
 they fell under my feet. 
For you girded me with strength for the battle;
you made my assailants sink under me.
You made my enemies turn their backs to me,
and those who hated me I destroyed. 
They cried for help, but there was no one to save them;
 they cried to God, but were not answered. 
I beat them fine, like dust before the wind;
I cast them out like the mire of the streets. 

You delivered me from strife with the peoples;
you made me head of the nations;
people whom I had not known served me. 
As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;
 foreigners came cringing to me. 
Foreigners lost heart,
 and came trembling out of their strongholds. 

The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock,
 and exalted be the God of my salvation, 
the God who gave me vengeance
 and subdued peoples under me;
who delivered me from my enemies;
 indeed, you exalted me above my adversaries;
 you delivered me from the violent. 

For this I will extol you, O God, among the nations,
and sing praises to your name. 
Great triumphs you give to your king,
and show steadfast love to your anointed,
to David and his descendants for ever.

Silence

Gospel Reading: Mark 9:33-49

The word of life.
Thanks be to God.

Silence

Reading: “The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver 

Prayer

Holy One, we cry out to you: in the morning our prayers come before you.
Along with the worldwide fellowship of churches, we pray this morning for Equatorial Guinea.
God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Individual prayers may be spoken with the above response given.

Lord’s Prayer

“O God, it is Your will to hold both heaven & earth in a single peace. Let the design of Your great love shine on the waste of our wrath & sorrows, & give peace to Your Church, peace among nations, peace in our homes, & peace in our hearts.” (From New Zealand Prayer Book)

Blessing

I pray that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may have power together with all the saints
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Amen.

August 8, 2017

O God, let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning
for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.

Glory be to the Creator, and to the Christ, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.

Psalm 18:16-30

God reached down from on high and took me;
God drew me out of mighty waters,
delivered me from my strong enemy,
and from those who hated me;
for they were too mighty for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity;
but the Lord was my support. 
God brought me out into a broad place;
and delivered me, because God delighted in me. 

God rewarded me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands God recompensed me. 
For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
For all divine ordinances were before me,
and holy statutes I did not put away from me.
I was blameless before God and I kept myself from guilt.
Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands. 

With the loyal you show yourself loyal;
with the blameless you show yourself blameless; 
with the pure you show yourself pure;
and with the crooked you show yourself perverse. 
For you deliver a humble people,
but the haughty eyes you bring down.
It is you who light my lamp;
the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness. 
By you I can crush a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
This God—God’s way is perfect;
 the promise of the Lord proves true;
God is a shield for all who take refuge. 

Silence

Gospel Reading: Mark 9:14-32

The word of life.
Thanks be to God.

Silence

Reading: “Mercy” by John F. Deane 

Prayer

Holy One, we cry out to you: in the morning our prayers come before you.
Along with the worldwide fellowship of churches, we pray this morning for Cameroon and Central African Republic.

God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Individual prayers may be spoken with the above response given.

Lord’s Prayer

 Holy God, have mercy. Rain down your gentling grace. Amen.

Blessing

I pray that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may have power together with all the saints
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Amen.

August 3, 2017

Song: I will call upon the Lord
(Can be viewed prior to or after group prayer time.)

O God, let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning
for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.

Glory be to the Creator, and to the Christ, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.

Psalm 18:1-15

I love you, O God, my strength.
God is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 
I call upon my God, who is worthy to be praised;
so I shall be saved from my enemies. 

The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of perdition assailed me; 
the cords of Sheol entangled me;
 the snares of death confronted me. 

In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From the temple God heard my voice,
and my cry reached God’s ears. 

Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because God was angry.
Smoke went up from God’s nostrils,
and devouring fire from God’s mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from God.
God bowed the heavens, and came down;
 thick darkness was under God’s feet.
God rode on a cherub, and flew;
and came swiftly upon the wings of the wind. 
God made darkness a covering around,
God’s canopy thick clouds dark with water. 
Out of the brightness before God
there broke through the clouds
hailstones and coals of fire. 
The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
 and the Most High uttered the divine voice. 
And God sent out arrows, and scattered them;
flashed forth lightnings, and routed them. 
Then the channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O God,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils. 

Silence

Gospel Reading: Mark 9:1-13

The word of life.
Thanks be to God.

Silence

Reading: From Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson:

“It has seemed to me sometimes as though the Lord breathes on this poor gray ember of Creation and it turns to radiance—for a moment or a year or the span of a life. And then it sinks back into itself again and no one would know it had anything to do with fire, or light. That is what I said in the Pentecost sermon. I have reflected on that sermon, and there is some truth in it. But the Lord is more constant and far more extravagant than it seems to imply. Wherever you turn your eyes the world can shine like transfiguration. You don’t have to bring a thing except a little willingness to see. Only, who could have the courage to see it?”

Prayer

Holy One, we cry out to you: in the morning our prayers come before you.
Along with the worldwide fellowship of churches, we pray this morning for Sao Tome and Principe.
God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Individual prayers may be spoken with the above response given.

Lord’s Prayer

God of transfiguration, give us the courage to see your shining extravagance in this world. Amen.

Blessing

I pray that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may have power together with all the saints
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Amen.

August 1, 2017

Song: Open the Eyes 

O God, let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning
for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.

Glory be to the Creator, and to the Christ, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.

Psalm 17

Hear a just cause, O God; attend to my cry;
give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit. 
From you let my vindication come;
 let your eyes see the right. 

If you try my heart, if you visit me by night,
if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me;
my mouth does not transgress.
As for what others do, by the word of your lips
 I have avoided the ways of the violent. 
My steps have held fast to your paths;
my feet have not slipped. 

I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
 incline your ear to me, hear my words. 
Wondrously show your steadfast love,
O saviour of those who seek refuge
from their adversaries at your right hand. 

Guard me as the apple of the eye;
 hide me in the shadow of your wings,
from the wicked who despoil me,
my deadly enemies who surround me.
They close their hearts to pity;
with their mouths they speak arrogantly. 
They track me down; now they surround me;
they set their eyes to cast me to the ground. 
They are like a lion eager to tear,
 like a young lion lurking in ambush. 

Rise up, O God, confront them, overthrow them!
By your sword deliver my life from the wicked,
from mortals—by your hand, O Lord—
from mortals whose portion in life is in this world.
May their bellies be filled with what you have stored up for them;
 may their children have more than enough;
may they leave something over to their little ones. 

As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.

Silence

Gospel Reading: Mark 8:22-38

The word of life.
Thanks be to God.

Silence

Reading: From Dorothy Fortenberry (quoted in Los Angeles Review of Books, June 8, and Christian Century)

“Church is a group of broken individuals united only by our brokenness traveling together to ask to be fixed. . . . My family and I don’t go to church to deny the existence of the darkness. We go to look so hard at the light that our eyes water.”

Prayer

Holy One, we cry out to you: in the morning our prayers come before you.
Along with the worldwide fellowship of churches, we pray this morning for the Republic of Congo and Gabon. God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Individual prayers may be spoken with the above response given.

Lord’s Prayer

Holy God of light, we bring our brokenness into the circle of your radiance. Enlighten us. Enfold us. Empower us to share your light with the world. Amen.

Blessing

I pray that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may have power together with all the saints
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Amen.

June 29, 2017

O God, let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning
for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.

Glory be to the Creator, and to the Christ, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.

Song: Psalm 16—The Path of Life

Psalm 16

Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I say ‘You are my God; I have no good apart from you.’
As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble,
in whom is all my delight.
Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows;
their drink-offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names upon my lips.

God is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
I have a goodly heritage. 

I bless my God who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me. 
I keep God always before me;
because God is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 

Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
my body also rests secure. 
For you do not give me up to Sheol,
or let your faithful one see the Pit. 

You show me the path of life.
In your presence there is fullness of joy;
in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.

Silence

Gospel Reading: Mark 8:1-21

The word of life.
Thanks be to God.

Silence

Reading: “Poetry Like Bread” by Roque Dalton 

Prayer

Holy One, we cry out to you: in the morning our prayers come before you.
Along with the worldwide fellowship of churches, we pray this morning for Uganda.
God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Individual prayers may be spoken with the above response given.

Lord’s Prayer

God, in you we take refuge. You show us the path of life. In your presence there is abundance of bread and fullness of joy. And we give you thanks. Amen.

Blessing

I pray that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may have power together with all the saints
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Amen.