Daily Prayers for January 8

O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you

as the day rises to meet the sun.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Come, let us bow down and bend the knee : let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

Song “Oh the Deep, Deep Love of -Jesus”

Though the darkness covers me : I will remember your light.

Psalm 42:1 – 3, 6 – 7

As the deer longs for the water brooks : so longs my soul for you, O God.

My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God : when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?

My tears have been my food day and night : while all day long they say to me, “Where now is your God?”

Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? : and why are you so disquieted within me?

Put your trust in God : for I will yet give thanks to him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

Though the darkness covers me : I will remember your light.

Genesis 2:4 – 25 Galatians 1:18 – 2:10

Though the darkness covers me : I will remember your light.

In the sayings of the desert fathers, this story is recorded: “A brother came to see Abba Poemen and said to him, ‘Abba, I have many thoughts and they put me in danger.’ The old man led him outside and said to him, ‘Expand your chest and do not breathe in.’ He said, ‘I cannot do that.’ Then the old man said to him, ‘If you cannot do that, no more can you prevent thoughts from arising, but you can resist them.’ ”

Prayers for Others

Our Father

Lord, we pray not to get lost in the reality of our own depravity, but rather to find ourselves morning by morning in the light of your mercy and redemption. Amen.

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;

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.