Daily Prayers for June 16

In 1976, seven hundred students were killed in Soweto, South Africa, as they struggled against the forces of apartheid.

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 sing to the Lord : let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.

Song “We Are Marching in the Light of God”

Shine your light on our darkness, Lord : and teach us the duty of delight.

Psalm 81:1 – 5

Sing with joy to God our strength : and raise a loud shout to the God of Jacob.

Raise a song and sound the timbrel : the merry harp, and the lyre.

Blow the ram’s horn at the new moon : and at the full moon, the day of our feast.

For this is a statute for Israel : a law of the God of Jacob.

He laid it as a solemn charge upon Joseph : when he came out of the land of Egypt.

Shine your light on our darkness, Lord : and teach us the duty of delight.

Deuteronomy 30:11 – 20 Acts 8:26 – 40

Shine your light on our darkness, Lord : and teach us the duty of delight.

American preacher Howard Thurman wrote, “Too often the price exacted by society for security and respectability is that the Christian movement in its formal expression must be on the side of the strong against the weak. This is a matter of tremendous significance, for it reveals to what extent a religion that was born of a -people acquainted with persecution and suffering has become the cornerstone of a civilization and of nations whose very position in modern life too often has been secured by a ruthless use of power applied to defenseless -peoples.”

Prayers for Others

Our Father

Lord, help us stand up both to the demons that hide behind ungodly laws, and the false religion that props up injustice. Make us into a -people who shine out your love so that the world might know another way is possible. 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.