Daily Prayers for August 17
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 “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”
As for me, O Lord, I cry to you for help : in the morning my prayer comes before you.
Psalm 88:1 – 6
O Lord, my God, my Savior, : by day and night I cry to you.
Let my prayer enter into your presence : incline your ear to my lamentation.
For I am full of trouble : my life is at the brink of the grave.
I am counted among those who go down to the Pit : I have become like one who has no strength;
lost among the dead : like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more : for they are cut off from your hand.
As for me, O Lord, I cry to you for help : in the morning my prayer comes before you.
1 Sam-uel 25:23 – 44 Matthew 27:55 – 66
As for me, O Lord, I cry to you for help : in the morning my prayer comes before you.
Ignatius of Lyon said this in the second century: “Christianity is not a matter of persuasive words. It is a matter of true greatness as long as it is hated by the world.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
God of the living and the dead, let our lives sing your praise. Make us the fragrance of your love. Rise in us, and awaken us from our slumber that we might live in your light. 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.
Offering a Sacrifice of Praise
There is an old saying many Christians use: “Offer the Lord a sacrifice of praise,” referring to Hebrews 13:15. In many circles this notion of a “sacrifice of praise” almost becomes cliché. (Perhaps because worship does not often come at much cost, especially compared with the sacrifices of saints who’ve gone before us.) But when we worship with folks of various traditions, there are times when we may hear a prayer that uses language we might not naturally use or sing a song that isn’t really our style. That is part of what it means to be a member of a community as diverse as the church is. And perhaps that also helps shed some light on why it might require some sacrifice for us to give up ourselves.
When a song isn’t working for you, consider praising God, because that probably means it is working for someone else who is very different from you. Offer your worship as a sacrifice rather than requiring others to sacrifice for your pleasure or contentment. There is something to the notion of becoming one as God is one; it doesn’t mean that we are the same; it just means that we are united by one Spirit. After all, we can become one only if there are many of us to begin with.
Liturgy puts a brake on narcissism. Certainly, there is something beautiful about contemporary worship, where we can take old things and add a little spice to them, like singing hymns to rock tunes or reciting creeds as spoken word rhymes. But liturgy protects us from simply making worship into a self-pleasing act. So if a song or prayer doesn’t quite work for you, be thankful that it is probably really resonating with someone who is different from you, and offer a sacrifice of praise.
