Daily Prayers for August 21

In 1831, Nat Turner led a slave revolt in Southhampton County, Virginia, killing fifty-five whites on his march to the county seat of Jerusalem, where he declared that the “great day of judgment” was at hand.

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 “We Shall Not Be Moved”

Judge us in your mercy, Lord : that we may live together in peace.

Psalm 105:3 – 7

Glory in his holy name : let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

Search for the Lord and his strength : continually seek his face.

Remember the marvels he has done : his wonders and the judgments of his mouth,

O offspring of Abraham his servant : O children of Jacob his chosen.

He is the Lord our God : his judgments prevail in all the world.

Judge us in your mercy, Lord : that we may live together in peace.

2 Sam-uel 2:1 – 11 Romans 8:12 – 25

Judge us in your mercy, Lord : that we may live together in peace.

Martin Luther King Jr. said this: “There was a time when the church was very powerful. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the power structure got disturbed and immediately sought to convict them for being ‘disturbers of the peace’ and ‘outside agitators.’ But they went on with the conviction that they were ‘a colony of heaven,’ and had to obey God rather than man. They were small in number but big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be ‘astronomically intimidated.’ They brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contest.”

Prayers for Others

Our Father

Lord God, help us to live out your gospel in the world. We pray for those who do not know your love, that they would be wooed by your goodness and seduced by your beauty. Form us into a family that runs deeper than biology or nationality or ethnicity, a family that is born again in you. May we be creators of holy mischief and agitators of comfort . . . -people who do not accept the world as it is but insist on its becoming what you want it to be. Let us groan as in the pains of childbirth for your kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. Help us to be midwives of that kingdom. 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.