Daily Prayers for July 14
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 “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”
Rise up, O God! Maintain your cause : Deliver us from the endless ruins.
Psalm 74:1 – 3, 9
O God, why have you utterly cast us off? : why is your wrath so hot against the sheep of your pasture?
Remember your congregation that you purchased long ago : the tribe you redeemed to be your inheritance, and Mount Zion where you dwell.
Turn your steps toward the endless ruins : the enemy has laid waste everything in your sanctuary.
How long, O God, will the adversary scoff? : will the enemy blaspheme your name for ever?
Rise up, O God! Maintain your cause : Deliver us from the endless ruins.
Judges 12:1 – 7 Acts 20:1 – 16
Rise up, O God! Maintain your cause : Deliver us from the endless ruins.
Listen to these words from the Shepherd of Hermas, whose second-century writings were cherished by the early Christians: “You know that you who are God’s servants are living in a foreign country, for your own city-state is far away from this City-state. Knowing, then, which one is to be your own City-state, why do you acquire fields, costly furnishings, buildings, and frail dwellings here? Instead of fields, buy for yourselves -people in distress in accordance with your means. It is far, far better to buy this kind of field, property, or building, which is quite different and which you can find again in your own City when you come home. This ‘extravagance’ is beautiful and holy; it brings no grief and no fear; it brings nothing but joy.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord, apart from you our fragile lives would crumble into ruins. Sustain us by your mighty power, and help us rebuild our lives among those who have no home to call their own — the poor of heart and pocket, the homeless, the hungry, the unattended sick, and the imprisoned. 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.
Daily Prayers for July 13
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 “Nothin’ but the Blood”
Against the torrent of oblivion : we plead the blood of -Jesus.
Psalm 69:1 – 3, 18
Save me, O God : for the waters have risen up to my neck.
I am sinking in deep mire : and there is no firm ground for my feet.
I have come into deep waters : and the torrent washes over me.
“Answer me, O Lord, for your love is kind : in your great compassion, turn to me.”
Against the torrent of oblivion : we plead the blood of -Jesus.
Judges 11:1 – 11, 29 – 40 Acts 19:21 – 41
Against the torrent of oblivion : we plead the blood of -Jesus.
This prayer is from the second-century Christian writings known as the Acts of John: “To thee I call who art God alone: the one who is exceedingly great, the Unutterable One, the Incomprehensible One; to whom all powers of government are subject; before whom every authority bows, and before whom all that is high falls down and remains silent; at whose voice the demons take fright; and beholding whom all creation surrenders in silent adoration.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
God of all grace, in foolishness and humility we often dare to speak on your behalf, claiming to know your ways and making promises we struggle to keep. Help us learn to be still, trusting that you indeed are God. 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.
Daily Prayers for July 12
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 “Sing, O Sky (Gaao Re)”
Our sins are stronger than we are : but you will blot them out.
Psalm 65:4 – 7
Happy are they whom you choose and draw to your courts to dwell there! : they will be satisfied by the beauty of your house, by the holiness of your temple.
Awesome things will you show us in your righteous-ness, O God of our salvation : O Hope of all the ends of the earth and of the seas that are far away.
You make fast the mountains by your power : they are girded about with might.
You still the roaring of the seas : the roaring of their waves, and the clamor of the -peoples.
Our sins are stronger than we are : but you will blot them out.
Judges 9:22 – 25, 50 – 57 Acts 19:1 – 20
Our sins are stronger than we are : but you will blot them out.
Desert father John Cassian said, “It is a bigger miracle to eject a passion from your own body than it is to eject an evil spirit from another’s body. It is a bigger miracle to be patient and refrain from anger than it is to control the demons which fly through the air.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord God, you gave us your Holy Spirit to teach us and to remind us of your words. We claim your Spirit’s power today to convict us of our sin, to call us to repentance, and to remind us that your mercy enables us to choose you again and again. 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.
Daily Prayers for July 11
Benedict of Nursia (c. 480 – c. 547)
Benedict was born in the town of Nursia, near Rome. At age twenty, he left home and lived for three years as a hermit in a desolate cave. There he practiced severe asceticism, maturing in both mind and character. Though he had little contact with the outside world, Benedict gained a reputation for his holy life and discipline. Eventually he was asked to lead a monastery in a remote area near Monte Cassino. Drawing on older rules and the wisdom of experience, Benedict outlined in his rule a simple way of life for monks, centered on praying the daily office, studying Scripture, engaging in common labor for the good of the community, and performing works of charity. His vision of the holy life became the standard for Western monasticism and a model for how to live simply — in health, wholeness, and community.
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 the bend the knee : let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Song “We Shall Not Be Moved”
Meet me, God, in the time of trial : and deliver me by your power.
Psalm 59:10 – 12, 15
My eyes are fixed on you, O my Strength : for you, O God, are my stronghold.
My merciful God comes to meet me : God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.
Slay them, O God, lest my -people forget : send them reeling by your might and put them down, O Lord our shield.
Let everyone know that God rules in Jacob : and to the ends of the earth.
Meet me, God, in the time of trial : and deliver me by your power.
Judges 9:1 – 16, 19 – 21 Acts 18:12 – 28
Meet me, God, in the time of trial : and deliver me by your power.
Benedict of Nursia said, “However late, then, it may seem, let us rouse ourselves from lethargy. That is what scripture urges on us when it says: the time has come for us to rouse ourselves from sleep. Let us open our eyes to the light that can change us into the likeness of God. Let our ears be alert to the stirring call of his voice crying to us every day: today, if you should hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
God, make us bold enough to question tyranny, impassioned enough to submit ourselves to good teachers, and discerning enough to know when it is our turn to lead. 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.
Daily Prayers for July 10
Toyohiko Kagawa (1888 – 1960)
Toyohiko Kagawa was a Japanese pacifist, Christian reformer, evangelist, and labor activist. He wrote, spoke, and worked at length on ways to employ Christian principles in the ordering of society. His vocation to help the poor led him to live among them, and he established schools, hospitals, and churches. He was also an innovator and a critical thinker, in everything from economics and theology to cutting-edge gardening techniques. One of his great lines is, “I read in a book that a man called Christ went about doing good. It is very disconcerting to me that I am so easily satisfied with just going about.”
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 Overcome”
Deliver us from ourselves, O God : and bring us home to life with you.
Psalm 53:1 – 3, 6
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” : All are corrupt and commit abominable acts; there is none who does any good.
God looks down from heaven upon us all : to see if there is any who is wise, if there is one who seeks after God.
Every one has proved faithless; all alike have turned bad : there is none who does good; no, not one.
Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come out of Zion! : when God restores the fortunes of his -people Jacob will rejoice and Israel be glad.
Deliver us from ourselves, O God : and bring us home to life with you.
Judges 8:22 – 35 Acts 18:1 – 11
Deliver us from ourselves, O God : and bring us home to life with you.
John Wesley, an eighteenth-century British evangelist and church reformer, said, “I believe the merciful God regards the lives and tempers of men more than their ideas. I believe he respects the goodness of the heart, rather than the clearness of the head.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord God, thank you that we are unable to save ourselves and that each time we try, we fail. Have mercy on us. Be the strength in our weakness. Clear our heads of the foolishness of believing we can be our own gods. Steer our hearts to utter dependence on you. 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.
Daily Prayers for July 9
On July 9, 2004, the International Court of Justice ruled that the wall being built by the Israeli government in the contested Palestinian territories is illegal and should be taken down. This historic Holy Land continues to be some of the most troubled and segregated land in the world and has been called the site of “the most sophisticated apartheid system in the world.”
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 “All Creatures of Our God and King”
We shout to God with a cry of joy : Let us shout with our whole lives!
Psalm 47:6 – 10
Sing praises to God, sing praises : sing praises to our King, sing praises.
For God is King of all the earth : sing praises with all your skill.
God reigns over the nations : God sits upon his holy throne.
The nobles of the -peoples have gathered together : with the -people of the God of Abraham.
The rulers of the earth belong to God : and he is highly exalted.
We shout to God with a cry of joy : Let us shout with our whole lives!
Judges 7:19 – 8:12 Acts 17:16 – 34
We shout to God with a cry of joy : Let us shout with our whole lives!
Second-century Christian thinker Athenagoras wrote, “Our life does not consist in making up beautiful phrases but in performing beautiful deeds.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord God, we rejoice in your resurrection and in your promise to return. Help us live today as -people who await the fulfillment of your kingdom. Bend our knees to the hard work of prayer, worship, repentance, and intercession. 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.
Daily Prayers for July 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 sing to the Lord : let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Song “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”
Raise us up, O Lord : and let our light break forth like the dawn.
Psalm 41:1 – 3
Happy are they who consider the poor and needy! : the Lord will deliver them in the time of trouble.
The Lord preserves them and keeps them alive, so that they may be happy in the land : he does not hand them over to the will of their enemies.
The Lord sustains them on their sickbed : and ministers to them in their illness.
Raise us up, O Lord : and let our light break forth like the dawn.
Judges 7:1 – 18 Acts 17:1 – 15
Raise us up, O Lord : and let our light break forth like the dawn.
Hear these words of church father Augustine of Hippo: “In affliction, then, we do not know what it is right to pray for. Because affliction is difficult, troublesome and against the grain for us, weak as we are, we do what every human would do. We pray that it may be taken away from us. However, if he does not take it away, we must not imagine that he has forgotten us. In this way, power shines forth more perfectly in weakness.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord, throughout history you have used the seemingly weak to nurture justice, to fight poverty, and to walk bravely toward human thrones of power proclaiming another way. Help us find comfort and hope in our afflictions, knowing that you are able to use all things for good. 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.
Daily Prayers for July 7
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 “I Will Trust in the Lord”
Quiet our troubled souls, O Lord : with peace that passes understanding.
Psalm 37:7 – 10
Be still before the Lord : and wait patiently for him.
Do not fret yourself over the one who prospers : the one who succeeds in evil schemes.
Refrain from anger, leave rage alone : do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil.
For evildoers shall be cut off : but those who wait upon the Lord shall possess the land.
Quiet our troubled souls, O Lord : with peace that passes understanding.
Judges 6:25 – 40 Acts 16:16 – 40
Quiet our troubled souls, O Lord : with peace that passes understanding.
Martin Luther King Jr. said this: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord God, some of us still ask for signs to know where you call us to go and who you desire us to become. Be merciful and reveal yourself to us in manageable ways, just enough to see us through today. 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.
Daily Prayers for July 6
Jan Hus (1372 – 1415)
Jan Hus was born in Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic). He helped launch a vigorous reform of the church in a particularly difficult time in our history known as the Great Schism. Amid highly politicized divisions of God’s -people, Hus pursued a mystical and evangelical approach, insisting that Christ alone is head of the church. To partisans on both sides, his views seemed idealistic at best, and at worst a dreamy anarchism or heresy. Hus maintained a creative loyalty to the church while challenging its pathologies. He was burned at the stake during the Council of Constance in 1415, and his death helped give birth to the Moravian Church. As he died, he said this: “It is better to die well than to live wickedly. . . . Truth conquers all things.”
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 “I Want -Jesus to Walk with Me”
Let your loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us : as we put our trust in you.
Psalm 33:12 – 15
Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord! : happy the -people he has chosen to be his own!
The Lord looks down from heaven : and beholds all the -people in the world.
From where he sits enthroned he turns his gaze : on all who dwell on the earth.
He fashions all the hearts of them : and understands all their works.
Let your loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us : as we put our trust in you.
Judges 6:1 – 24 Acts 15:36 – 16:5
Let your loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us : as we put our trust in you.
Mother Teresa once said, “Our vocation is to belong to -Jesus so completely that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. What you and I must do is nothing less than putting our love for Christ into practice. The important thing is not how much we accomplish, but how much love we put into our deeds every day. That is the measure of our love for God.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord, we are bound to you by grace, grafted into your kingdom by love. Since the beginning of time you have found ways to be present with us, your children. Teach us to embody your loving presence in all that we do this day. 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.
Daily Prayers for July 5
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 “Magnificat”
Show me your way, O Lord : lead me on a level path.
Psalm 27:1 – 4
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear? : the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?
When evildoers came upon me to eat up my flesh : it was they, my foes and my adversaries, who stumbled and fell.
Though an army should encamp against me : yet my heart shall not be afraid;
and though war should rise up against me : yet will I put my trust in him.
Show me your way, O Lord : lead me on a level path.
Judges 5:19 – 31 Acts 15:22 – 35
Show me your way, O Lord : lead me on a level path.
Hear this proverb often quoted by John Perkins, pioneer of Christian community development:
Go to the -people.
Live among them.
Learn from them.
Love them.
Start with what they know.
Build on what they have.
But of the best leaders,
when their task is accomplished,
when their work is done . . .
the -people will remark:
“We have done it ourselves.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord God, grant us grace to be faithful witnesses to those we encounter today. May we share your love in a way that sparks others to catch your fire. 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.
