Morning Prayer: 

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentence

One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.

You will find the Lord your God, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Morning readings

Psalm 119:12-16 ESV:

Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes! With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

Nehemiah 8:11-12 ESV:

So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

1 Corinthians 14:14-15 ESV:

For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.

Reflection/Prayer:

‘I will not forget Your word,’ says the Psalm. There’s not a whole lot of point in hearing or reading the words of God if we immediately forget what has been said.

James 1:22-25 says that the person who does that is like someone looking in a mirror, then forgetting what they look like, but that the perfect word of God gives freedom if we continue to act on it.

We should pray and praise God with the Spirit, but also with understanding; it’s not a case of one or the other. The two ways of praying go together; they are not opposites. Praying with understanding does not mean speaking our mind to God. Instead, we pray first only as the Spirit gives us the ability, and in doing that we find we have understanding we did not have before. Even our ability to pray is His gift to us. As we hear from God we begin to have wisdom and understanding.

“A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks.” Ben Johnson

Spiritual Song: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is” – Hillsong Live (Glorious Ruins, 2013)

Canticle

Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Be in the heart of each to whom I speak; in the mouth of each who speaks unto me. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.

Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

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.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

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Peanut Gallery: The Morning Prayer readings are from the Daily Office of the Northumbrian Community as available online here… and in the book form, Celtic Daily Prayer available on Amazon.com.

The website and prayer book are rich in prayer resources and I commend them to you. For our purpose here, I will limit my selections to the Morning Prayer resources.