Morning Prayer: Psalm 119:97-104; Proverbs 2:1-6; Luke 2:40-47, 52 ~ seek wisdom
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 119:97-104 NLT:
Oh, how I love your instructions! I think about them all day long.
Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are my constant guide. Yes, I have more insight than my teachers, for I am always thinking of your laws. I am even wiser than my elders, for I have kept your commandments. I have refused to walk on any evil path, so that I may remain obedient to your word. I haven’t turned away from your regulations, for you have taught me well. How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey.
Your commandments give me understanding; no wonder I hate every false way of life.
Proverbs 2:1-6 NLT:
My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.
Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God. For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Luke 2:40-47, 52 NLT:
There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him.
Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual. After the celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn’t miss him at first, because they assumed he was among the other travelers. But when he didn’t show up that evening, they started looking for him among their relatives and friends.
When they couldn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there. Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.
Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.
Reflection/Prayer:
Oh how I love Thy law! It is my meditation, all the day. ‘I have more understanding than all my teachers…’ Jesus has this, not because He was God, but because He was receptive in His humnan life to the Voice and direction of His Father. As a boy He had apparently not experienced the anointing of the Holy Spirit yet, but even so by saturating Himself in Scripture He was filled with understanding. Nor did He consider Himself unteachable, unable to learn from others.
Aidan of Lindisfarne had a similar love of Scripture, and especially the psalms which he would memorize, and speak by heart as he travelled on foot with his companions. In Eastern Europe and elsewhere, when copies of the Bible are hard-to-come-by, believers naturally treasure the word, and memorize as much as possible. No authority can remove the word hidden in your heart; it can be meditated upon all day long.
If we practiced silence a little bit more, then when we did speak we’d have something to say. (John Skinner)
I weave a silence on to my lips
I weave a silence into my mind
I weave a silence within my heart
I close my ears to distractions
I close my eyes to attractions
I close my heart to temptations.
Calm me, O Lord, as You stilled the storm
Still me, O Lord, keep me from harm
Let all the tumult within me cease
Enfold me, Lord, in Your peace.
(David Adam)
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
_____________________________________
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.
Morning Prayer: Psalm 119:96; I Samuel 2:18-21; Matthew 5:48 ~ attainable perfection
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
by Cima da Conegliano, c. 1515
Psalm 119:96 NLT:
Even perfection has its limits, but your commands have no limit.
I Samuel 2:18-21 NLT:
But Samuel, though he was only a boy, served the Lord. He wore a linen garment like that of a priest. Each year his mother made a small coat for him and brought it to him when she came with her husband for the sacrifice. Before they returned home, Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the Lord give you other children to take the place of this one she gave to the Lord.” And the Lord gave Hannah three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.
Matthew 5:48 NLT:
But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Reflection/Prayer:
Those of us who are unfamiliar with Greek can apparently miss out on the subtleties of meaning in many New Testament passages.
I am told that one such verse is that which says, Be perfect even as your Heavenly Father is perfect. The two words used for ‘perfect’ are slightly different. The one is perfection in a limited, finite way, the other infinite.
What this means is that Jesus’ command to be perfect is attainable (at least on a good day!). We are asked to be as perfect as we can be, even as He is as perfect as He can be. We are being asked to eat our dinner like our Daddy, not to eat our Daddy’s dinner. As we grow, so does our capacity for such food.
…like an onion: except that as you go in and in, each circle is larger than the last. (C.S. Lewis)
Hymn: “The Perfect Wisdom of Our God” – Keith and Kristyn Getty
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
_____________________________________
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.
Kung Fu Piano: Cello Ascends – ThePianoGuys (YouTube)
Morning Prayer: Psalm 119:89-95; Deuteronomy 17:19; Revelation 1:3; 5:2-5 ~ words of life
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 119:89-95 NLT:
Your eternal word, O Lord, stands firm in heaven. Your faithfulness extends to every generation, as enduring as the earth you created. Your regulations remain true to this day, for everything serves your plans.
If your instructions hadn’t sustained me with joy, I would have died in my misery. I will never forget your commandments, for by them you give me life.
I am yours; rescue me! For I have worked hard at obeying your commandments. Though the wicked hide along the way to kill me, I will quietly keep my mind on your laws.
Deuteronomy 17:19 NLT:
He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees.
Revelation 1:3; 5:2-5 NLT:
God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.
And I saw a strong angel, who shouted with a loud voice: “Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it.
Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it. But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Reflection/Prayer:
Oh well, I guess it has been settled in heaven, and yet I would have died had my trust not been in Your word.
Prayer is not the privilege of a few. It is a reality easily accessible, for tiny children as for old men. It finds expression in innumerable ways. (Brother Roger of Taize)
Delighful I think it to be / in the bosom of an isle / on the crest of a rock / that I may see often / the calm of the sea, that I may pore on one of my books good for my soul, a while kneeling for beloved heaven, a while at psalms, a while meditating upon the Prince of Heaven (Columba)
Little men perceive what solitude is…
For a crowd is not company,
and faces are but a gallery of pictures,
and talk but a tinkling cymbal
where there is no love. (Francis Bacon)
Spiritual Song: “Wonderful Words of Life” – Philip P. Bliss (1874)
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
_____________________________________
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.
