Morning Prayer: Monday, 12 June – Acts 4:23-31 ~ give me boldness

Morning Prayer

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

Opening Prayer

Gracious God, give me a humble, teachable, and obedient heart, that I may receive what you have revealed, and do what you have commanded. Amen.

Reading: Acts 4:23-31 (NLT)

As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said. When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them — you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying,

‘Why were the nations so angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah.’

“In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will. And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.
__________

Prayer for Boldness:

“And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” – Acts 4:29-30

Merciful God: you have chosen me to be your child; you have adopted me into your family. Once I had no identity; now I am a child of God – “called out of darkness into his wonderful light” – that I may show your goodness to others.

Give me great boldness – that is gentle and kind, that flows from the heart of Jesus:
+ To tell others how I have personally experienced the love and saving power of Jesus Christ.
+ To candidly tell others how my sins have been forgiven through Jesus’ death on the cross.
+ To clearly explain to others that Jesus died for the forgiveness of their sins as well, because he loves them.
+ To speak about what I have seen and heard with personal conviction; how Jesus Christ changed my life.

Holy God: stretch out your hand with healing power; fill me with great boldness in the Holy Spirit. And may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Soli Deo gloria!
__________

“Be Bold, Be Strong” – Maranatha! Promise Band


__________

Concluding Prayer – Psalm 62:8, 11-12 (NLT)

O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.
_____

God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times: Power, O God, belongs to you; unfailing love, O Lord, is yours.
__________

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

Morning Prayer: 13 Apr – Acts 4:23-31; John 3:1-8 ~ you must be born again

Monday of the Second Week of Easter

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

Opening sentence and prayer:

My soul is yearning for You, my God, like a deer that seeks running streams. Alleluia.
_____

Almighty, ever-living God, we confidently call You Father as well as Lord. Renew Your Spirit in our hearts: make us ever more perfectly Your children, so that we may enter upon the inheritance You have promised us. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
__________

A Reading from Acts: Acts 4:23-31 (NLT)

As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said. When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them — you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying,

‘Why were the nations so angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah.’

filled with the Holy Spirit

“In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will. And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.
__________

If then you were raise with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. (Colossians 3:1)
__________

A Reading from the Gospels: John 3:1-8 (NLT)

born-again

There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

“What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
__________


__________

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 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 the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen