Daily Prayer and Scripture – February 28, 2015

Daily Common Prayer

As we move through lent this year we invite you to a practice of prayer and scripture that will connect you with God and to other past and present. For more info on the Book of Common Prayer check out the introduction at the end of this post.

February 28, 2015

Our lives, O Lord, are in your hand: hold us up that we might stand.

Psalm 138: 7 – 9

Though the LORD be high, he cares for the lowly: he perceives the haughty from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you keep me safe: you stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies; your right hand shall save me. The LORD will make good his purpose for me: O LORD, your love endures for ever; do not abandon the works of your hands.

Our lives, O Lord, are in your hand: hold us up that we might stand.

Bonaventure, a thirteenth-century Franciscan theologian, wrote, “The outcome or the fruit of reading Holy Scripture is by no means negligible: it is the fullness of eternal happiness. These are the books which tell us of eternal life, which were written, not only that we might believe, but also that we might have everlasting life. The purpose of the Scriptures, which come to us from God, is to lead us to the fullness of the truth. In order to achieve this, we must study holy Scripture carefully, and teach it and listen to it in the same way.”

Lord, convict us of the need for spiritual disciplines that call us to stillness, centeredness, and contemplation. Remind us that your word is living and present to nurture us, grow us, and sustain us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

To practice the whole Daily Common Prayer, you can click here (it includes daily scripture, prayers and reflections)


Introduction to the Book of Common Prayer

Christians have been singing and praying and worshiping together for thousands of years. We can sometimes forget that and view our worship, our prayers as something we do on our own…private.

This year during the Lent season, we want to dive into an exciting, new (for us!) practice…of praying prayers with people around the world, from diverse places, traditions, denominations. We’re going to do this from what is called “The Common Prayer” (www.commonprayer.net), a book with prayers and scriptures for every day, called a “liturgy”.

Liturgy (literally means “the work of the people”) is a communal response to the sacred. Its something we do together, as a way to ground ourselves TOGETHER in Christ.

Every day you will have the chance to join people…in all parts of the world, praying some of these very same prayers. There is strength in numbers, and there is a powerful sense of unity that can come as people from diverse places and circumstances pray together, even though they have never met, and don’t even speak the same language.

We also want to encourage you to do this in community….whenever possible.

So maybe you want to find a common time in your home to pray these prayers and read these scriptures together, or include them at the beginning of your cell gatherings…to remind us that we are NOT on this faith journey alone, but are meant to live our lives in community.