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.
March 14, 2015
Arise, O God, maintain your cause: defend the poor for your name’s sake.
Psalm 74: 17– 20
Remember, O Lord, how the enemy scoffed: how a foolish people despised your name. Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts: never forget the lives of your poor. Look upon your covenant: the dark places of the earth are haunts of violence. Let not the oppressed turn away ashamed: let the poor and needy praise your name.
Arise, O God, maintain your cause: defend the poor for your name’s sake.
Maria Skobtsova, a twentieth-century nun remembered in Russia as Mother Maria, said, “At the Last Judgment I shall not be asked whether I was successful in my ascetic exercises, nor how many bows and prostrations I made. Instead I shall be asked if I fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited the sick and the prisoners.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord, in our efforts to serve, help us be true to who we are in you. Make us see and understand the gifts and talents you have given us, and give us courage to use them for the building up of your kingdom. 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.