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 20, 2015
Set our hearts to sing your praise: and our bodies to do your will.
Psalm 104: 1,13– 16
Bless the LORD, O my soul: O LORD my God, how excellent is your greatness! you are clothed with majesty and splendor. You water the mountains from your dwelling on high: the earth is fully satisfied by the fruit of your works. You make grass grow for flocks and herds: and plants to serve mankind; that they may bring forth food from the earth: and wine to gladden our hearts, oil to make a cheerful countenance: and bread to strengthen the heart.
Set our hearts to sing your praise: and our bodies to do your will.
Maria Skobtsova, a twentieth-century nun remembered in Russia as Mother Maria, said, “The meaning of the liturgy must be translated into life.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord, we begin this day praising you. May your liturgy set our souls to dancing, and may your Spirit guide our feet today. 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.