Morning Prayer | Lent, Day 34

OPENING SENTENCES

To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, because we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by following his laws which he set before us.    Daniel 9:9, 10

 

CONFESSION OF SIN

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Silence for reflection

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.

Lord, open our lips. *
And our mouths shall proclaim your praise!

The Lord is full of compassion and mercy: Come let us adore him.

 

MORNING PSALM 

Psalm 144

Blessed be the LORD my rock! *
who trains my hands to fight and my fingers to battle;

My help and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, *
my shield in whom I trust,
who subdues the peoples under me.

O LORD, what are we that you should care for us? *
mere mortals that you should think of us?

We are like a puff of wind; *
our days are like a passing shadow.

Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down; *
touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.

Hurl the lightning and scatter them; *
shoot out your arrows and rout them.

Stretch out your hand from on high; *
rescue me and deliver me from the great waters,
from the hand of foreign peoples,

Whose mouths speak deceitfully *
and whose right hand is raised in falsehood.

O God, I will sing to you a new song; *
I will play to you on a ten-stringed lyre.

You give victory to kings *
and have rescued David your servant.

Rescue me from the hurtful sword *
and deliver me from the hand of foreign peoples,

Whose mouths speak deceitfully *
and whose right hand is raised in falsehood.

May our sons be like plants well nurtured from their youth, *
and our daughters like sculptured corners of a palace.

May our barns be filled to overflowing with all manner
of crops; *
may the flocks in our pastures increase by thousands
and tens of thousands;
may our cattle be fat and sleek.

May there be no breaching of the walls, no going into exile, *
no wailing in the public squares.

Happy are the people of whom this is so! *
happy are the people whose God is the LORD!

 

Lord God of strength, you gave your Son victory over death. Direct your Church's fight against evil in the world; clothe us with the weapons of light; and unite us under the banner of love, that after the battle of earthly life we may rejoice in your presence now and forever.

Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit; *
as it was in the beginning
is now and shall be for ever. Amen.

 

MORNING SONG

Morning Star - the innocence mission

MORNING LESSONS

For those not receiving Evening Prayer emails, the lectionary OT & NT Lessons for today are Jeremiah 31:27-34; Romans 11:25-36.

John 11:28-44

When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

 

Silence for reflection

 

CONCLUDING PRAYER

In the morning, pray for:

  • the day and its tasks

  • the world and its needs

  • the Church and her life

Conclude with the Lord's Prayer and/or the following Collect for the fifth week of Lent:

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Let us bless the Lord. *
Thanks be to God!