MORNING PRAYER AND SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY
SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY: But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. — Luke 6:27-28 (BSB)
QUOTE: We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.
— Oswald Chambers
PRAYER: Our hearts are glad this morning, our Father, as we greet this new Sunday. All that is within us rejoices and praises You. May our lives rise from their prisons of death — into beauty and blessedness.
We thank You for all that the resurrection of Jesus means to us: that He could not be held by death; that He lives now to intercede for us in Heaven, and also to be our Friend and Companion in this world. May the gifts of His grace be poured out upon us. May the Holy Spirit fill our hearts and enrich our lives.
Prepare us for the work and worship of this day. Bless to us the words we have read from Your holy word. May they become in us divine inspirations, kindling in our hearts holy thoughts, pure desires, aspirations after holiness, and that love which shall make our lives like altars of incense before You.
Bless us in our home life on this day of rest. May we be drawn together into closer fellowship as a family. May our love become deeper, tenderer, and more unselfish, as we mingle in Your worship. May Your blessing rest upon those who shall preach Your word, and upon all who shall assemble for worship. We pray especially for those who shall carry Your word to the perishing. May they have Your power and may their ministries be blessed.
We now give ourselves to You for this day. We desire to make it a day unstained by sinful thought or word, a day for receiving new measures of the Holy Spirit, a day for coming very close to Jesus, a day for giving out blessings to others. Forgive us all our sins. Cleanse and purify our lives. We ask all this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
EVENING PRAYER AND SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY
SCRIPTURE: In my distress I called upon the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for His help reached His ears. — Psalm 18:6 (BSB)
QUOTE: Prayer is for every moment of our lives, not just for times of suffering or joy.
— Billy Graham
PRAYER: This quiet Sunday evening, our Father, we come to You with glad hearts. We thank You for the Sunday that comes after the six days of toil, bringing us the opportunity for rest and renewal of strength. If we had been compelled to go on forever, without rest — we could not have endured the burden. Sunday speaks to us of Your love for us, in providing little sanctuaries for us among the days.
We thank You for Sunday, because it keeps ever in our minds the remembrance of our Savior’s victory over death. It tells us that we have now a living Savior, living to be our Friend, Companion, and Guide!
We thank You, too, for what the Sundays have been to us through the years that we have lived. We thank You for this Sunday, now closing, and for all that it has brought to us of grace, and comfort, and renewed strength. We have looked into Your face, and have received blessing in Christian fellowship. We have read and heard Your word, and its truths linger in our hearts. We have sung Your praise, and have called upon You in prayer.
May all this day’s impressions stay in our lives as part of our permanent character henceforth. May the strength we have received, make us stronger in body, mind, and spirit — for what we shall have to do in the week before us. May the songs of this day keep singing in our hearts for many days to come.
So may this day be indeed a blessing to us, leaving enrichment of character, new visions of beauty, higher ideals to be reached.
Draw us near You now for a blessing; then fold us away in Your bosom for the night. We ask all this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Thank you for reading Morning and Evening Prayer for Today – 23 April 2023
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