Good morning and welcome to our Prayers for the Day.

This is the Day that the lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it.
Amen

Preparation

O Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Your light springs up for the righteous
and all the peoples have seen your glory.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
king of the nations,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
your name is proclaimed in all the world.
As the Sun of Righteousness dawns in our hearts
anoint our lips with the seal of your Spirit
that we may witness to your gospel
and sing your praise in all the earth.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God for ever.

The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;
let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence  

As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of Your presence,
O God, set our hearts on fire with love for You;
now and for ever.
Amen.

Dear Lord, help us to be open to You
for this time as we put aside the cares of this world.
Fill our minds with Your Peace & Your Love
Give us hope, encouragement, in all that we will do today.
Amen.

The Word of God
Psalmody

Psalm 145

Praise for the Lord’s Goodness and Power

I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. ² Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. ³ Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. ⁴ One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. ⁵ They speak of the glorious splendour of your majesty- and I will meditate on your wonderful works. ⁶ They tell of the power of your awesome works- and I will proclaim your great deeds. ⁷ They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. ⁸ The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. ⁹ The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.

¹⁰ All your works praise you, Lord; your faithful people extol you. ¹¹ They tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, ¹² so that all people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendour of your kingdom. ¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does. ¹⁴ The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. ¹⁵ The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. ¹⁶ You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. ¹⁷ The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. ¹⁸ The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. ¹⁹ He fulfils the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. ²⁰ The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. ²¹ My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.

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.

Scripture Readings

Kings of Solomon 4:9 & 5:1

⁹ Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.

5 I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.

Luke 5: 33-39

Jesus Questioned About Fasting

³³ They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.”

³⁴ Jesus answered, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? ³⁵ But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.”

³⁶ He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. ³⁷ And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. ³⁸ No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. ³⁹ And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’”

O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;
let the whole earth tremble before him.
Tell it out among the nations that the Lord is King.
O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
Tell out his salvation from day to day.
Let the whole earth tremble before him.
Declare his glory among the nations
and his wonders among all peoples.
O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;
let the whole earth tremble before him.

Words of Wisdom

Reflection.  A few weeks ago we were in Advent, then it was Christmas, our sermon last Sunday was on Jesus performing his first miracle – turning water into wine at a wedding and we are fast approaching lent; that’s how fast and consistency is our lectionary in guiding us to growth in our faith and our understanding of our God. My reflection will focus on our reading from Luke’s gospel.

Luke’s gospel from today teaches us not to focus on the external aspect of fasting but on its very essence, that is, to discipline our body and soul in such a way that we may become much closer to Christ. While we believe that fasting is a very good religious practice, we are also aware that is not the only way to develop a personal relationship with Christ.

We see the Pharisees criticizing Jesus for not being strictly self-denial. In their eyes Jesus and his disciples should be fasting and praying more and Jesus should be as self-denying as John the Baptist eating locusts and wild honey.  This is in contrast to Jesus’ action as stated in verse 3 “but yours go on eating and drinking”.

We can be easily attempted to criticize and judge others on the basis of what we see and observe. We all have our own standards of what we think is best and how others should act. However, I assume that most of us don’t appreciate it when another person criticize or judge us simply by observing our behaviour. The people were criticizing Christ because they did not know who He was and that the very reason why we are encouraged to fast and pray is in order to develop a personal relationship with Him. The disciples made the right choices. Question to us is, are we one of the disciples who make the right choice or those people who lacked knowledge of Christ and criticized Him?

From the parable in verses 36-39; Jesus invited His listeners to look at the situation in a different way. He tells them that he is doing something new. Today, are we open to the “new” that Jesus may be inviting us to? The invitation may be uncomfortable.  Like the Pharisees, we can get comfortable with the ways things have always been and become resistant to embracing new ideas in our personal lives, as a church or as community.  Are we tempted to criticize another person who is not doing things the way we think they should be done? Jesus is not only challenging                        the Pharisees but also challenging us to be open to other ways of doing things. As we prepare for Lent; we are being reminded to recognise the Lord’s presence in our lives; make the right choices; not to be quick to judge others and be open to the “new” and see what it may bring to us.
Amen.

Silence

The Collect, for Grace.

O LORD, our heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God, who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day: Defend us in the same with thy mighty power; and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger; but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance, to do always that is righteous in thy sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

PRAYERS AND INTERCESSIONS

God our Father in heaven, we ask you to help us develop a personal relationship with you. We ask for your guidance in all our activities of today.
Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

Loving God, heaven and earth belongs to you. Give us grace to love it as you do for the good of all people and all of your creation. Strengthen us to stand with the vulnerable poor.
Lord in your mercy.  Hear our prayer.

Lord God, in all the changes and varieties of the world; that we may not grumble in adversity nor grow proud in prosperity, but in serene faith surrender our souls to your most divine will; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

We pray for your universal church. We pray for our shared mission to your world. We pray for open eyes and open hearts for those who need to hear your message of grace. We pray for wisdom and insight to maintain unity to celebrate our diversity as a part of your gracious gift.
Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

Almighty God, we entrust all who are dear to us to your never-failing care and love, for this life and the life to come.
Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

Loving God, we place our worries in your hands. We place our sick under your care and humbly ask that you restore them back to good health. Comfort those in mourning and grant them peace and acceptance in knowing your presence.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

As our Saviour taught us, so we pray

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours now and for ever.
Amen.

Silence

May God the provider of green pastures and
quiet waters be the peace in our hearts today.
May Jesus our guide on mountain top and valley
be the hope in our hearts today.
May the Spirit of truth and knowledge of the
comforter and friend be the strength in our hearts today
Amen

Thank you for joining our prayer session.
Have a wonderful blessed day!!

Grace Hunting