Morning Prayer Thursday, 2 September 2021
A reading of Psalm 146
1 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.
6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them –
he remains faithful for ever.
7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
8the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
10 The Lord reigns for ever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord.
Psalm 146 NIV®
At the start of each new day, we praise your name, O Lord.
Before we become caught up in the busy-ness of our own day-to-day life,
we come before you, to thank you and praise you for all the hope, help and blessings
that you shower on your faithful people day after day and for ever.
Today, and every day, we ask that you will strengthen us to put our trust in you,
and not to make the mistake of thinking that we can deal with all our difficulties
by depending only on our own strengths and capability.
We look forward to the future in hope, and we ask you to help us share that hope with those about us.
With your help, we, the people of the Church of Christ the Cornerstone,
must work to be an Oasis of Hope in the heart of our city,
channelling the life-giving waters of your Word to all those whom we meet,
wherever that may be and whoever they may be.
Help us to work with you to lift up those who are bowed down
by cares and concerns for themselves or for their families,
those bowed down by poverty, homelessness, unemployment or ill-health.
May we also provide a welcome to the strangers, the migrants and refugees
who come to our country and our city seeking a better life for themselves and their families.
May we recognise that we are all fellow travellers on the path of life and must all support one another.
And when we welcome the strangers, may we listen to their stories and learn from their experiences.
At Cornerstone we have many opportunities to offer welcome and friendship to those who come to our Church. Bless the work of our Receptionists, Stewards and Pastoral Workers, and strengthen them in their work. We pray that many more will be inspired by you to volunteer,
so that their numbers may be increased so that we may more fully meet the needs that are presented.
We pray that you, dear God, will reign in our hearts for ever. We praise you, all day and every day.
Praise the Lord!
Amen
