Morning Prayer Thursday, 23 September 2021
A reading from Psalm 19
7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring for ever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
and all of them are righteous.
10 They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.
11 By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
12 But who can discern their own errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant also from wilful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.
14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19: 7–14 NIV®
Dear Lord, we thank you for your teachings, handed down to us through generations,
in your holy scriptures. We thank you for the work of scholars throughout the ages,
who have kept your teachings available to us.
As we start a new day, refreshed by the night’s rest, your Word refreshes our soul,
as we navigate our way through the day ahead, and for this we give you thanks.
Help us always to heed your teaching, as we read it in the Bible and learn from wise preachers.
Before we embark on any course of action, may we stop and consider
whether it will advance the work of your kingdom.
We pray that we can see the error of a wrong course of action,
before we have committed ourselves to actions that we will later regret.
When we make mistakes, help us to learn from them, and not repeat them.
May we always apologise to all those who have been harmed or offended by our selfishness.
Give us, we pray, the strength of mind not to give in to our selfish desires,
and to recognise when we are not taking sufficient account of the needs of others.
May we share what we have with those whose needs are more pressing than our own.
At this time when so many are anxious and worried about what the present and the future
may hold for them, their families and loved ones, give us the strength and courage
to reach out to them, so that they may know that we care for them.
As the news is full of stories and warnings about the effects of human behaviour
on the well-being of our world, help us to recognise that this is an urgent problem
requiring us all to change our behaviour.
The decisions that we make in the supermarket, although individually small,
all add up to affect the demands we make on the environment.
Help us to consider carefully and prayerfully how the goods we buy are produced and transported.
How and whether we travel has important consequences for the demands for energy.
Continuing to rely on fossil fuels for energy directly impacts on the rise in the gasses in the atmosphere
that are the major cause of global warming.
We pray that the thanksgiving that we offer you for your wonderful creation is always sincere and heartfelt, and that we show that gratitude in the way we live our lives in your service.
So may the prayers that we offer to you, today and always, be pleasing to you, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
Amen
