Morning Prayers Saturday, 30 May 2020
Awake, my soul, and with the sun
thy daily stage of duty run;
shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise
to pay thy morning sacrifice.
A reading from Psalm 57
1 Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,
for in you I take refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
until the disaster has passed.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth.
7 My heart, O God, is steadfast,
my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and make music.
8 Awake, my soul!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
9 I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.
10 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth.
Psalm 57: 1, 5 & 7–11 NIV®
Loving and faithful God, we thank you for the dawn of a new day,
filled with possibilities and opportunities.
We thank you for bringing us safely thus far,
and shielding us in the shadow of your wings.
We thank you, too, that you will remain with us
providing a refuge for all who turn to you in their hour of need.
We pray that you will provide us with the inspiration to offer
whatever help and comfort we can to the community about us,
so that all may weather the storms that are about them.
At this time, when we may feel constrained in what we can safely do,
let us remember that the one great and powerful thing that we can do
is to pray for the needs of the world.
Tomorrow we commemorate the feast of Pentecost,
when your Holy Spirit imbued those first disciples with the power
to overcome all that opposed your Word and to build up the body of your people,
and to spread the good news to every part of the globe.
We pray that we will find that same power from your Holy Spirit, too,
at work in our own lives and the lives of all our fellow believers.
Strengthen our faith, we pray, that we can play our part
in establishing your kingdom here, in our community of Milton Keynes.
Keep us steadfast.
May we be always awake to the possibilities that you present to us
to further the mission of your people to serve you and all your children.
We pray that we shall always praise you and worship you,
no matter what may be happening around us.
We exalt you, and proclaim that your glory is over all the earth.
We end our prayers this morning by saying together the words that Jesus taught us:
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
