25 March 2014

Collects

Prayers developed from the daily readings 

Tuesday 25 March 2014

Morning Prayer

Psalms 62 and 63

For God my soul waits in silence: my salvation and my hope come from God. All people and things and powers are temporary. God is our rock and fortress and we shall not be shaken.

As a drought-ravaged land seeks water so our souls seek God. God’s love is better than life. God’s love is like a rich feast. Meditating on God causes our souls to sing.

The psalm ends with a plea for personal security.

Jeremiah 32: 16 – 35

Jeremiah praises God for all the care and blessing bestowed on the people from the beginning of time. He acknowledges their faithlessness and worship of other Gods in the region and even on the roofs of their homes in Jerusalem. The Chaldeans are fighting and will destroy the city. So Jeremiah wonders whether buying land is really wise. God’s answer is “… is anything too hard for me?”

Luke 15: 11 – 32

Jesus tells the parable of the loving father (the prodigal son). The father loved both sons: the wastrel son and the good son.

Collect for Morning Prayer

Great Australian Bight SA
2014 LOsburn

Unfathomable God you love all of us everywhere and at every moment. Help us today to draw on your love and care in our actions and interactions. Help us Lord, today, to pass on your astounding, spendthrift grace through Jesus Christ our Lord and the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

  

Tuesday 25 March 2014

Evening Prayer

Psalms 64 and 67

The first psalm is about those who do evil and think no one can see or hear them. God knows. God sees. God will respond. Let the righteous rejoice and take refuge in God.

The second psalm is a blessing. “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us” (v 1). The blessing to so that our lives are testament to God’s glory. May the whole world sing praise and rejoice.

Genesis 47: 13 – 21

The drought continues in Egypt and beyond. The people have no more money to buy grain. Joseph first takes their remaining livestock as payment and then their land. The land becomes Pharaoh’s, except for that owned by the high priests. People are required to pay one fifth of their produce to Pharaoh. They are enslaved.

Hebrews 10: 19 – 31

The writer reminds us that we have Jesus as our great high priest so we can approach worship with confidence. We should encourage each other to do good things and to love – that is discipline. And now that we have this eternal lifeline and are nearly in the boat of salvation, don’t cut the line and jump back into the raging sea.

Collect for Evening Prayer

Wilson Inlet Denmark WA
2014 L Osburn

Gracious and generous God, you give us wonderful gifts and the greatest one of all, your Son who died for us. Help us to focus on you, no matter the challenges of this day, and the circumstances of our lives, that might try to draw us away from your saving grace. Help us to hold on, to keep holding on and to encourage others through the love of your Son, Jesus Christ and the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.