​Welcome to the Week

As we enter this second week of the year, we come before the One who knows our hearts completely and meets us with both truth and mercy. Let the prayers and scriptures ahead guide you into deeper communion with the God who is both our Judge and our Deliverer, our Refuge and our Hope.

Lord, we beseech thee, give ear to our prayers, and by thy gracious visitation lighten the darkness of our heart, by our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Thomas Cranmer)

This Week’s Scripture

• Jeremiah 8:18 – 9:1
• Psalm 79:1-9
• 1 Timothy 2:1-7
• Luke 16:1-13

Adoration

Psalm 79:9

Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake!

Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise (verse 1)

Immortal, invisible, God only wise, in light inaccessible hid from our eyes, most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise. (Walter Chalmers Smith)
Take time now to offer God your praise and worship.

Confession

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. (1 Timothy 2:5-6)

Loving and devoted God, we confess that, more often than not, we act like rebellious children in the face of your unconditional love, and fail miserably to treat you as the loving Father that you are. Forgive us, we pray, and make us sensitive and responsive at long last to your gracious initiatives. Make us worthy recipients and channels of love, and thus true brothers and sisters of Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen. (Paul A. Laughlin)

As David did in Psalm 139, ask the Lord to search you and know you through and through. Confess the sins God brings to mind, knowing you are forgiven and that He will cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Thanksgiving

O Thou, Who art the hope of all the ends of the earth, and on Whom the eyes of all do wait, Who crownest the year with Thy goodness, and openest Thine hand and fillest all things living with plenteousness: every day we give thanks unto Thee, and praise Thy Name for ever and ever; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (William A. Knight)

Spend some time reflecting on the prayer of thanksgiving above and then thank God for who he is and the many ways he has poured out his goodness and grace in your life.

Prayer Prompts

Use the following prayer prompts to encourage you to pray beyond your usual prayer requests. These prompts are included here to help get your own creative juices flowing and not to be regarded as strict and legalistic requirements. Use them or do not use them according to your need. May the Lord bless you as you go deeper with him in the holy communion of prayer.

Petition – prayers for yourself

• Help me to mature in my faith and to increasingly please God by my thoughts, words, and deeds.
• Particular struggles in various relationships
• My activities for this day
• Other needs

Intercession – prayers for others

• My Family
• My local church
• My denomination
• Para-church ministries, particularly Christian education and discipleship
• Evangelistic ministries
• Other needs

A Word as You GoO sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth: for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth. (Psalm 96:1, 13)
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Go now with confidence in the One who has ransomed you, carrying the hope of his coming Kingdom into the hours and days ahead.

Welcome to the Week

A new year stretches before us, filled with the mercy of unmarked days and the quiet promise of God’s faithfulness. This week, as you begin this journey of prayer, resist the urge to rush. Let these ancient words and sacred rhythms shape not just your mornings, but your entire week. Come slowly, come honestly, and come expectant, for the God who invites you here is already at work in your heart.

Let God have your first awaking thoughts; lift up your thoughts to Him reverently and thankfully for the rest enjoyed the night before and cast yourself upon Him for the day which follows.” (Richard Baxter)

Adoration

Psalm 27:4
One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.

John 17:3 - And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

(Take time now to offer God your praise and worship.)

Confession

“Almighty and most merciful Father, We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those things which we ought not to have done; And there is no health in us. But in thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou those, O God, who confess their faults. Restore thou those who are penitent; According to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake; That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, To the glory of thy holy Name. Amen.” (Book of Common Prayer, 1552)

(As David did in Psalm 139, ask the Lord to search you and know you through and through. Confess the sins God brings to mind, knowing you are forgiven and that he will cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).)

Thanksgiving

We give you hearty thanks for the rest of the past night and for the gift of a new day, with its opportunities of pleasing you. Grant that we may so pass its hours in the perfect freedom of your service, that at eventide we may again give thanks unto you. Amen. (Eastern Orthodox Prayer; The United Methodist Hymnal, #676)

(Spend some time reflecting on the prayer of thanksgiving above and then thank God for who he is and the many ways he has poured out his goodness and grace in your life.)

Prayer Prompts

Use the following prayer prompts to encourage you to pray beyond your usual prayer requests. These prompts are included here to help get your own creative juices flowing and not to be regarded as strict and legalistic requirements. Use them or do not use them according to your need. May the Lord bless you as you go deeper with him in the holy communion of prayer.

Petitions – prayers for yourself
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• Give me greater knowledge, depth of insight, and understanding of God’s Word.
• Remind me daily of who I am in Christ. Let me be defined by who God says I am, not the world around me.
• Guide me into greater understanding and faithfulness of God’s call in my life.
• This week’s events and interactions with others, planned and unplanned.
• Other needs

Intercession – prayers for others

• My family
• My pastor(s), church staff, and missionaries
• Those struggling with anger, anxiety, or the overwhelming desire to please people at all costs.
• Other needs

So help us to live life in love, in service, and in fidelity, that we may come to the end in peace, and enter into blessedness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (William Barclay)

A Word as You Go

You have begun well. The prayers you’ve offered this week aren’t lost to the air, they’ve been heard by the One who knows your name and loves you perfectly. As you step back into the rhythm of your daily life, carry this posture of prayer with you. Let adoration tune your eyes to beauty, confession keep your heart tender, thanksgiving guard you against cynicism, and supplication remind you that you do not walk alone. The Lord who met you here will meet you there. Go in peace.