Daily Prayer for Monday, August 17, 2020

“The King of love, my Shepherd is, whose goodness faileth never…”        
                                        —-Henry Williams Baker, 1868

Preparation for worship
Sit in a relaxed position. Take a slow, deep breath (or 2 or 3 or as many as needed) until you feel your body, mind, and soul begin to relax and rest in the Spirit.  Take time to reflect as you move through this time of worship…

Opening Sentences                                                                     Isaiah 56: 1
Maintain justice, and do what is right.
God our Savior is coming soon.

Prayer                                                                           Anon., 3rd-6th centuries
May none of God’s wonderful works keep silence, night or morning.
Bright stars,
high mountains,
the depths of the seas,
sources of rushing rivers:
may all these break into song
as we sing to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
May the angels in the heavens reply:
Amen, Amen, Amen.
Power, praise, honor, eternal glory
to God, the only Giver of grace,
Amen, Amen, Amen.     

Hymn of the Day
The King of Love, My Shepherd Is, from Psalm 23, sung by the Cardiff Festival Choir.  Listen and pray.  https://youtu.be/d50KE9jMVWY

Reading of the Day                                                         Philippians 3: 1-11
    1 Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord.
To write the same things to you is not troublesome to me, and for you it is a safeguard.
2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh! 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh— 4 even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh.
If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Prayers for self and others
Please pray today for those who are being affected by COVID 19. Please pray for Mark Sabala, working with Covid patients as a nurse, Marcy Szeliga, working as a case investigator and contact tracer, for Romie, whose father passed away recently and whose mother has now died of the virus, for Sylvia Washer, and for all who have been recently diagnosed with- or are recovering from- the virus.  Please pray for parents and guardians who have made the decision to keep their kids home from school for the upcoming time, that their families would stay well and learn well. As we hear of more friends who are directly affected, or who are working in high risk places, we will list them here.  Use this time to lift your joys, concerns, and hopes to God.

Benediction
Whatever you do, in word or deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God through him.
Amen.