Daily Prayer for Monday, July 27, 2020

“I sing the mighty power of God that made the mountains rise…”        
                                                    —-Isaac Watts, 1715

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                                                          Romans 8: 31, 39
If God is for us, who can be against us?
Nothing can separate us from God’s love.

Prayer                                                                       Gaelic, tr. Alistair MacLean
As the hand is made for holding and the eye for seeing, thou hast fashioned me for joy.  Share with me the vision that shall find it everywhere:  in the wild violet’s beauty; in the lark’s melody; in the face of a steadfast man; in a child’s smile; in a mother’s love; in the purity of Jesus.    

Hymn of the Day
Amazing Grace, by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a South African male vocal group.  Listen and pray!

Reading of the Day                                                     1 Corinthians 1: 3-11
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, 4 who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ. 6 If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation.
8 We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again, 11 as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

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 the Howell family, the Pena family, Mario’s friend Leah, her mother and her daughter, Carolyn Feigh, and for all others who have been recently diagnosed with- or are recovering from- the virus.  Today pray for landlords, that they would be kind and merciful to their tenants during these economically hard times.  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
Go forth in the name of the Lord.
This is God’s charge:
to trust in Jesus Christ
and to love one another as he commanded.
Amen.