Daily Prayer for Thursday, November 12, 2020

“Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail, in Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail…”
                        —-Robert Grant, 1833

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                                                                       Luke 7:16
A  great prophet has risen among us!
God has looked with favor upon us.

Prayer                                              Psalm 117 and Book of Common Worship
Praise the Lord, all you nations;
extol God, all you peoples.
For great is God’s steadfast love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.  Hallelujah!
Lord God, you have revealed your kindness to every people and nation.  Gather the whole world to yourself, that in the various languages of the earth one hymn of praise may rise to you; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.  

Hymn of the Day    
Ave Verum Corpus, by Mozart, conducted by Leonard Bernstein.  Listen and pray.

Reading of the Day                                                              Isaiah 7: 10-22
10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, 11 Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. 12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. 13 Then Isaiah said: “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. 15 He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted. 17 The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on your ancestral house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.”
18 On that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is at the sources of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.
20 On that day the Lord will shave with a razor hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will take off the beard as well.
21 On that day one will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, 22 and will eat curds because of the abundance of milk that they give; for everyone that is left in the land shall eat curds and honey.

Prayers for self and others
Please pray today for those who are being affected by COVID-19 and by its side effects in our world. Pray for the thousands who are still being diagnosed positive in the U.S. each day, especially for Mario Berrios and his family.  As we hear of more friends who are directly affected, or who are working in high risk places, we will list them here. Pray today for our country, that our national anxiety would turn to national resolve toward unity, peace, and justice. Use this time to lift your joys, concerns, and hopes to God.

Benediction 
Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God,
serve one another
with whatever gift each of you has received.
To God be the glory and the power
forever and ever.  Amen.