Daily Prayer for Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Bread of heaven, bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more.
                                                            William Williams, 1745
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 24: 31-32
When Jesus speaks, our hearts burn within us; our eyes are opened when he breaks the bread.


Prayer                                                                     Alcuin of Tours (c. 735-804)
Eternal Light, shine into our hearts;
Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil;
Eternal Power, be our support;
Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance;
Eternal Pity, have mercy upon us,
that with all our heart and mind and strength
we may seek your face
and be brought by your infinite mercy to your holy presence; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.    


Hymn of the Day
Woke Up This Morning, (African American Heritage Hymnal #566), sung as a PRE-prelude by the choir at First Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, NY. Click here to listen and pray:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPPBwZNZpQQ


Reading of the Day:                                1 Peter 2: 1-10 
1 Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5 like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in scripture:
“See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
    a cornerstone chosen and precious;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
7 To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,
    “The stone that the builders rejected
        has become the very head of the corner,”
8 and
    “A stone that makes them stumble,
        and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
10   Once you were not a people,
    but now you are God’s people;
        once you had not received mercy,
    but now you have received mercy.
            
Prayers for self and others
Please pray today for those who are being affected by COVID 19, including Mark Sabala and Marcy Szeliga in their work as nurses, Debbi’s daughter Linda’s neighbors, Star Sims and her sister, brother-in-law, and nephew, all hospitalized with the virus, Mary Warwick from TWRC, and the family of Lynn Thygessen, Donna Ardell's cousin, who passed away from the virus yesterday. Pray for all who have worked in public without a break for the last 5 weeks, and who will work as long as they’re needed. 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:
Now to the Sovereign eternal,
immortal, invisible, the only God,
​be honor and glory for ever and ever.  Amen.