Daily Prayer for Wednesday, July 8, 2020

“You are with us, ever lending new strength to sight…”                
                                                     —-James Quinn, 1969
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 Sentence                                                                  Psalm 96: 1-2
O sing to the Lord anew song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing and give praise to God’s name;
tell the good news of salvation from day to day.

Prayer                      from Dominican Sisters Retreat, 1993, Great Bend, Kansas
    This week we will pray alternative versions of the Lord’s Prayer, to get yet another sense of what those words might mean.  This is not meant to supplant the traditional version, but to add to its meaning.

Pray with alternating sides--
Side one: Our Father
Side two (indented lines): Our Mother
Who art in heaven
         Who art in all the earth
Hallowed be thy name
          Holy is your truth
Thy kingdom come
          May your wisdom come
Thy will be done on earth
           Your circle be one uniting
as it is in heaven
            heaven and earth
Give us this day our daily bread
            Give us today a nurturing spirit
And forgive us our trespasses
            Heal through us
as we forgive those who trespass against us
            as we ourselves are healed
Lead us not into temptation
             Lead us into Fullness of life
But deliver us from evil
             And liberate all that is good.
For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory
             For the Wisdom, presence and goodness are yours
Now and forever.  Amen.

Hymn of the Day
“Holy, Holy, Holy,” by Sufjan Stevens.  Listen and pray!

Reading of the Day:                                                         Romans 8: 31-39
31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all day long;
    we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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, quarantined in a hotel and working 60 hour weeks as a case investigator and contact tracer, for the Howell family, the Pena family, Debbi’s son-in-law’s friend Leah and her daughter, and for all others who have been recently diagnosed with- or are recovering from- the virus.  Today pray for your nearest neighbors, on your street or in your apartment building, that they would stay 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:
May the Lamb upon the throne
be your shepherd,
guiding you to the water of life,
and wiping away every tear.
Alleluia!