What is offered below is five formats for personal prayer drawing upon the basic elements in the structure of worship. If a person made use of these formats for five days of the week preceding the Sunday worship, they enjoy a preparation for worship as then enjoyed in the sanctuary on Sunday morning.
These are the formats from WATER FROM THE ROCK Lectionary Year C. As I mentioned in a previous blog, CSS Pub is offering a free download of this book for the month of October. A different set of five formats is offered in the books for Year A and B. You can see them by going to the books on my Amazon site and using the look inside feature.
FIVE FORMATS
Praising God
Invocation
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me,
bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do
not forget all his benefits. — Psalm 103:1-2
Personal Prayer
Spend ten minutes offering praise to God for the way in which
God has called you, nurtured you, strengthened you, and worked
miracles in your life.
Nurtured By The Word
Read the Hebrew scripture for the week.
Spend some time asking how God might be speaking to you
through this lesson.
Read the meditation on the first lesson for the week.
If thoughts come to your mind as you muse on this passage, jot
them down.
Closing Prayer
Either sing or pray the doxology:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise God all creatures here below.
Praise God above you heavenly hosts.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Confession And Forgiveness
Invocation
Bless the Lord, O my soul … who forgives all [my] iniquity,
who heals all [my] diseases, who redeems [my]
life from the Pit, who crowns [me] with steadfast love
and mercy, who satisfies [me] with good as long as [I]
live so that [my] youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
— Psalm 103:2-5 (amended)
Personal Prayer
Take about ten minutes to confess to God those personal and
relational sins that burden your soul. Also lay before God the feelings
of anger, hurt, and disillusionment that are part of your life.
Assurance Of Forgiveness
Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died
for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, and Christ
prays for us. I claim the good news of the gospel for myself. In
Jesus Christ, I am forgiven.
Nurtured By The Word
Read the psalm for the week.
Spend some time asking how God might be speaking to you
through this lesson.
Read the meditation on the psalm.
If thoughts come to mind as you muse on this passage, write
them down.
Closing Prayer
O Lord, I praise you because you do “not deal with us
according to our sins, nor repay us according to our
iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is [your] steadfast love toward those who fear
[you].” — Psalm 103:10-11 (amended)
Offering Thanksgiving
Invocation
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise
to my God while I have being. May my meditation be
pleasing to [you], for I rejoice in the Lord.
— Psalm 104:33-34 (amended)
Personal Prayer
Take about ten minutes to thank God for the many blessings in
your life. Thank God for the ways God has been present in your
life. Thank God for how God has been present to you since birth.
Nurtured By The Word
Read the gospel lesson for the week.
Spend some time asking how God might be speaking to you
through this lesson.
Read the meditation on the gospel lesson.
If any thoughts come to you while you are musing on the gospel,
write them down.
Closing Prayer
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek
the Lord rejoice. [I will] seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually. [I will] remember the
wonderful works [God] has done.
— Psalm 105:3-5a (amended)
Prayers Of Intercession
Invocation
Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your
people; help me when you deliver them; that I may see
the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice
in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory in your
heritage. — Psalm 106:4-5
Personal Prayer
Take time to consider and offer in prayer all of the needs of
which you are aware within your life. Take note of the spiritual and
emotional needs as well as the physical and material needs in your
life. Lift up troubled relationships and career challenges as well as
family and marital stresses
.
Nurtured By The Word
Read the epistle lesson for the week.
Spend some time asking how God might be speaking to you
through this lesson.
Read the meditation on this lesson.
If there are thoughts that come to mind as you muse on this
scripture, write them down.
Closing Prayer
Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among
the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise. Blessed be the Lord, the God
of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. And let all
the people say, “Amen.” Praise the Lord!
— Psalm 106:47-48
Benediction
Invocation
My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I
will sing and make melody! Awake, my soul!
— Psalm 108:1
Personal Prayer
Take time to simply rest in the blessings of the Lord in your
life. Review times in your life when you have felt the powerful
presence of God lifting you up and times when you basked in the
sheer joy of the life that God has provided you. Review some high
moments in your life and allow them to be signs for you of God’s
continuing presence calling and guiding you.
Nurtured By The Word
Open the section of meditations at random and choose a particular
scripture that is noted. Read it totally free of any agenda for
its use.
Spend some time asking how God might be speaking to you
through this passage.
Then read the meditation provided.
If there are thoughts that come to you during your musing,
write them down.
Closing Prayer
Sing or pray the Gloria Patria:
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen, amen.
