Opening Prayer
When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. -Lamentations 3:28-29 MSG (silent reflection) Prayer of the Bible For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. -Psalm 62:5-8 (Free expression of praise and thanksgiving to God) Confession of Sin Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive us and deal with each of us according to what we do, since you know our hearts. -2 Chronicles 6:30 (Time of silence for confession of sin) The Words of Jesus And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked. And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priest and the elders and the scribes came together. And Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. For many bore false witness against him but their testimony did not agree. And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it these men testify against you?” But he remained silent and made no answer. -Mark 14:51-61 (Think deeply on the life and words of Jesus) Prayers for Ourselves and Others For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer. -I Peter 3:12 (Time to bring before God our own needs and the needs of others) Closing Prayer Be with us in our silence and in our speech, in our haste and in our leisure, in company and in solitude, in freshness of the morning and in weariness of the evening; and give us grace at all times humbly to rejoice in Thy mysterious companionship. -John Baillie (1886-1960) |