February 20, 2021
OPENING PRAYER
O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know my thoughts before I think them. You know my words before I speak them. You know my past, my present, and my future. Awaken me now, to seek you while you may be found, to call upon you while you are near, and to live a life that brings glory to your name.
CONFESSION OF SIN & PRAYER FOR GRACE
Holy God: Dust I am, and to dust I shall return. I am like a flower of the field, that appears for a little while and then vanishes. But I confess my tendency to live days, weeks, even months at a time with little thought for my mortality, and little consideration for eternity. Forgive my presumption and self-reliance. Humble me to the dust, that I might be ever-mindful of my frailty, and freshly awed by your eternal, infinite beauty. Through Christ, our Lord: Amen.
OT READING: Ecclesiastes 1
THE LORD’S PRAYER
NT READING: 1 Peter 3:8-22
PRAYER OF ADORATION:
I praise you, O God, for your providential care for your people. Who can harm those whom you have declared righteous? Who can condemn those whom you have given a good conscience? Thank you for the grace which saves, protects, and keeps, until the end of time.
PSALM READING: Psalm 32
PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
O Lord, this psalm rejoices in the relief of a conscience that’s completely clear before you. I’ve felt the freedom of dealing honestly with my sin and knowing that it is covered! Yet I confess that I seldom engage repentance with that kind of wholeheartedness. I’m prone to keep silent about my sin. My heart is stubborn and foolish. Lord, I long to live a different way, not isolated by sin, but enjoying the free-flowing communion of a clear conscience and intimate friendship with you. Help me to confess my sins to you more readily. Give me a humble and teachable spirit. Counsel me, and keep your eye upon me. Teach me the blessing and freedom of repentance. Help me to really comprehend the steadfast love of the Lord, which surrounds the one who trusts in you. With your help, I will cultivate repentance, humility, gladness, and joy in my heart today.
BENEDICTION
And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and always, until the day of Christ's return.