Morning Prayer

Ordinary Time
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

Confession of Sin
Most merciful God,
I confess that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbors as myself. I am truly sorry and I humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on me and forgive me; that I may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen

The Invitatory and Psalter

Lord, open our lips. And our mouth shall proclaim your praise
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen   Alleluia

Venite
The Antiphon:

ⓘ   A short, reflective sentence recited alongside a psalm to deepen our understanding of the readings.

The earth is the Lord's for he made it: Come let us adore him.

The Lessons

Psalm 26

⁽¹⁾ Vindicate me, O LORD, For I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the LORD; I shall not slip. ⁽²⁾ Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart. ⁽³⁾ For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth. ⁽⁴⁾ I have not sat with idolatrous mortals, Nor will I go in with hypocrites.

⁽⁵⁾ I have hated the assembly of evildoers, And will not sit with the wicked. ⁽⁶⁾ I will wash my hands in innocence; So I will go about Your altar, O LORD, ⁽⁷⁾ That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, And tell of all Your wondrous works. ⁽⁸⁾ LORD, I have loved the habitation of Your house, And the place where Your glory dwells.

⁽⁹⁾ Do not gather my soul with sinners, Nor my life with bloodthirsty men, ⁽¹⁰⁾ In whose hands is a sinister scheme, And whose right hand is full of bribes. ⁽¹¹⁾ But as for me, I will walk in my integrity; Redeem me and be merciful to me. ⁽¹²⁾ My foot stands in an even place; In the congregations I will bless the LORD.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Psalm 28

⁽¹⁾ To You I will cry, O LORD my Rock: Do not be silent to me, Lest, if You are silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. ⁽²⁾ Hear the voice of my supplications When I cry to You, When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary. ⁽³⁾ Do not take me away with the wicked And with the workers of iniquity, Who speak peace to their neighbors, But evil is in their hearts. ⁽⁴⁾ Give them according to their deeds, And according to the wickedness of their endeavors; Give them according to the work of their hands; Render to them what they deserve.

⁽⁵⁾ Because they do not regard the works of the LORD, Nor the operation of His hands, He shall destroy them And not build them up. ⁽⁶⁾ Blessed be the LORD, Because He has heard the voice of my supplications! ⁽⁷⁾ The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him. ⁽⁸⁾ The LORD is their strength, And He is the saving refuge of His anointed.

⁽⁹⁾ Save Your people, And bless Your inheritance; Shepherd them also, And bear them up forever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Job Chapter 12

⁽¹⁾ Then Job answered and said: ⁽³⁾ But I would speak to the Almighty, And I desire to reason with God. ⁽⁴⁾ But you forgers of lies, You are all worthless physicians. ⁽⁵⁾ Oh, that you would be silent, And it would be your wisdom! ⁽⁶⁾ Now hear my reasoning, And heed the pleadings of my lips.

⁽⁷⁾ Will you speak wickedly for God, And talk deceitfully for Him? ⁽⁸⁾ Will you show partiality for Him? Will you contend for God? ⁽⁹⁾ Will it be well when He searches you out? Or can you mock Him as one mocks a man? ⁽¹⁰⁾ He will surely rebuke you If you secretly show partiality.

⁽¹¹⁾ Will not His excellence make you afraid, And the dread of Him fall upon you? ⁽¹²⁾ Your platitudes are proverbs of ashes, Your defenses are defenses of clay. ⁽¹³⁾ Hold your peace with me, and let me speak, Then let come on me what may! ⁽¹⁴⁾ Why do I take my flesh in my teeth, And put my life in my hands?

⁽¹⁵⁾ Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him. ⁽¹⁶⁾ He also shall be my salvation, For a hypocrite could not come before Him. ⁽¹⁷⁾ Listen carefully to my speech, And to my declaration with your ears. ⁽²¹⁾ Withdraw Your hand far from me, And let not the dread of You make me afraid. ⁽²²⁾ Then call, and I will answer; Or let me speak, then You respond to me. ⁽²³⁾ How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin. ⁽²⁴⁾ Why do You hide Your face, And regard me as Your enemy?

⁽²⁵⁾ Will You frighten a leaf driven to and fro? And will You pursue dry stubble? ⁽²⁶⁾ For You write bitter things against me, And make me inherit the iniquities of my youth. ⁽²⁷⁾ You put my feet in the stocks, And watch closely all my paths. You set a limit for the soles of my feet.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Acts Chapter 12

⁽¹⁾ Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. ⁽²⁾ Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. ⁽³⁾ And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread. ⁽⁴⁾ So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.

⁽⁵⁾ Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. ⁽⁶⁾ And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. ⁽⁷⁾ Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, 'Arise quickly!' And his chains fell off his hands. ⁽⁸⁾ Then the angel said to him, 'Gird yourself and tie on your sandals'; and so he did. And he said to him, 'Put on your garment and follow me.'

⁽⁹⁾ So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. ⁽¹⁰⁾ When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. ⁽¹¹⁾ And when Peter had come to himself, he said, 'Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.' ⁽¹²⁾ So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.

⁽¹³⁾ And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. ⁽¹⁴⁾ When she recognized Peter's voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. ⁽¹⁵⁾ But they said to her, 'You are beside yourself!' Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, 'It is his angel.' ⁽¹⁶⁾ Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.

⁽¹⁷⁾ But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, 'Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.' And he departed and went to another place.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

John Chapter 8

⁽³³⁾ They answered Him, 'We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, 'You will be made free'?' ⁽³⁴⁾ Jesus answered them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. ⁽³⁵⁾ And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. ⁽³⁶⁾ Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

⁽³⁷⁾ I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. ⁽³⁸⁾ I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.' ⁽³⁹⁾ They answered and said to Him, 'Abraham is our father.' Jesus said to them, 'If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. ⁽⁴⁰⁾ But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.

⁽⁴¹⁾ You do the deeds of your father.' Then they said to Him, 'We were not born of fornication; we have one Father -- God.' ⁽⁴²⁾ Jesus said to them, 'If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. ⁽⁴³⁾ Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. ⁽⁴⁴⁾ You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

⁽⁴⁵⁾ But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. ⁽⁴⁶⁾ Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? ⁽⁴⁷⁾ He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.'

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

A Song to the Lamb       Revelation 4:11, 5:9 to 10, 13

Splendor and honor and kingly power
are yours by right, O Lord our God,
For you created everything that is,
and by your will they were created
  and have their being;
And yours by right, O Lamb that was slain,
for with your blood you have redeemed for God,
From every family, language, people, and nation,
a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
And so, to him who sits upon the throne,
and to Christ the Lamb,
Be worship and praise, dominion and splendor,
forever and forevermore.

The Song of Zechariah Luke 1: 68 to 79

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old,
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham,
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.


The Apostles' Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord.
  He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
  He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
  He descended to the dead.
  On the third day he rose again.
  He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
  He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
  the holy catholic Church,
  the communion of saints,
  the forgiveness of sins,
  the resurrection of the body,
  and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Prayers

The Lord's Prayer   Traditional
Suffrages A

Seasonal Collect:  Proper 17 The Sunday closest to August 31
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for Mission: O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Personal Prayers and Reflection

This is a time to pause, consider and listen. Pray for yourself and others. When you lack the words


Closing Prayers   Thanksgiving

Conclude with the following
Let Us Bless the Lord, Thanks be to God

May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Romans 15:13