Morning Prayer - March 5, 2025

Today's Readings

Psalm 119:1-24

Deuteronomy 4:25-34

2 Corinthians 11:21-33

Matthew 6:24-34

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

ⓘ 'Venite' is Latin for 'O Come,' the opening word of Psalm 95: Venite exultemus Domino ('O Come, let us sing to the LORD').

Psalm 95:1 to 7
Come, let us sing to the Lord;
   let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving
   and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

For the Lord is a great God,
   and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the caverns of the earth,
   and the heights of the hills are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
   and his hands have molded the dry land.

Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee,
   and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
    Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!

The Antiphon:

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

The Lessons

Psalm 119

⁽¹⁾ Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the LORD!⁽²⁾ Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart!⁽³⁾ They also do no iniquity; They walk in His ways.⁽⁴⁾ You have commanded us To keep Your precepts diligently.

⁽⁵⁾ Oh, that my ways were directed To keep Your statutes!⁽⁶⁾ Then I would not be ashamed, When I look into all Your commandments.⁽⁷⁾ I will praise You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments.⁽⁸⁾ I will keep Your statutes; Oh, do not forsake me utterly!

⁽⁹⁾ How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.⁽¹⁰⁾ With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!⁽¹¹⁾ Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!⁽¹²⁾ Blessed are You, O LORD! Teach me Your statutes!

⁽¹³⁾ With my lips I have declared All the judgments of Your mouth.⁽¹⁴⁾ I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches.⁽¹⁵⁾ I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways.⁽¹⁶⁾ I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.

⁽¹⁷⁾ Deal bountifully with Your servant, That I may live and keep Your word.⁽¹⁸⁾ Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law.⁽¹⁹⁾ I am a stranger in the earth; Do not hide Your commandments from me.⁽²⁰⁾ My soul breaks with longing For Your judgments at all times.

⁽²¹⁾ You rebuke the proud -- the cursed, Who stray from Your commandments.⁽²²⁾ Remove from me reproach and contempt, For I have kept Your testimonies.⁽²³⁾ Princes also sit and speak against me, But Your servant meditates on Your statutes.⁽²⁴⁾ Your testimonies also are my delight And my counselors.

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.

Deuteronomy Chapter 4

⁽²⁵⁾ When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the LORD your God to provoke Him to anger,⁽²⁶⁾ I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed.⁽²⁷⁾ And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you.⁽²⁸⁾ And there you will serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.

⁽²⁹⁾ But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.⁽³⁰⁾ When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice⁽³¹⁾ (for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.⁽³²⁾ For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard.

⁽³³⁾ Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?⁽³⁴⁾ Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

2 Corinthians Chapter 11

⁽²¹⁾ To our shame, I say that we were too weak for that! But in whatever anyone is bold -- I speak foolishly -- I am bold also.⁽²²⁾ Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.⁽²³⁾ Are they ministers of Christ? -- I speak as a fool -- I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.⁽²⁴⁾ From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.

⁽²⁵⁾ Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;⁽²⁶⁾ in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;⁽²⁷⁾ in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness --⁽²⁸⁾ besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.

⁽²⁹⁾ Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?⁽³⁰⁾ If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.⁽³¹⁾ The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.⁽³²⁾ In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me;

⁽³³⁾ but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Matthew Chapter 6

⁽²⁴⁾ No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.⁽²⁵⁾ Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?⁽²⁶⁾ Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?⁽²⁷⁾ Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

⁽²⁸⁾ So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;⁽²⁹⁾ and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.⁽³⁰⁾ Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?⁽³¹⁾ Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'

⁽³²⁾ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.⁽³³⁾ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.⁽³⁴⁾ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Glory to God
Glory to God in the highest,
and peace to his people on earth.

Lord God, heavenly King,
almighty God and Father,
we worship you, we give you thanks,
we praise you for your glory.

Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
you take away the sin of the world:
have mercy on us;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father:
receive our prayer.

For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father. 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

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.

Suffrages

ⓘ A simple prayer to God for help, mercy, or intercession, rooted in the Latin word for support.

Show us your mercy, O Lord;
And grant us your salvation.
Clothe your ministers with righteousness;
Let your people sing with joy.
Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;
For only in you can we live in safety.
Lord, keep this nation under your care;
And guide us in the way of justice and truth.
Let your way be known upon earth;
Your saving health among all nations.
Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;
Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.
Create in us clean hearts, O God;
And sustain us by your Holy Spirit.

Seasonal Collect: Eighth Sunday after the Epiphany
Most loving Father, whose will it is for us to give thanks for all things, to fear nothing but the loss of you, and to cast all our care on you who care for us: Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which you have manifested to us in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for Mission: Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen.

Personal Prayers and Reflection

This is a time to pause, consider and listen. Pray for yourself and others.

Closing Prayers

Thanksgiving
Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory, and, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.

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

Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20,21