Morning Prayer - February 13, 2026

Today's Readings

Psalm 88:1-18

Genesis 27:46,28:1-4,10-22

Romans 13:1-14

John 8:33-47

Epiphany
I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Isaiah 49:6b

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 Lord has shown forth his glory: Come let us adore him.

The Lessons

Psalm 88

⁽¹⁾ O LORD, God of my salvation, I have cried out day and night before You.⁽²⁾ Let my prayer come before You; Incline Your ear to my cry.⁽³⁾ For my soul is full of troubles, And my life draws near to the grave.⁽⁴⁾ I am counted with those who go down to the pit; I am like a man who has no strength,

⁽⁵⁾ Adrift among the dead, Like the slain who lie in the grave, Whom You remember no more, And who are cut off from Your hand.⁽⁶⁾ You have laid me in the lowest pit, In darkness, in the depths.⁽⁷⁾ Your wrath lies heavy upon me, And You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah⁽⁸⁾ You have put away my acquaintances far from me; You have made me an abomination to them; I am shut up, and I cannot get out;

⁽⁹⁾ My eye wastes away because of affliction. LORD, I have called daily upon You; I have stretched out my hands to You.⁽¹⁰⁾ Will You work wonders for the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise You? Selah⁽¹¹⁾ Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or Your faithfulness in the place of destruction?⁽¹²⁾ Shall Your wonders be known in the dark? And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

⁽¹³⁾ But to You I have cried out, O LORD, And in the morning my prayer comes before You.⁽¹⁴⁾ LORD, why do You cast off my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me?⁽¹⁵⁾ I have been afflicted and ready to die from my youth; I suffer Your terrors; I am distraught.⁽¹⁶⁾ Your fierce wrath has gone over me; Your terrors have cut me off.

⁽¹⁷⁾ They came around me all day long like water; They engulfed me altogether.⁽¹⁸⁾ Loved one and friend You have put far from me, And my acquaintances into darkness.

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.

Genesis Chapter 27

⁽⁴⁶⁾ And Rebekah said to Isaac, 'I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?'⁽¹⁾ Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: 'You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.⁽²⁾ Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.⁽³⁾ May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples;⁽⁴⁾ And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham.'

⁽¹⁰⁾ Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran.⁽¹¹⁾ So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep.⁽¹²⁾ Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.⁽¹³⁾ And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: 'I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.

⁽¹⁴⁾ Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.⁽¹⁵⁾ Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.'⁽¹⁶⁾ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, 'Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.'⁽¹⁷⁾ And he was afraid and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!'

⁽¹⁸⁾ Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.⁽¹⁹⁾ And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously.⁽²⁰⁾ Then Jacob made a vow, saying, 'If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on,⁽²¹⁾ so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God.

⁽²²⁾ And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.'

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Romans Chapter 13

⁽¹⁾ Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.⁽²⁾ Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.⁽³⁾ For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.⁽⁴⁾ For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.

⁽⁵⁾ Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake.⁽⁶⁾ For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing.⁽⁷⁾ Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.⁽⁸⁾ Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

⁽⁹⁾ For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'You shall not covet,' and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'⁽¹⁰⁾ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.⁽¹¹⁾ And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.⁽¹²⁾ The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

⁽¹³⁾ Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.⁽¹⁴⁾ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

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.

The Second Song of Isaiah Isaiah 55:6 to 11

Seek the Lord while he wills to be found;
call upon him when he draws near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the evil ones their thoughts;
And let them turn to the Lord, and he will have compassion,
and to our God, for he will richly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as rain and snow fall from the heavens
and return not again, but water the earth,
Bringing forth life and giving growth,
seed for sowing and bread for eating,
So is my word that goes forth from my mouth;
it will not return to me empty;
But it will accomplish that which I have purposed,
and prosper in that for which I sent it.
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

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: Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany
Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through 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.

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

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