Morning Prayer (Contemporary) on Wednesday 6 March 2024
Morning Prayer Lent Wednesday, 6 March 2024
Preparation
O Lord, open our lips
Alland our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Hear our voice, O Lord, according to your faithful love,
Allaccording to your judgement give us life.
One or more of the following is said or sung:
this or another prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, God of compassion and mercy,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
In the darkness of our sin,
your light breaks forth like the dawn
and your healing springs up for deliverance.
As we rejoice in the gift of your saving help,
sustain us with your bountiful Spirit
and open our lips to sing your praise.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
AllBlessed be God for ever.
a suitable hymn, or A Song of Penitence
1Have mercy on me, O God, in your great goodness; ♦
according to the abundance of your compassion
blot out my offences.
2Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness ♦
and cleanse me from my sin.
3For I acknowledge my faults ♦
and my sin is ever before me.
4Against you only have I sinned ♦
and done what is evil in your sight,
5So that you are justified in your sentence ♦
and righteous in your judgement.
6Cast me not away from your presence ♦
and take not your holy spirit from me.
7Give me again the joy of your salvation ♦
and sustain me with your gracious spirit;
8Then shall I teach your ways to the wicked ♦
and sinners shall return to you.
9Deliver me from my guilt, O God,
the God of my salvation, ♦
and my tongue shall sing of your righteousness.
Psalm 51.1-5, 12-15
AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
This opening prayer may be said
The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;
let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for you;
now and for ever.
AllAmen.
The Word of God
Psalmody
The appointed psalmody is said.
Psalm 38
Refrain:Make haste to help me,
O Lord of my salvation.
1Rebuke me not, O Lord, in your anger, ♦
neither chasten me in your heavy displeasure.
2For your arrows have stuck fast in me ♦
and your hand presses hard upon me.
3There is no health in my flesh
because of your indignation; ♦
there is no peace in my bones because of my sin.
4For my iniquities have gone over my head; ♦
their weight is a burden too heavy to bear. R
5My wounds stink and fester ♦
because of my foolishness.
6I am utterly bowed down and brought very low; ♦
I go about mourning all the day long.
7My loins are filled with searing pain; ♦
there is no health in my flesh.
8I am feeble and utterly crushed; ♦
I roar aloud because of the disquiet of my heart. R
9O Lord, you know all my desires ♦
and my sighing is not hidden from you.
10My heart is pounding, my strength has failed me; ♦
the light of my eyes is gone from me.
11My friends and companions stand apart from my affliction; ♦
my neighbours stand afar off.
12Those who seek after my life lay snares for me; ♦
and those who would harm me whisper evil
and mutter slander all the day long. R
13But I am like one who is deaf and hears not, ♦
like one that is dumb, who does not open his mouth.
14I have become like one who does not hear ♦
and from whose mouth comes no retort.
15For in you, Lord, have I put my trust; ♦
you will answer me, O Lord my God.
16For I said, ‘Let them not triumph over me, ♦
those who exult over me when my foot slips.’ R
17Truly, I am on the verge of falling ♦
and my pain is ever with me.
18I will confess my iniquity ♦
and be sorry for my sin.
19Those that are my enemies without any cause are mighty, ♦
and those who hate me wrongfully are many in number.
20Those who repay evil for good are against me, ♦
because the good is what I seek.
21Forsake me not, O Lord; ♦
be not far from me, O my God.
22Make haste to help me, ♦
O Lord of my salvation.
Refrain:Make haste to help me,
O Lord of my salvation.
Almighty Lord and Saviour,
behold with pity the wounds of your people;
do not forsake us, sinful as we are,
but for the sake of the passion of your
Beloved One, Jesus,
come quickly to our aid,
for his mercy’s sake.
Each psalm or group of psalms may end with
AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
If there are two Scripture readings, the first may be read here, or both may be read after the canticle.
Genesis 49.1-32
Then Jacob called his sons, and said: ‘Gather around, that I may tell you what will happen to you in days to come.
Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob;
listen to Israel your father.
‘Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might and the first fruits of my vigour,
excelling in rank and excelling in power.
Unstable as water, you shall no longer excel
because you went up on to your father’s bed;
then you defiled it—you went up on to my couch!
‘Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons of violence are their swords.
May I never come into their council;
may I not be joined to their company—
for in their anger they killed men,
and at their whim they hamstrung oxen.
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob,
and scatter them in Israel.
‘Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons shall bow down before you.
Judah is a lion’s whelp;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He crouches down, he stretches out like a lion,
like a lioness—who dares rouse him up?
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;
and the obedience of the peoples is his.
Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
he washes his garments in wine
and his robe in the blood of grapes;
his eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
‘Zebulun shall settle at the shore of the sea;
he shall be a haven for ships,
and his border shall be at Sidon.
‘Issachar is a strong donkey,
lying down between the sheepfolds;
he saw that a resting-place was good,
and that the land was pleasant;
so he bowed his shoulder to the burden,
and became a slave at forced labour.
‘Dan shall judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan shall be a snake by the roadside,
a viper along the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that its rider falls backwards.
‘I wait for your salvation, O Lord.
‘Gad shall be raided by raiders,
but he shall raid at their heels.
‘Asher’s food shall be rich,
and he shall provide royal delicacies.
‘Naphtali is a doe let loose
that bears lovely fawns.
‘Joseph is a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall.
The archers fiercely attacked him;
they shot at him and pressed him hard.
Yet his bow remained taut,
and his arms were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
by the God of your father, who will help you,
by the Almighty who will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
The blessings of your father
are stronger than the blessings of the eternal mountains,
the bounties of the everlasting hills;
may they be on the head of Joseph,
on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.
‘Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
in the morning devouring the prey,
and at evening dividing the spoil.’
All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, blessing each one of them with a suitable blessing.
Then he charged them, saying to them, ‘I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my ancestors—in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave in the field at Machpelah, near Mamre, in the land of Canaan, in the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site. There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried; there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried; and there I buried Leah—the field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.’
Canticle
The Song of Manasseh, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 20 (page 570), number 33 (page 584) or number 41 (page 592), may be said
Refrain:
AllFull of compassion and mercy and love
is God, the Most High, the Almighty.
1Lord almighty and God of our ancestors, ♦
you who made heaven and earth in all their glory:
2All things tremble with awe at your presence, ♦
before your great and mighty power.
3Immeasurable and unsearchable is your promised mercy, ♦
for you are God, Most High.
4You are full of compassion, long-suffering and very merciful, ♦
and you relent at human suffering.
5O God, according to your great goodness, ♦
you have promised forgiveness for repentance
to those who have sinned against you.
6The sins I have committed against you ♦
are more in number than the sands of the sea.
7I am not worthy to look up to the height of heaven, ♦
because of the multitude of my iniquities.
8And now I bend the knee of my heart before you, ♦
imploring your kindness upon me.
9I have sinned, O God, I have sinned, ♦
and I acknowledge my transgressions.
10Unworthy as I am, you will save me, ♦
according to your great mercy.
11For all the host of heaven sings your praise, ♦
and your glory is for ever and ever.
Manasseh 1a, 2, 4, 6, 7a, b, 9a, c, 11, 12, 14b, 15b
All Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
All Full of compassion and mercy and love
is God, the Most High, the Almighty.
Scripture Reading
One or more readings appointed for the day are read.
The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence.
Hebrews 6.13-end
When God made a promise to Abraham, because he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and multiply you.’ And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise. Human beings, of course, swear by someone greater than themselves, and an oath given as confirmation puts an end to all dispute. In the same way, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it by an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God would prove false, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek.
A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
AllO my God, in you I trust.
You are the God of my salvation,
AllTo you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
In you I hope all the day long.
AllO my God, in you I trust.
Remember, Lord, your compassion and love,
for they are from everlasting.
AllTo you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
O my God, in you I trust.
from Psalm 25
Gospel Canticle
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah) is normally said,
or Saviour of the World (page 644) may be said
Refrain:
AllBlessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.
1Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, ♦
who has come to his people and set them free.
2He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour, ♦
born of the house of his servant David.
3Through his holy prophets God promised of old ♦
to save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all that hate us,
4To show mercy to our ancestors, ♦
and to remember his holy covenant.
5This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham: ♦
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
6Free to worship him without fear, ♦
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
7And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, ♦
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
8To give his people knowledge of salvation ♦
by the forgiveness of all their sins.
9In the tender compassion of our God ♦
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
10To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, ♦
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Luke 1.68-79
AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
Refrain:
AllBlessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.
Prayers
Intercessions are offered
¶ for the day and its tasks
¶ for the world and its needs
¶ for the Church and her life
Prayers may include the following concerns from the cycle on pages 364–365
¶ Those preparing for baptism and confirmation
¶ Those serving through leadership
¶ Those looking for forgiveness
¶ Those misled by the false gods of this present age
¶ All who are hungry
A form of prayer found on page 380 may be used.
The Litany on pages 400-403 may be said instead of the Prayers.
These responses may be used
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer
(or)
Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.
Silence may be kept.
The Collect of the day is said
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 your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
AllAmen.
The Lord’s Prayer is said
Trusting in the compassion of God,
as our Saviour taught us, so we pray
AllOur Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.
(or)
Trusting in the compassion of God,
let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us
AllOur 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,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Conclusion
May God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
AllAmen.
Let us bless the Lord.
AllThanks be to God.
