Morning Prayer, 3rd Wednesday in Ordinary Time
Please feel free to pause the service at any point if you would like more time to pray or to reflect.
OPENING SENTENCES
O Lord, open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Be willing, O God, to deliver us!
O Lord, come quickly to our help!
The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel. (Mark 1:15)
THE GLORIA PATRI
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. AMEN.
THE MORNING PSALM
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us 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.
Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
when your fathers put me to the test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
and they have not known my ways.”
Therefore I swore in my wrath,
“They shall not enter my rest.” (Psalm 95:1-11)
THE PSALTER
Psalm 65
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.
Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion,
and to you shall vows be performed.
O you who hear prayer,
to you shall all flesh come.
When iniquities prevail against me,
you atone for our transgressions.
Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
to dwell in your courts!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
the holiness of your temple!
By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,
O God of our salvation,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas;
the one who by his strength established the mountains,
being girded with might;
who stills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples,
so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.
You visit the earth and water it;
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide their grain,
for so you have prepared it.
You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.
The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.
THE PSALM PRAYER
Favorable and most merciful Father, who has elected and placed your people in your Church: Grant that we may continually acknowledge this, your inestimable benefit; that, ever dependent on your power and goodness, we need have no regard for our adversaries, but may live in quietness, always ready to sing your praises. Through Jesus Christ your Son. AMEN.
THE OLD TESTAMENT LESSON
A reading from Isaiah, chapter 49:
Listen to me, O coastlands,
and give attention, you peoples from afar.
The Lord called me from the womb,
from the body of my mother he named my name.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow;
in his quiver he hid me away.
And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my right is with the Lord,
and my recompense with my God.”
And now the Lord says,
he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
and that Israel might be gathered to him—
for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
he says:
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Thus says the Lord,
the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,
the servant of rulers:
“Kings shall see and arise;
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
Thus says the Lord:
“In a time of favor I have answered you;
in a day of salvation I have helped you;
I will keep you and give you
as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
to apportion the desolate heritages,
saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’
They shall feed along the ways;
on all bare heights shall be their pasture;
they shall not hunger or thirst,
neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,
for he who has pity on them will lead them,
and by springs of water will guide them.
And I will make all my mountains a road,
and my highways shall be raised up.
Behold, these shall come from afar,
and behold, these from the north and from the west,
and these from the land of Syene.” (Isaiah 49:1-12)
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
THE CANTICLE The Song of Hannah
My heart exults in the Lord;
my horn is exalted in the Lord.
My mouth derides my enemies,
because I rejoice in your salvation.
There is none holy like the Lord:
for there is none besides you;
there is no rock like our God.
Talk no more so very proudly,
let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and by him actions are weighed.
The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble bind on strength.
The Lord kills and brings to life;
he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
he brings low and he exalts.
He raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from the ash heap
to make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
and on them he has set the world.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
he will give strength to his king
and exalt the horn of his anointed.
THE EPISTLE LESSON
A reading from Galatians, chapter 2:
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. (Galatians 2:11-21)
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
THE MORNING PRAYERS
The Prayers for Grace
Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray that you will so guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life, we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.
Loving God, through your Son you have called on all people to repent of their sin, to believe in the Gospel, and to celebrate the coming of your Kingdom. Like Jesus’ first disciples, grant that we may we hear his call to follow him, and, forsaking our own way, proclaim the Good News of peace, happiness, and salvation, found in Christ alone, in whose name we pray. AMEN.
Wednesday Morning Prayers
Almighty and most merciful father, from whom are all things and for whom all things exist, to whose tender compassion we owe our safety in days past, together with all the comforts of this present life, and the hopes of that which is to come: We praise you, O God; you are our very great joy, daily pouring your benefits upon us. Grant, we beseech you, that Jesus our Lord, the Hope of glory, may be formed in us, in all humility, patience, and absolute surrender of our souls and bodies to your holy will and pleasure. Leave us not, nor forsake us, O Father, but conduct us safe through all changes of our condition here, in an unchangeable love to you, and in holy tranquility of mind in your love to us, till we come to dwell with you and rejoice in you for ever. AMEN.
Merciful Father, strengthen us in prayer, that we may lift up the brokenness of this world for your healing and share in the saving love of Christ our Lord. Especially we pray for:
- those in positions of authority over others…
- the lonely and forgotten…
- children without families or homes…
- those who provide care and relief to others in need…
- the Church in Asia and the Middle East…
Personal Thanksgivings and Intercessions
Hear us now, Father, as in the name of Christ, we offer our own thanksgivings and intercessions for those in sickness, grief, persecution, bondage, fear, or loneliness…
Please feel free to pause the service for your personal prayers and thanksgivings for yourself, the Church, your officers, and others.
The Prayers of the Day
O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.
Almighty God, who having made your dear Son Jesus Christ perfect through suffering, has called your people to be his disciples and followers: Fill us, we beseech you, with the same Spirit which was in him, that we, being crucified to the world, may patiently bear the cross. And being renewed in our natures in righteousness and true holiness, and walking in the way of Christ, grant that peace and mercy may be upon us. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.
O Merciful God, who according to your divine power has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness: Make us strong in the Lord, in the power of his might; that putting on the whole armor of God, we may be able to resist all the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, praying to you always with fervent prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord, who taught us to pray together:
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 debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. AMEN.
THE DISMISSAL
Go forth into the world in peace; be of good courage; hold fast that which is good; render to no one evil for evil; strengthen the fainthearted; support the weak; heal the afflicted; honor all people; love and serve the Lord, rejoicing always in the power of the Holy Ghost. And the blessing of God the Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, preserve and keep you this day and forevermore. AMEN.