Family Prayer
In the Morning
Thursday after the Second Sunday in Advent
Advent
These devotions follow the basic structure of the Daily Office of the Church and are particularly appropriate for families with young children.
The Reading and the Collect may be read by one person, and the other parts said in unison, or in some other convenient manner.
Opening Sentence
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth your praise.
PSALM 51:15
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
ISAIAH 40:3
The Psalm
Psalm 51:10-12
Miserere mei, Deus
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,*
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,*
and take not your holy Spirit from me.
12 O give me the comfort of your help again,*
and sustain me with your willing Spirit.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
A READING FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE
COLOSSIANS 1:12-14
Give thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Sirach 48
Elijah
Then the prophet Eli′jah arose like a fire,
and his word burned like a torch.
2 He brought a famine upon them,
and by his zeal he made them few in number.
3 By the word of the Lord he shut up the heavens,
and also three times brought down fire.
4 How glorious you were, O Eli′jah, in your wondrous deeds!
And who has the right to boast which you have?
5 You who raised a corpse from death
and from Hades, by the word of the Most High;
6 who brought kings down to destruction,
and famous men from their beds;
7 who heard rebuke at Sinai
and judgments of vengeance at Horeb;
8 who anointed kings to inflict retribution,
and prophets to succeed you.
9 You who were taken up by a whirlwind of fire,
in a chariot with horses of fire;
10 you who are ready at the appointed time, it is written,
to calm the wrath of God before it breaks out in fury,
to turn the heart of the father to the son,
and to restore the tribes of Jacob.
11 Blessed are those who saw you,
and those who have been adorned in love;
for we also shall surely live.
Elisha
12 It was Eli′jah who was covered by the whirlwind,
and Eli′sha was filled with his spirit;
in all his days he did not tremble before any ruler,
and no one brought him into subjection.
13 Nothing was too hard for him,
and when he was dead his body prophesied.
14 As in his life he did wonders,
so in death his deeds were marvelous.
15 For all this the people did not repent,
and they did not forsake their sins,
till they were carried away captive from their land
and were scattered over all the earth;
the people were left very few in number,
but with rulers from the house of David.
16 Some of them did what was pleasing to God,
but others multiplied sins.
Hezekiah
17 Hezeki′ah fortified his city,
and brought water into the midst of it;
he tunneled the sheer rock with iron
and built pools for water.
18 In his days Sennach′erib came up,
and sent the Rab′shakeh;
he lifted up his hand against Zion
and made great boasts in his arrogance.
19 Then their hearts were shaken and their hands trembled,
and they were in anguish, like women in travail.
20 But they called upon the Lord who is merciful,
spreading forth their hands toward him;
and the Holy One quickly heard them from heaven,
and delivered them by the hand of Isaiah.
21 The Lord smote the camp of the Assyrians,
and his angel wiped them out.
22 For Hezeki′ah did what was pleasing to the Lord,
and he held strongly to the ways of David his father,
which Isaiah the prophet commanded,
who was great and faithful in his vision.
Isaiah
23 In his days the sun went backward,
and he lengthened the life of the king.
24 By the spirit of might he saw the last things,
and comforted those who mourned in Zion.
25 He revealed what was to occur to the end of time,
and the hidden things before they came to pass.
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.
Intercessions
A hymn or canticle may be used.
Prayers may be offered for ourselves and others.
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,
for ever and ever. Amen.
The Collect
O Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, you have brought us safely to the beginning of this day: Defend us by your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin nor run into any danger; and that, guided by your Spirit, we may do what is righteous in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Thursday after the Second Sunday in Advent
Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and the comfort of your holy Word we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A COLLECT FOR GUIDANCE
Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to 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.
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