Pray for the coming day, and for God’s servants who are bringing good news, healing and hope in the world, especially for ___________________________ (persons you desire to pray for).

Loving God,

You are Lord of the harvest, and Owner of the farm.

Thank you for calling _____________________ to co-labor with You in the field of this world.
Help ___________________ this day to know your voice and guidance, to be led and empowered by your Spirit, and protected from all that is against you and your work in the world. May your kingdom come, and your will be done in their life and in the lives of those they companion into your gracious love and salvation.

In the name of Jesus, Savior, Emmanuel.

Amen.

CLOSING PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ,
Help me to see you
To know you
To follow you
To leave the clamor of many voices
To hear your voice.
Open my ears to hear your voice
And know your guidance
In my life and ministry.
Amen

Lord Jesus Christ,

You who knew the Spirit of God upon and within you, the anointing of God as you brought good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and freedom to those who are oppressed; breathe your Spirit upon ________________________ this day.

Anoint them with God’s love, power, guidance and compassion. May they know your presence and guidance as they co-labor with you to bring good news to _________________________, release from captivity, healing from blindness, and freedom from oppression.

May God’s grace and kind favor be felt and known this day.

In your great name, Amen.
(based on Isaiah 61:1-52 & Luke 4:18-19)

CLOSING PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ,
Help me to see you
To know you
To follow you
To leave the clamor of many voices
To hear your voice.
Open my ears to hear your voice
And know your guidance
In my life and ministry.
Amen

Morning by morning God wakens–
wakens my ear
to listen
as those who are taught. Isaiah 50:5

 Silence

Be still.

Open your awareness to God’s presence
Within and all around.

“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

Lord Jesus, Shepherd who seeks,
By your Spirit, be present in our world today.
Companion those who are lost and seeking a way home,
Give light in their darkness, especially to _____________________.
Give them clarity and guidance in the fog of their restlessness.
As they ache for rest in God, lead them home to your loving and merciful Abba who yearns for their return, and waits on the front porch of the kingdom to greet them.

Shepherd me this day to be a patient listener, a hospitable companion, and a guide who helps others discover your presence and work in their lives.

In your great name, Amen

Pray the prayer Jesus taught his disciples:

Our 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.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever.

Amen.

CLOSING PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ,
Help me to see you
To know you
To follow you
To leave the clamor of many voices
To hear your voice.
Open my ears to hear your voice
And know your guidance
In my life and ministry.
Amen

O God, You who give abundantly out of your glory,
Give us strength in our inner being.
Holy Spirit, You who indwell us,
Empower us to be strong within.
Lord Jesus Christ, You who carry out the loving purposes of God,
Make your home in our hearts;
Help us to grow in faith and trust,
As you continue to root and ground us in your love.
By your power, help us to grasp—along with all who bear your
Name—how wide and deep and long and high your love is.
Help us to know your love—which is beyond our understanding.
Fill us with all the fullness of God.
Gracious God, you who by your power within us, are able to
do abundantly more than all we can ask or imagine,
to you be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, always, always.
Amen.

*Based on Ephesians 3:16-21

CLOSING PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ,
Help me to see you
To know you
To follow you
To leave the clamor of many voices
To hear your voice.
Open my ears to hear your voice
And know your guidance
In my life and ministry.
Amen

Lord Jesus,
You call us to come
To be with you.
By your Spirit help me
To see you
To know you
To follow you.
Amen

Read slowly. Listen deeply. Indwell the scripture.

Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

While we are engaged in doing the work of God we also discover that we are the work of God. God is at work in us. This is what the disciples discover as they leave their nets and boats to follow Jesus. And this what they invite us to discover as we walk alongside them as we enter the gospel narrative in Mark.

Simon Peter draws our attention now to the people who come to Jesus and those whom Jesus seeks out. We encounter the religious leaders of the day, and how their lives are steeped in a long tradition of following the Mosaic law; they also are listening, watching, and asking questions about Jesus. At the heart of their observance of the Law lies the need to be righteous and thus acceptable before God. The Pharisees place a great deal of emphasis on gaining righteousness by separating themselves from people whom they consider unclean, even refusing to eat with anyone who does not observer certain laws and traditions. Some persons are judged untouchable and so become social outcasts, creating a painful rift within the community of Israel.

Jesus surprises everyone as he moves with compassion into this fracture, offering the healing invitation of the kingdom. He wades into this restless sea of lonely people, casting the net wide, announcing God’s love and presence. He offers us spiritual direction, challenging our tidy religious and social rules inn his response to a leper who approaches, kneels before him, and says, “If you choose, you can make me clean.”
Moved with pity (suffering with this man who suffers), Jesus stretches out his hand, touches him, and replies, “I do so choose. Be made clean!”

The Mosaic law forbade persons with leprosy from being present in their local community. Lepers learned to stand at a distance, announcing their presence by shouting out, “Unclean! Unclean!” alerting others to pass at a distance. The blessing and comfort of touch was unknown to them. As Jesus stands before the man with leprosy, he is both angry and full of compassion: angry, probably because of the pain and the lonely rift this man inhabits. Healing needs to sink into the many layers of this man’s body and life. Thus Jesus also offers pastor guidance to assist people in welcoming this man back into the community.

As you linger in this gospel narrative in Mark 1:40-45, what are you drawn to? What catches your attention? What do you sense God’s invitation is to you?
Prayer before reading:

Lord Jesus Christ,
You come to us.
You are God
Showing up among us
With us.
By your Spirit
Help me to see you
To know your voice
Among the many voices
To hear you
As you see and hear the deepest
Desires of my soul.
Amen

Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

• 2/6 Monday: Mark 1:40-45
• 2/7 Tuesday: Mark 1:40-45
• 2/8 Wednesday: Psalm 30
• 2/9 Thursday: 2 Kings 5:1-14
• 2/10 Friday: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
• 2/11 Saturday: Mark 1:40-45
• 2/12 Sunday: Mark 1:40-45

Pray for the coming day. Pray for persons, families, who need the healing and compassionate care of Jesus, especially for ___________________________ .

Dear God and Father, You who mother us with your mercy, and gentle us into peace with your consolation, console us in all our suffering and affliction So that we may be able to console those who suffer with the comfort and care we receive from you.

By your kind Spirit, be present with those who suffer and are crushed. Breathe your comfort and consolation upon the dry ground of their despair. Through your grace and saving love, surround them with your protection, give them healing and restoration.

In the name of Jesus, our Healer and Burden Bearer. Amen.

*Based on 2 Cor.1:3-5

INTERCESSION

Pray for the coming day, and for the persons whom God has called to minister and give oversight in the church, the body of Christ.

Dear God,
You are at work this day.
Help us, your servants, to pay attention to your presence
And what you are doing. Pry us loose from our own agenda,
tight schedules, strategic outcomes.
Wash the lens of our hearts, to see you –
to wait with you; to listen as you listen
to feel the gentle breeze of your Spirit breathing among persons
who sit in the shadow of death;
to speak as you give words,
to touch with gentleness; we are your hands;
to be hospitable within to your good news, and
happy in its overflow in word, touch, and being.
To see evil as you see–all that blocks, stifles, robs,
and destroys, and yet to stand in trusting hope–
in you, Lord Christ, who died to set us free from
sin’s power to rob us of life, faith, hope, and love.
Help us to love ourselves, and so in turn to love others;
to welcome the pilgrim and neighbor within our own soul,
and so not to be a stranger to ourselves, or to others,
but in offering welcome and shelter to our own hungers
we may learn the way of offering welcome and shelter
to those who are searching, hungry, sick, in prison,
alone, naked, and thirsty: for this where you dwell.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

CLOSING PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ,
Help me to see you
To know you
To follow you
To leave the clamor of many voices
To hear your voice.
Open my ears to hear your voice
And know your guidance
In my life and ministry.
Amen

Dear God and Father, You who mother us with your mercy, and gentle us into peace with your consolation, console us in all our suffering and affliction So that we may be able to console those who suffer with the comfort and care we receive from you.

By your kind Spirit, be present with those who suffer and are crushed. Breathe your comfort and consolation upon the dry ground of their despair. Through your grace and saving love, surround them with your protection, give them healing and restoration.

In the name of Jesus, our Healer and Burden Bearer. Amen.

*Based on 2 Cor.1:3-5

CLOSING PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ,
Help me to see you
To know you
To follow you
To leave the clamor of many voices
To hear your voice.
Open my ears to hear your voice
And know your guidance
In my life and ministry.
Amen