Thu. evening Mar. 26
Opening response
Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!
Let your ways be known on earth,
and your salvation among the nations.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation, to you be glory and praise forever. As we behold your Son, enthroned on the cross, stir up in us the fire of your love, that we may be cleansed from all our sins, and walk with you in newness of life singing the praise of him who died for us and our salvation.
Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.
That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful, let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As our evening prayer rises before you, O God, so may your mercy come down upon us to cleanse our hearts and set us free to sing your praise now and forever.
Amen.
Hymn
Sweet Hour of Prayer
Words: William W. Walford (1772-1850)
Music: William B. Bradbury (1816-1868)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#440)
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
that calls me from a world of care,
and bids me at my Father's throne
make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
my soul has often found relief,
and oft escaped the tempter's snare
by thy return, sweet hour of prayer!
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
the joys I feel, the bliss I share
of those whose anxious spirits burn
with strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
where God my Savior shows his face,
and gladly take my station there,
and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
thy wings shall my petition bear
to him whose truth and faithfulness
engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since he bids me seek his face,
believe his word, and trust his grace,
I'll cast on him my every care,
and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
Confession of Sin
Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.
Silence may be kept.
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we 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.
Psalm 42
As the deer pants for the water brooks,
so my soul pants for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while they continually say to me,
“Where is your God?”
When I remember these things,
I pour out my soul within me.
For I would go with the throng of people,
and lead them in procession to the house of God,
with the voice of joy and praise,
a multitude keeping festival.
Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God,
for I shall again praise Him
for the help of His presence.
O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember You
from the land of Jordan,
and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep
at the thunder of Your waterfalls;
all Your waves and Your billows
have gone over me.
The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
and in the night His song will be with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
I will say to God, my rock,
“Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?”
As a shattering of my bones,
my enemies reproach me,
while they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
for I shall again praise Him,
my salvation and my God.
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.
Psalm prayer
Come, creator Spirit, source of life; sustain us when our hearts are heavy and our wells have run dry, for you are the Father’s gift, with him who is our living water, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 43
Vindicate me, O God,
and plead my cause against an ungodly people;
deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
For You are the God of my refuge;
why have You cast me off?
Why do I walk about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?
Oh send out Your light and Your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to Your holy hill
and to Your dwelling.
Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and with the harp I will praise You,
O God, my God.
Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
for I shall again praise Him,
my salvation and my God.
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.
Psalm prayer
Come, Holy Spirit, light and truth; bring us to the altar of life, and renew our joy and gladness in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Jeremiah 23:9-32
My heart is broken within me,
because of the prophets;
all my bones shake;
I am like a drunken man,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the LORD,
and because of His holy words.
For the land is full of adulterers;
for the land mourns because of the curse.
The pleasant places of the wilderness have dried up.
And their course is evil
and their might is not right.
For both prophet and priest are profane;
indeed, in My house I have found their wickedness,
says the LORD.
Therefore their way will be as slippery ways to them;
they shall be driven into the darkness
and fall in it;
for I will bring disaster upon them,
even the year of their punishment,
says the LORD.
In addition, I have seen folly
in the prophets of Samaria.
They prophesied by Baal
and caused My people Israel to err.
I have seen also among the prophets of Jerusalem
a horrible thing.
They commit adultery and walk in lies.
They also strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one repents from his wickedness.
All of them are as Sodom to Me
and her inhabitants as Gomorrah.
Therefore thus says the LORD of Hosts concerning the prophets:
“Behold, I will feed them with wormwood
and make them drink the water of gall,
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
profaneness has gone out into all the land.”
Thus says the LORD of Hosts:
Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.
They lead you into vanity;
they speak a vision of their own heart
and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
They still say to those who despise Me,
“The LORD has said, ‘You will have peace’ ”;
and they say to everyone who walks after the imagination of his own heart,
“No evil will come upon you.”
For who has stood in the counsel of the LORD
and has perceived and heard His word?
Who has given heed to His word and listened to it?
Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD
has gone forth in fury,
a tempestuous whirlwind.
It will fall tempestuously upon the head of the wicked.
The anger of the LORD will not turn back
until He has executed and performed
the thoughts of His heart.
In the latter days
you will understand it perfectly.
I have not sent these prophets,
yet they ran.
I have not spoken to them,
yet they prophesied.
But if they had stood in My counsel
and had caused My people to hear My words,
then they would have turned them from their evil way
and from the evil of their deeds.
Am I a God who is near,
says the LORD,
and not a God far off?
Can a man hide himself in secret places
so that I do not see him?
says the LORD.
Do I not fill heaven and earth?
says the LORD.
I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, “I had a dream, I had a dream!” How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, who plan to cause My people to forget My name by their dreams, which they tell to their neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten My name for Baal. The prophet who has a dream, let him tell his dream. And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? says the LORD. Is not My word like fire, says the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal My words, each from his neighbor. Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and say, “The LORD says.” Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams, says the LORD, and recount them and cause My people to err by their lies and reckless boasting. Yet I did not send them or command them. Therefore they shall not profit this people at all, says the LORD.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
John 12:12-19
On the next day a great crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. They took branches of palm trees, and went out to meet Him, and cried out:
“Hosanna!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
The King of Israel!”
Then Jesus, having found a young donkey, sat on it. As it is written:
“Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your King is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt.”
His disciples did not understand these things at first. But when Jesus was glorified, they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.
Now the crowd that was with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead bore witness. The crowd went and met Him for this reason: They heard that He had performed this sign. So the Pharisees said among themselves, “See, you are gaining nothing! Look, the world has followed Him!”
Silence may be kept.
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Luke 1:46-55
My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded
the low estate of His servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is His name.
His mercy is on those who fear Him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has pulled down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
in remembrance of His mercy,
as He spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.
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.
Brief silence.
The Apostle’s Creed
Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:
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.
Thanksgiving and intercession
Thanksgiving may be made for the day.
Intercessions are offered
for peace
for individuals and their needs
Prayers may include the following concerns:
The persecuted Church
The oppressed peoples of the world
All who are lonely
All who are near death
All who are facing loss
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Father, hear our prayer,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ delivered and saved the world: grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross we may triumph in the power of his victory; 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 forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Trusting in the compassion of God, as our Savior taught us, so we pray
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. Amen.
Conclusion
May Christ, who bore our sins on the cross, set us free to serve him with joy.
Amen.