Praying Advent: Day 20
Praise
Lauds (Traditional hour: dawn/waking up)Laudate, omnes gentes, laudate Dominum! [Sing praises, all people, sing praises to the Lord!]We greet the new day by praising the Creator.
Opening:
Praise the Lord, O my soul:Praise God’s holy name.
Scripture
Thus says the Lord:Maintain justice, and do what is right,
for soon my salvation will come,and my deliverance be revealed.Happy is the mortal who does this,the one who holds it fast,
who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it,and refrains from doing any evil.Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say,‘The Lord will surely separate me from his people’;
and do not let the eunuch say,‘I am just a dry tree.’
For thus says the Lord:
To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,who choose the things that please meand hold fast my covenant,
I will give, in my house and within my walls,a monument and a namebetter than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting namethat shall not be cut off.And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,and to be his servants,
all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it,and hold fast my covenant—
these I will bring to my holy mountain,and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt-offerings and their sacrificeswill be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayerfor all peoples.
Thus says the Lord God,who gathers the outcasts of Israel,
I will gather others to thembesides those already gathered.
for soon my salvation will come,and my deliverance be revealed.Happy is the mortal who does this,the one who holds it fast,
who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it,and refrains from doing any evil.Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say,‘The Lord will surely separate me from his people’;
and do not let the eunuch say,‘I am just a dry tree.’
For thus says the Lord:
To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,who choose the things that please meand hold fast my covenant,
I will give, in my house and within my walls,a monument and a namebetter than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting namethat shall not be cut off.And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,and to be his servants,
all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it,and hold fast my covenant—
these I will bring to my holy mountain,and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt-offerings and their sacrificeswill be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayerfor all peoples.
Thus says the Lord God,who gathers the outcasts of Israel,
I will gather others to thembesides those already gathered.
-Isaiah 56:1-8 NRSV
Meditation
Read the Confession (BCP 352) in an unfamiliar location - in the park, at work, at school, or on the bus. What does the prayer inspire you to turn from in that location? What does it inspire you to turn toward?
Prayers
Come, Emmanuel, come dwell with me.Hope of the world and Word of life:Come, Emmanuel, come dwell with me.
Going Out
Praise the Lord, O my soul:Praise God’s holy name.
Prayer form adapted from:1Daily prayer for all seasons. (2014). New York, N.Y.: Church Publishing.