Good Evening, Lord!
Words of Comfort
[God] has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake
you." (Heb. 13:5 ESV)
Prayer of Confession
O God, you are Lord of the night, just as you are Lord of
the day. To your will the stars are obedient, moving in the paths you have
placed them. In this hour of darkness, I too would submit my will to yours.
·
From the
stirrings of rebellion within my heart:
·
From cowardly
avoidance of my duty:
·
From fearful
shrinking from necessary suffering:
·
From
discontentment with my lot:
·
From jealousy
of those whose lot seems easier:
·
From thinking
lightly of the gifts you have given me, because I think other gifts would have
been better:
·
From un-creaturely
pride:
·
From un-discipled
thought:
·
From
unwillingness to learn and unreadiness to serve:
O God, set me free.
O God my Father, you are often closest to me when I feel
farthest from you, and you are near at hand even when I feel you have forsaken
me, mercifully grant that the defeat of my self-will may be your purpose. Break
and hinder every evil plan of the devil, the world, and my sinful nature which
do not want your Name to be hallowed, your will to be done, and your kingdom to
come. Give me the confidence that, when I stand in your presence, you see only
Jesus’ righteousness and not my sin. And when I rest, let it be in the peace
that my soul is in your loving hands, as are the souls of all who love and
trust in you, and your faithfulness remains, even when mine falters. Amen.[1]
Catechism Reflections
The Sacrament
of the Altar
I would like save the conversation about the Sacrament of
the Altar until next week. In lieu of that, I thought it might be helpful to
define the world Sacrament.
In Lutheran circles we define a Sacrament as: A sacred act
which is instituted by God, in which God himself has joined his Word of promise
to a visible element, and by which he offers, gives, and seals the forgiveness
of sins earned by Christ to us.
The word sacrament
comes to us from the Latin translation of the Bible, where it translates the
word mystery. In a broad sense this
word describes all the saving truths of the faith, such as the Trinity, the
incarnation, the redemption, and the church. Our use of the word is narrowed in
this context to discuss two of God’s Means of Grace.
Questions for Meditation
What does this reading teach you?
What does this reading lead you to be thankful for?
What behavior, thought, or attitude does this reading
challenge? What sin does it lead you to confess?
How might you pray for God to have a richer impact on your
life through this reading?
Petitions of the Lord’s Prayer
“But deliver us from evil.”
Dear Father, please rescue us from every evil of body and
soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give
us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to heaven,
where we will live eternally with You, and with Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, One
God, now and forever. Amen.
Verse of Benediction
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Ps. 23:6 ESV)
[1] This prayer is adapted
from John Baillie, A Diary of Private Prayer, 1949 – an evening prayer for the
31st day of the month. Baillie wrote wonderful prayers for the
morning and evening of each day of the month. They have inspired, educated, and
assisted many in their prayer lives. It was updated in 2014 by Susanna Wright.
That edition is available from Amazon here.
I personally prefer the 1949 edition with the older style of language. Those
can still be found if you search for it.
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