Morning Prayer & Daily Devotion December 21st

Christmas nativity scene with three Wise Men presenting gifts to baby Jesus, Mary & Joseph

+ DAILY PRAYER +

+ MORNING +

This Daily Devotion covers the entire New Testament in a period of two years in a Monday through Friday format, the Psalms and order of devotion follow those presented in The Treasury of Daily Prayer from Concordia Publishing House.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice;

in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for You and watch.

My mouth is filled with Your praise,

and with Your glory all the day.

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare Your praise.

Psalm 102:24-28

24      “O my God,” I say, “take me not away

in the midst of my days—

             you whose years endure

throughout all generations!”

    25      Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,

and the heavens are the work of your hands.

    26      They will perish, but you will remain;

they will all wear out like a garment.

             You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,

    27      but you are the same, and your years have no end.

    28      The children of your servants shall dwell secure;

their offspring shall be established before you.

I Corinthians 7:25-40

The Unmarried and the Widowed

25 Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. 26 I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is. 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. 29 This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 33 But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. 35 I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

36 If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. 37 But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. 38 So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better.

39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. 40 Yet in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

Lord’s Prayer

Daily Prayer

Almighty and ever-living God, You strengthened Your apostles with a firm and certain faith in the resurrection of Your Son that they gave their lives to spread to Gospel. Grant us that same faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, that we may always be ready to give witness to the hope that we have in Him, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.

Luther’s Morning prayer

I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.

Pinnacle Lutheran Church Advent Christmas