Morning Prayer & Daily Devotion December 8th

+ 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 11

The Lord Is in His Holy Temple

11 To the choirmaster. Of David.

          In the Lord I take refuge;

             how can you say to my soul,

“Flee like a bird to your mountain,

          for behold, the wicked bend the bow;

they have fitted their arrow to the string

to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;

          if the foundations are destroyed,

what can the righteous do?”

          The Lord is in his holy temple;

the Lord’s throne is in heaven;

his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.

          The Lord tests the righteous,

but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

          Let him rain coals on the wicked;

fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

          For the Lord is righteous;

             he loves righteous deeds;

the upright shall behold his face.

I Cor 1:18-2:5

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,

             “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Proclaiming Christ Crucified

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Lord’s Prayer

Daily Prayer

Lord God, heavenly Father, You are in Your holy temple, Your throne is in heaven. Yet You came to us in baptism where You placed Your seal upon us and healed us of all sin, uniting us with Christ. We pray that You would continue to strengthen us by Your Holy Spirit so that we may embody Christ in the world through our words and in our actions, through 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