Listen to or read a short service of Prayer for Thursday 4 June 2020, the Thursday after the Day of Pentecost.
Preparation
O Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Praise
O Lord, from whom all good things come:
grant to us your humble servants,
that by your holy inspiration
we may think those things that are good,
and by your merciful guiding may perform the same;
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Psalm 25.4-12
Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you have I hoped all the day long.
Remember, Lord, your compassion and love,
for they are from everlasting.
Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions,
but think on me in your goodness, O Lord,
according to your steadfast love.
Gracious and upright is the Lord;
therefore shall he teach sinners in the way.
He will guide the humble in doing right
and teach his way to the lowly.
All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth
to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
For your name’s sake, O Lord,
be merciful to my sin, for it is great.
Who are those who fear the Lord?
Them will he teach in the way that they should choose.
Their soul shall dwell at ease
and their offspring shall inherit the land.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now and shall be for ever. Amen.
Reading
One of the scribes came near and asked Jesus, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that “he is one, and besides him there is no other”; and “to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength”, and “to love one’s neighbour as oneself”,—this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.’ When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ After that no one dared to ask him any question.
Mark 12.28-34
This is the word of the Lord.
Prayers
Let us pray to God, with wholehearted love for him and for all people.
Grant that the Church, always remembering the great commandments, may worship you in love, and reveal her faith by showing love to all. May your people serve you, the living God, in word and deed.
Fill the world with knowledge of the divine love without which nothing is blessed and the human love without which none can be whole. Make the rulers and the lawgivers obedient to your law.
Give us true love every day, to live as knowing all to be our neighbours. Bless our children and enable us to lead them into the way of love.
Have mercy on those who feel themselves to be unloved and unwanted. Give them the comfort of your presence. Turn and soften those whose hearts are hardened against their neighbours.
May the sacrifice of Christ avail for the salvation of the departed. We pray for those we have loved here on earth and who have entered into rest.
That our prayers may be made perfect in love, we offer them through Christ our Lord.
Holy Spirit, sent by the Father,
ignite in us your holy fire;
strengthen your children with the gift of faith,
revive your Church with the breath of love,
and renew the face of the earth,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us
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,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
The Conclusion
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with us all evermore. Amen.
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