Daily Prayer and Bible Reading
I know that I struggled with this for years, bopping from one thing to the next. How on earth to find the time? The best resource to use? Something that wasn’t too simplistic (sorry, Portals, but you just weren’t what I was looking for at all); and not too complicated (yes, the Daily Office as in The Brotherhood Prayer Book is a great joy, but there is frustration when you inevitably fall behind and finding all the propers scattered throughout the volume is more than a challenge, ribbons or not!).
But then CPH published it: Treasury of Daily Prayer. Our daily prayer and Bible reading have NEVER been so simple, so ordered, such a rock stable part of our lives. What do my wife and I do for devotions? After we roll out of bed and clean the cobwebs from our minds, we roll into the kitchen. Before we start praying, I get the stuff ready to go for our coffee. More on that in a minute.
We open the Treasury to the day. I begin with the Invocation, and then we sing responsively the Psalm portion printed (and always add the Gloria Patri, of course). Then we take turns reading the readings and the writing, switching readers at each paragraph. When we’ve sung the hymn verse, prayed the collect (and observed any commemoration that falls that day), we recite together the Apostles’ Creed (during which I go turn on the hot water for the coffee!), the Our Father, and then Prayer for the day of the week (Treasury, p. 1306 ff.). We add in some other prayers and I’ll provide them here:
O Lord, Jesus Christ, our God, in your mercy and loving kindness you regard the humble prayers of all who call upon you with their whole heart; incline your ear and hear now our prayer offered to you in humility.
Be mindful, O Lord, of your holy, universal and apostolic church; confirm and strengthen her, increase her and keep her peace, and preserve her unconquerable forever.
Be mindful, O Lord, of all the clergy of the church, which you have established to feed the flock of your word and by their prayers, have mercy on us and save us poor sinners.
Be mindful, O Lord, of all civil authorities, of our armed forces, of this place in which we reside, and of every city and countryside; grant them peaceful times, that we in their tranquility, may lead a calm and peaceful life in all godliness and sanctity.
Be mindful, O Lord, of our father, of our brothers and sisters, our relatives and friends; grant that they may have mercy, life, peace, health, salvation, visitation, pardon and remission of all their sins, that they may ever praise and glorify your holy name.
Be mindful, O Lord, of those who travel by land, by sea, and by air; of the old and young, the sick, the suffering, the sorrowing, the afflicted, the captives, the needy and the poor; and upon them all send forth your mercies for you are the giver of all good things.
Be mindful, O Lord, of us, your humble servants; grant us your grace, that we be diligent and faithful, avoiding evil company and influence, resisting temptations; that we, may lead godly and righteous lives, blameless and peaceful, ever serving you; that we may be accounted worthy of entering the kingdom of heaven. Amen
O God, our Heavenly Father, you love mankind and are most merciful and compassionate. Have mercy on our children, our grandchildren, and our godchildren, your servants, for whom we humbly pray you and commend them to your gracious protection. Be O God, their guide and guardian in all their endeavors; lead them in the path of your truth, and draw them nearer to you, that they may lead a godly and righteous life in your love and fear, doing your will in all matters. Give them grace that they may be temperate, industrious, diligent, devout, and charitable. Defend them against the assaults of the enemy, and grant them wisdom and strength to resist all temptation and corruption of this life; and direct them in the way of salvation, for the merits of your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
Our bountiful God, we beseech you, listen to our humble prayer, that we may ever feel that the married state is holy and that we must keep it holy. Grant your grace that we may never sin against the faithfulness and love of this marriage. Foster between us the spirit of understanding and of peace, that no strife or quarrel, or misunderstanding may arise between us. Grant us health and our daily bread, whereby we may serve you more. Amen
We close our prayers with Luther’s morning prayer and the Benedicamus. In all, maybe about 15 minutes? And by the time the prayers wrap up, just have time to grind coffee and pull kettle off the burner and then we sit down to our piping hot morning cuppa java and talk about the upcoming day or whatever we want.
Now, when we’re on the road, we usually just do the exact same, relying on the marvelous little PrayNow app from CPH (available in your mobile device’s app store). And if ever you want to pray one of the daily offices with that app, you can very easily tell it automatically populate either Matins, Vespers or Compline with the appointed psalm, readings, writing, and prayer for the day. Very, very convenient.
But just putting the prayers at the head of the day, and doing them straight out of Treasury, enfolding them in Luther’s daily prayers for morning, has worked so well, I doubt we’ll ever end up doing anything different.
What if you have little ones? My recommendation is to wed your daily devotion to the table. If you sit down altogether for breakfast, acquaint them early with the fact we read the Bible together as a family and pray together each day. And by all means, do not substitute a Bible story book (that has its place, but in the family daily prayers, keep to the Scriptures!). Above all, trust the Word to do its job. Read it. Read it aloud. And if they have a question about what they hear, hurray. If it seems to go in one ear and out the other, don’t worry. You’re immersing them in the stories of the Word. It will bear fruit “where and when the Holy Spirit wills in those who hear the Gospel.”
So what about YOU? Have you found Treasury or another resource of great help in your daily prayer and Bible reading? Care to share?
