Presence

Dear Lord, as I come to You today,
fill my heart and my whole being
with the wonder of Your presence.

Freedom

Lord, may I never take the gift of freedom for granted.
You gave me the great blessing of freedom of spirit.
Fill my spirit with Your peace and Your joy.

Consciousness

In the presence of my loving Creator, I look honestly at my feelings over the last day: the highs, the lows and the level ground. Can I see where the Lord has been present?

The Word of God

¹⁴Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region. ¹⁵He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

¹⁶When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, ¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

²⁰And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²²All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

Inspiration

We have a Zoom prayer group in our parish, and recently, most unusually, every member of the group, except for one, had chosen, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ I think that you spoke very directly to those before you. Many of us feel you are speaking these words directly to us as well.  ‘I was sent… To bring good news … and to set the oppressed free’. Are these the very words you want me to hear, also, Lord?

Conversation

Jesus often asked questions of those who came to Him.
Let me sense Him close to me now,
listening to my prayer and asking
“How can I help you?”
“What can I give you?”
“What do you need?”

Conclusion

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.

Amen