Spirituality: Daily Prayer

Friday 24 July 2026

Morning Prayer

Friday after Pentecost 8
Week A / Week of Proper 16

O Lord, open our lips:
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Glory be to God, Source of all Being, Eternal Word, and Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.
Amen.

Psalmody

Antiphon:
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;*
I will praise my God while I have my being.
Psalm 104.33


Opening

Come, let us sing

1 Come, let us sing to the Lord; *
let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before the presence of the Lord with thanksgiving *
and raise a loud shout to God with psalms.
3 For you, O Lord, are a great God, * and a great sovereign above all gods.
4 In your hand are the caverns of the earth, * and the heights of the hills are yours also.
5 The sea is yours, for you made it, *
and your hands have moulded the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, * and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7 For you are our God, and we are the people of your pasture and the sheep of your hand. *
Oh, that today we would hearken to your voice!
8 “Harden not your hearts, *
as your forebears did in the wilderness.
9 They put me to the test, * though they had seen my works.
10 So I swore in my wrath, *
‘They shall not enter into my rest.’”

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.

or

Glory be to God, Source of all Being, Eternal Word, and Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever.

Amen.

or a suitable Hymn

(Or from Psalm 104)

1. You spread out the heavens like a curtain;*
you lay the beams of your chambers in the waters above;
2. You make the clouds your chariot;*
you ride on the wings of the wind;
3. You make the winds your messengers*
and flames of fire your servants.
4. You have set the earth upon its foundations,*
so that it never shall move at any time.

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.

or

Glory be to God, Source of all Being, Eternal Word, and Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever.

Amen.

or a suitable hymn


Psalm 66

1. Be joyful in God, all you lands *
be joyful, all the earth.
2. sing the glory of the divine name; *
sing the glory of God’s praise.
3. Say to God,” How awesome are your deeds! *
Because of your great strength your enemies cringe
before you.
4. All the earth bows down before you, *
sings to you, sings out your name.”
5. Come now and see the works of God, *
how wonderful you are, O God, in your doing toward
all people.
6. You turned the sea into dry land, so that they went through the water on foot, *
and there we rejoiced in you.
7. In your might you rule for ever; your eyes keep watch
over the nations; *
let no rebel rise up against you.
8. Bless our God, you peoples; *
make the voice of God’s praise to be heard;
9. who holds our souls in life, *
and will not allow our feet to slip.
10. For you, O God, have proved us; *
you have tried us just as silver is tried.
11. You brought us into the snare; *
you laid heavy burdens upon our backs.
12. You let enemies ride over our heads; we went through
fire and water; *
but you brought us out into a place of refreshment.
13. I will enter your house with burnt-offerings *
and will pay you my vows,
14. which I promised with my lips *
and spoke with my mouth when I was in trouble
15. I will offer you sacrifices of fat beasts with the smoke
of rams; *
I will give you oxen and goats.
16. Come and listen, all you who fear God, *
and I will tell you what the Lord has done for me,
17. The One to whom I called out with my mouth *
and whose praise was on my tongue.
18. If I had found evil in my heart, *
the Lord would not have heard me;
19. But in truth God has heard me *
and has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20. Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer, *
nor withheld steadfast love from me.

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.

or

Glory be to God, Source of all Being, Eternal Word, and Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever.

Amen.


Conclusion

Isaiah 45

1. Thus says the Lord who created the heavens,*
who formed the earth and made it;
2. who did not create it a chaos,*
but formed it to be inhabited -
3. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;*
for I am God: there is no other.
4. From my mouth has gone forth in righteousness*
a word that shall not return:
5 "To me every knee shall bow,*
every tongue shall swear".'
6. In the Lord all the offspring of Israel*
shall triumph and glory.

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.

or

Glory be to God, Source of all Being, Eternal Word, and Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever.

Amen.

Antiphon: I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;* I will praise my God while I have my being.

Reading(s)

Joshua 9.22-10.15

Joshua summoned them, and said to them, ‘Why did you deceive us, saying, “We are very far from you”, while in fact you are living among us? Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall always be slaves, hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.’ They answered Joshua, ‘Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you; so we were in great fear for our lives because of you, and did this thing. And now we are in your hand: do as it seems good and right in your sight to do to us.’ This is what he did for them: he saved them from the Israelites; and they did not kill them. But on that day Joshua made them hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, to continue to this day, in the place that he should choose.

When King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, he became greatly frightened, because Gibeon was a large city, like one of the royal cities, and was larger than Ai, and all its men were warriors. So King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem sent a message to King Hoham of Hebron, to King Piram of Jarmuth, to King Japhia of Lachish, and to King Debir of Eglon, saying, ‘Come up and help me, and let us attack Gibeon; for it has made peace with Joshua and with the Israelites.’ Then the five kings of the Amorites—the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon—gathered their forces, and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon, and made war against it.

And the Gibeonites sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, ‘Do not abandon your servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us; for all the kings of the Amorites who live in the hill country are gathered against us.’ So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the fighting force with him, all the mighty warriors. The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not fear them, for I have handed them over to you; not one of them shall stand before you.’ So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal. And the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, who inflicted a great slaughter on them at Gibeon, chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah. As they fled before Israel, while they were going down the slope of Beth-horon, the Lord threw down huge stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died because of the hailstones than the Israelites killed with the sword.

On the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord; and he said in the sight of Israel,

‘Sun, stand still at Gibeon,
and Moon, in the valley of Aijalon.’
And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.

Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in mid-heaven, and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded a human voice; for the Lord fought for Israel.

Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.


Romans 15.14-24

I myself feel confident about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. Nevertheless, on some points I have written to you rather boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the good news of Christ. Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the good news, not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written,

‘Those who have never been told of him shall see,
and those who have never heard of him shall understand.’

This is the reason that I have so often been hindered from coming to you. But now, with no further place for me in these regions, I desire, as I have for many years, to come to you when I go to Spain. For I do hope to see you on my journey and to be sent on by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a little while.


Silence


Response (Psalm 92.4)

In all you have done, O Lord, you have made me glad.
In all you have done, O Lord, you have made me glad.
I will sing for joy because of the works of your hands.
You have made me glad.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
In all you have done, O Lord, you have made me glad.

Song of Zechariah

Song of Zechariah Antiphon: The word of the Cross is folly to those who are perishing: * * but to those who are being saved it is the power of God.

1 Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,* for he has come to his people and set them free.
2 He has raised up for us a mighty saviour,* born of the house of his servant David.
3 Through his holy prophets he promised of old* that he would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all that hate us.
4 He promised to show mercy to our forebears,* and to remember his holy covenant.
5 This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:* to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
6 free to worship him without fear,* holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
7 You my child shall be called the prophet of the Most High,* for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
8 to give his people knowledge of salvation* by the forgiveness of all their sins.
9 In the tender compassion of our God* the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
10 to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,* and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

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.

or

Glory be to God, Source of all Being, Eternal Word, and Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever.

Amen.

(may be said by all)

Song of Zechariah Antiphon: The word of the Cross is folly to those who are perishing: * * but to those who are being saved it is the power of God.

Prayers

Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Do not bring us to the time of trial,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever.

Amen


Collect of the Day

O God of power and might,
all good things belong to you:
sow in our hearts the love of your name,
and make us grow in the life of faith;
nurture the things that are good,
and tend them with your loving care;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.

Amen


God most holy, we give you thanks for bringing us out of the shadow of night into the light of morning; and we ask you for the joy of spending this day in your service, so that when evening comes, we may once more give you thanks, through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.
Amen

Let us bless the Lord:
Thanks be to God!

The Lord bless us and preserve us from all evil;
and bring us to life eternal.
Amen.

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