16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.
As you settle into the breath.
Listen.
In preparation, listen for the fruit of the Spirit.
Love.
Joy.
Peace.
Forbearance.
Kindness.
Goodness.
Faithfulness.
Self Control.
How does God desire for you to go into the world today?
How does God desire for you to be love?
How does God desire for you to create relationships?
Listen deeply and invite God to show you how God will use you as a disciple today.
Go.
What is your message from God?
Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
Share as you feel led in the reply box below.
Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, June 4, 2023, Trinity Sunday (Year A)
Genesis 1:1-2:4a Psalm 8:1-9 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 Matthew 28:16-20
If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings. (c) 2023 The Rev. Dr. Lil Smith, DASD
Rev. Dr. Lil Smith is a trained spiritual director, supervisor, and co-founder of Retreat House Spirituality Center in Richardson, TX. Upon completion of her spiritual direction training, Lil began Praying the Lectionary in 2011 as a spiritual practice for her morning prayer time. Instead of reading about someone else’s experience of God, it was important for her to create a prayer practice that would encourage felt sense experience of the Holy emerging from within. It dawned on her others might enjoy the practice, as well. So she began to share them on this site.
As you experience the practice of Praying the Lectionary, adopt a loving, caring, and compassionate stance. If the end of your prayer and meditation time is not pointing to love and hope, there is more work to do. Keep wrestling. God is faithful to your journey. Love and hope will emerge. Be gentle with yourself and befriend any judgment that arises in you.
11 Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.
13 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.
Let your focus expand to your spiritual community.
Notice how you bear with one another and support one another.
Are there places of brokenness and woundedness that need to be tended?
How do you desire to build up one another?
Turn away from things that will tear down and destroy.
Turn toward the holiness: the grace, love, and communion of the Holy.
What is your message from God?
Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
Share as you feel led in the reply box below.
Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, June 4, 2023, Trinity Sunday (Year A)
Genesis 1:1-2:4a Psalm 8:1-9 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 Matthew 28:16-20
If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings. (c) 2023 The Rev. Dr. Lil Smith, DASD
Rev. Dr. Lil Smith is a trained spiritual director, supervisor, and co-founder of Retreat House Spirituality Center in Richardson, TX. Upon completion of her spiritual direction training, Lil began Praying the Lectionary in 2011 as a spiritual practice for her morning prayer time. Instead of reading about someone else’s experience of God, it was important for her to create a prayer practice that would encourage felt sense experience of the Holy emerging from within. It dawned on her others might enjoy the practice, as well. So she began to share them on this site.
As you experience the practice of Praying the Lectionary, adopt a loving, caring, and compassionate stance. If the end of your prayer and meditation time is not pointing to love and hope, there is more work to do. Keep wrestling. God is faithful to your journey. Love and hope will emerge. Be gentle with yourself and befriend any judgment that arises in you.
1 O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; 4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, 7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.
Oh, Lord, your glory encompasses us.
See the glory of God encompass you.
See the glory of God encompass your home.
See the glory of God encompass your neighborhood.
See the glory of God encompass the world.
See the glory of God encompass the universe.
Oh, Lord, you ask us to care for your world.
How shall I glorify you in my caring work today?
What is your message from God?
Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
Share as you feel led in the reply box below.
Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, June 4, 2023, Trinity Sunday (Year A)
Genesis 1:1-2:4a Psalm 8:1-9 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 Matthew 28:16-20
If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings. (c) 2023 The Rev. Dr. Lil Smith, DASD
Rev. Dr. Lil Smith is a trained spiritual director, supervisor, and co-founder of Retreat House Spirituality Center in Richardson, TX. Upon completion of her spiritual direction training, Lil began Praying the Lectionary in 2011 as a spiritual practice for her morning prayer time. Instead of reading about someone else’s experience of God, it was important for her to create a prayer practice that would encourage felt sense experience of the Holy emerging from within. It dawned on her others might enjoy the practice, as well. So she began to share them on this site.
As you experience the practice of Praying the Lectionary, adopt a loving, caring, and compassionate stance. If the end of your prayer and meditation time is not pointing to love and hope, there is more work to do. Keep wrestling. God is faithful to your journey. Love and hope will emerge. Be gentle with yourself and befriend any judgment that arises in you.
1In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. 8God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
9And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. 12The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16God made the two great lights — the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night — and the stars. 17God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
20And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” 21So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. 22God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. 25God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.
26Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” 27So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
2:1Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. 3So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.
4These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.
Each day is a new creation.
Each day we are invited again to be a new creation.
As you see the light this day, scan your body for a place where the darkness covers the face of the deep.
Notice how the darkness feels.
Using all of your senses (hear, see, smell, taste, touch), describe the darkness.
Name the darkness.
When you are ready to let the darkness be healed, let the light shine upon the darkness.
See the Breath of God sweep over the darkness blowing it away, allowing God’s light to shine upon this wounded place in you.
Notice how the warmth of the Light is eager to heal you.
Sit with the light and the breath as long as you wish.
What is your message from God?
Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
Share as you feel led in the reply box below.
Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, June 4, 2023, Trinity Sunday (Year A)
Genesis 1:1-2:4a Psalm 8:1-9 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 Matthew 28:16-20
If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings. (c) 2023 The Rev. Dr. Lil Smith, DASD
Rev. Dr. Lil Smith is a trained spiritual director, supervisor, and co-founder of Retreat House Spirituality Center in Richardson, TX. Upon completion of her spiritual direction training, Lil began Praying the Lectionary in 2011 as a spiritual practice for her morning prayer time. Instead of reading about someone else’s experience of God, it was important for her to create a prayer practice that would encourage felt sense experience of the Holy emerging from within. It dawned on her others might enjoy the practice, as well. So she began to share them on this site.
As you experience the practice of Praying the Lectionary, adopt a loving, caring, and compassionate stance. If the end of your prayer and meditation time is not pointing to love and hope, there is more work to do. Keep wrestling. God is faithful to your journey. Love and hope will emerge. Be gentle with yourself and befriend any judgment that arises in you.
37On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, 38and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” 39Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.
Jesus has been glorified.
Yet we still thirst.
What part of you is thirsty today?
What do you desire from the One who gives living water?
Let the one who believes drink.
Drink.
Drink.
Drink.
Drink until the water is flowing rivers from your heart.
Encounter the world today with rivers flowing from your heart.
What is your message from God?
Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
Share as you feel led in the reply box below.
Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, May 28, 2023, the Day of Pentecost, Year A
Acts 2:1-21 Psalm 104:24-34,35b Romans 8:22-27 John 7:37-39
If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings. (c) 2023 The Rev. Dr. Lil Smith, DASD
Rev. Dr. Lil Smith is a trained spiritual director, supervisor, and co-founder of Retreat House Spirituality Center in Richardson, TX. Upon completion of her spiritual direction training, Lil began Praying the Lectionary in 2011 as a spiritual practice for her morning prayer time. Instead of reading about someone else’s experience of God, it was important for her to create a prayer practice that would encourage felt sense experience of the Holy emerging from within. It dawned on her others might enjoy the practice, as well. So she began to share them on this site.
As you experience the practice of Praying the Lectionary, adopt a loving, caring, and compassionate stance. If the end of your prayer and meditation time is not pointing to love and hope, there is more work to do. Keep wrestling. God is faithful to your journey. Love and hope will emerge. Be gentle with yourself and befriend any judgment that arises in you.
22We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; 23and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
26Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
Sit five to fifteen minutes in silent meditation paying close attention to the deep breath.
Consider how creation groans with labor pains today.
What do you see around you?
What hope is there in what is not seen?
How might the Holy Spirit intercede for the world?
Do you hear a message for you?
Is there a call to action for you?
Consider how you groan with labor pains today.
What do you see around you?
What hope is there in what is not seen?
How might the Holy Spirt intercede for you today?
Do you hear a message for you?
Is there a call to action for you?
Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
Share as you feel led in the reply box below.
Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, May 28, 2023, the Day of Pentecost, Year A
Acts 2:1-21 Psalm 104:24-34,35b Romans 8:22-27 John 7:37-39
If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings. (c) 2023 The Rev. Dr. Lil Smith, DASD
Rev. Dr. Lil Smith is a trained spiritual director, supervisor, and co-founder of Retreat House Spirituality Center in Richardson, TX. Upon completion of her spiritual direction training, Lil began Praying the Lectionary in 2011 as a spiritual practice for her morning prayer time. Instead of reading about someone else’s experience of God, it was important for her to create a prayer practice that would encourage felt sense experience of the Holy emerging from within. It dawned on her others might enjoy the practice, as well. So she began to share them on this site.
As you experience the practice of Praying the Lectionary, adopt a loving, caring, and compassionate stance. If the end of your prayer and meditation time is not pointing to love and hope, there is more work to do. Keep wrestling. God is faithful to your journey. Love and hope will emerge. Be gentle with yourself and befriend any judgment that arises in you.
