Ephesians 1:3-14

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, ⁴just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. ⁵He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. ⁷In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace ⁸that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight ⁹he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, ¹⁰as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. ¹¹In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, ¹²so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. ¹³In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; ¹⁴this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.

• 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.
• As you pay attention to the breath, remember the breath of life that has been given to you.
• Allow this breath to permeate every inch of you.
• Give thanks to God for the breath of life.
• Consider the redemption and forgiveness for you given through the blood of Jesus Christ.
• Give thanks to God for Christ and the gift of new life.
• Consider what this inheritance means for you.
• How do you live with this inheritance?
• Do you hoard your inheritance or share it?
• Do you appreciate your inheritance or take it for granted?
• Do you stand up for your inheritance or do you deny it?
• What is  God’s message for you in your inheritance?
• Is there a call to action?
• 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, January 3, 2021, the second Sunday after Christmas (Year B)

Jeremiah 31:7-14
Psalm 147:12-20
Ephesians 1:3-14
 John 1:(1-9) 10-18

If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings.  (c) 2020 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.

Psalm 147:12-20

¹²  Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
          Praise your God, O Zion!
¹³  For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
          he blesses your children within you.
¹⁴  He grants peace within your borders;
          he fills you with the finest of wheat.
¹⁵  He sends out his command to the earth;
          his word runs swiftly.
¹⁶  He gives snow like wool;
          he scatters frost like ashes.
¹⁷  He hurls down hail like crumbs —
          who can stand before his cold?
¹⁸  He sends out his word, and melts them;
          he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
¹⁹  He declares his word to Jacob,
          his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
²⁰  He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
          they do not know his ordinances.
     Praise the Lord!

• Light a candle to remember the light of Christ with you.
• Sit five to fifteen minutes in silent meditation paying close attention to the deep breath.
• Let your attention shift to a part of you cold or frozen that desires to praise God.
• Be melted by the warmth of God’s love.
• Praise God!
• Let your attention shift to a part of creation that is cold or frozen that desires to praise God.
• Be melted by God’s peace.
• Praise God with creation!
• Let your attention shift to a part of your community that is cold or frozen that desires to praise God.
• Be melted by God’s hope for us.
• Praise God with your community.
• What is God’s invitation 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, January 3, 2021, the second Sunday after Christmas (Year B)

Jeremiah 31:7-14
Psalm 147:12-20
Ephesians 1:3-14
 John 1:(1-9) 10-18

If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings.  (c) 2020 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.

Jeremiah 31:7-14

⁷   For thus says the LORD:
     Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
          and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
     proclaim, give praise, and say,
          “Save, O LORD, your people,
          the remnant of Israel.”
⁸   See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,
          and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
     among them the blind and the lame,
          those with child and those in labor, together;
          a great company, they shall return here.
⁹   With weeping they shall come,
          and with consolations I will lead them back,
     I will let them walk by brooks of water,
          in a straight path in which they shall not stumble;
     for I have become a father to Israel,
          and Ephraim is my firstborn.

¹⁰  Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
          and declare it in the coastlands far away;
     say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him,
          and will keep him as a shepherd a flock.”
¹¹  For the LORD has ransomed Jacob,
          and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
¹²  They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
          and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,
     over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
          and over the young of the flock and the herd;
     their life shall become like a watered garden,
          and they shall never languish again.
¹³  Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
          and the young men and the old shall be merry.
     I will turn their mourning into joy,
          I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
¹⁴  I will give the priests their fill of fatness,
          and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty,
                                                                           says the LORD.

• Light a candle to remember the light of Christ with you.
• Sit five to fifteen minutes in silent meditation paying close attention to the deep breath.
• Let your attention shift to the part of you that has been exiled and feels far away.
• God is looking for you.
• Where does God find you?
• Hear God’s promise that God will find those from the farthest parts of the earth.
• Hear God’s promise that you shall be nourished like a watered garden, flourishing.
• What obstacle is keeping you from accepting God’s embrace and promise?
• With love and tenderness, listen to this obstacle.
• How can God help you with your desired freedom from this obstacle?
• With anticipation, notice the water and nourishment God has for you.
• What is God’s invitation for you today?
• 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, January 3, 2021, the second Sunday after Christmas (Year B)

Jeremiah 31:7-14
Psalm 147:12-20
Ephesians 1:3-14
 John 1:(1-9) 10-18

If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings.  (c) 2020 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.

Luke 2:22-40

²²When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³(as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), ²⁴and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

²⁵Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. ²⁶It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, ²⁸Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, 
²⁹  “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, 
          according to your word; 
³⁰  for my eyes have seen your salvation, 
³¹       which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 
³²   a light for revelation to the Gentiles 
          and for glory to your people Israel.”

³³And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. ³⁴Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed ³⁵so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed — and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

³⁶There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, ³⁷then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. ³⁸At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

³⁹When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. ⁴⁰The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

• Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
• Sit five to fifteen minutes in silent meditation paying attention to the deep breath.
• Where have your eyes seen the salvation of God?
• What wisdom does this bring to you?
• What favor of God do you feel upon you?
• Share your praise and thanksgiving with God.
• A child has been born to redeem Jerusalem.
• How are you being redeemed today by this child named Jesus?
• Invite the light to shine in the darkness.
• What is God’s invitation for you?
• Share as you feel led in the reply box below.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, December 27, 2020, the first Sunday after Christmas (Year B)

Isaiah 61:10-62:3
Psalm 148:1-14
Galatians 4:4-7
Luke 2:22-40

If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings.  (c) 2020 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.