12“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.” 17But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. 19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.
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.
Pay attention to your body as you breath.
What tension do you feel?
Send the breath to this place of tension, inviting the tension to leave your body. Continue to send the breath to this place until you feel freedom from the tension.
Name the freedom you feel?
Allow the breath to carry this freedom through your body.
Where does the freedom flow?
Where is the Holy Spirit in this freedom?
What is the Holy Spirit building in the temple within you?
Is there a call to action?
Give thanks to God for this time in prayer, reflecting upon the temple of the Holy Spirit within you. Give thanks for any new insights you have received.
Share as you feel led in the reply box below.
Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, January 14, 2018, the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
John 1:43-51
If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings (c) 2018 The Rev. Lil Smith, M.Div., DASD
1 O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence — 2 as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil — to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence 3 When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. 4 From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him. 5 You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed. 6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. 7 There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity 8 Yet, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. 9 Do not be exceedingly angry, O LORD, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all your people.
Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
Sit five to fifteen minutes in silent meditation paying attention to the deep breath.
As you read through this passage from Isaiah, consider a time you did not call upon the name of the Lord.
What do you remember about this time?
Notice any tension you feel in your body.
Take several deep breaths to soften the tension.
Read through the passage a second time.
How did God break through to you?
In what way(s) did God remold and reshape you?
If there is still tension in your body, invite God into this tension.
Offer a cry for forgiveness. Take several deep breaths to soften the tension. Breathe in the breath of God. Breathe out the tension.
Allow God to heal this tension in you and to give you freedom in its place.
Breathe in freedom. Breathe out tension.
Give thanks to God for this time in reconciliation and for any new insights you have received.
Share as you feel led in the reply box below.
Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, December 3, 2017, the First Sunday of Advent (Year B)
Isaiah 64: 1-9
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Mark 13: 24-37
If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings. (c) 2017 The Rev. Lil Smith, M.Div., DASD
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.
What word or phrase captures your attention?
Sit with this word or phrase and allowing it to be poured over you again and again.
Where does it rest on or in your body?
What freedom does this word or phrase give to you?
What tension still exists?
Embrace both the freedom and the tension.
Invite God into both places.
Be open to a message from God.
Stay with this place of openness.
Listen.
What do you hear?
Give thanks to God for this time in prayer, embracing freedom and tension. Give thanks for any new insights you have received.
Share as you feel led in the reply box below.
Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, January 15, 2012, the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
John 1:43-51
If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author.
Permission to use in not-for-profit settings The Rev. Lil Smith, M.Div., DASD
12“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.” 17But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. 19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.
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.
Pay attention to your body as you breath.
What tension do you feel?
Send the breath to this place of tension, inviting the tension to leave your body. Continue to send the breath to this place until you feel freedom from the tension.
Name the freedom you feel?
Allow the breath to carry this freedom through your body.
Where does the freedom flow?
Where is the Holy Spirit in this freedom?
What is the Holy Spirit building in the temple within you?
Is there a call to action?
Give thanks to God for this time in prayer, reflecting upon the temple of the Holy Spirit within you. Give thanks for any new insights you have received.
Share as you feel led in the reply box below.
Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, January 15, 2012, the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
John 1:43-51
If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author.
Permission to use in not-for-profit settings The Rev. Lil Smith, M.Div., DASD
1 O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence — 2 as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil — to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence 3 When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. 4 From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him. 5 You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed. 6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. 7 There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity 8 Yet, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. 9 Do not be exceedingly angry, O LORD, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all your people.
Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
Sit five to fifteen minutes in silent meditation paying attention to the deep breath.
As you read through this passage from Isaiah, consider a time you did not call upon the name of the Lord.
What do you remember about this time?
Notice any tension you feel in your body.
Take several deep breaths to soften the tension.
Read through the passage a second time.
How did God break through to you?
In what way(s) did God remold and reshape you?
If there is still tension in your body, invite God into this tension.
Offer a cry for forgiveness. Take several deep breaths to soften the tension. Breathe in the breath of God. Breathe out the tension.
Allow God to heal this tension in you and to give you freedom in its place.
Breathe in freedom. Breathe out tension.
Give thanks to God for this time in reconciliation and for any new insights you have received.
Share as you feel led in the reply box below.
Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, November 27, 2011, the First Sunday of Advent Year B Isaiah 64: 1-9 Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Mark 13: 24-37
If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings The Rev. Lil Smith, M.Div., DASD
