Week 1 Friday Morning Prayer

O ETERNAL, Almighty, and most gracious God, the Giver of every good and perfect gift, we bless and thank Thee for Thy love, and that Thou hast kept us through the night, and refreshed us with sleep, that Thou hast sustained and awakened us, and brought us to the beginning of another day. We thank Thee for our life, and that we are spared to enjoy it; for the ties that knit us together in our household, and that Thou hast preserved them unbroken; for our unity, peace, and concord. We thank Thee that we not only have fellowship one with another, but with the Father and the Son; that we know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent; that Thy word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, and that Thy Spirit is sent to lead us into all truth. And we worship Thee, O God, holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, and magnify Thy name, and bow down with reverence before Thy glory.

Lord, keep us from sinning against Thee this day. May Christ, the Light of the world, lighten our darkness, and scatter the evil thoughts and desires that trouble and tempt us. May Christ, the Day-spring from on high, who through the tender mercy of our God hath visited His people, visit us whom He hath so greatly blessed, and sustain us in the knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins. May Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, shine into our souls, heal us, and give us peace.

Father, purify our hearts by the continual work of the Holy Ghost, and grant us clearer knowledge and heartier love for Thee. We have often suffered evil to darken our minds; and we have often loved the world, and the things of the world, and ourselves, before Thee; and Thou hast borne with us in infinite compassion and forbearance, and hast not taken Thy Holy Spirit from us. Wherefore we beseech Thee, by Thy mercy in Christ Jesus, create in us a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within us, that we may worthily walk in Thy ways. Prevent us from strife, from hasty and angry words, from quick retort, from harsh and uncharitable sayings. Deliver us from a stubborn and unforgiving temper, from malice towards any, from unkindness and unthankfulness, from impatience and obstinacy. Suffer us not to fall under any besetting sin, nor to yield to our infirmities, nor to give place to the devil. Keep us from all deceit and hypocrisy in life or thought or word, from a vain and foolish spirit, from lust and passion, from prejudice, from envy, and from discontent. Preserve us from the pressure of business, and the hollowness of a worldly life, and the fretting of care; and grant that neither the cares of this life, nor the deceitfulness of riches, may choke the good seed of Thy word within us. As Thou hatest sin with an infinite hatred, grant us to hate the sinfulness of our hearts; and as Thou hast yet loved us in Jesus Christ Thy Son, and dost wash us from our sins in His blood, grant us to live this day by faith in Him in whom we have redemption, and who by His sacrifice of Himself hath opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

Almighty God, our Refuge and Strength, and the Helper and Comforter of Thy people, help and strengthen us this day for every good word and work, and comfort us in all trouble by the sense of Thine unchangeable love, and of Thy presence with them that seek Thee. Fit us for every duty, that we may do it faithfully and thoroughly. May both master and servant remember that we serve a Master in heaven; that all service, the highest and the lowest, is alike to Thee; that in Thy household we are all members one of another. May children obey their parents in all things, and may no parents provoke their children to wrath. Bless our country and our President. Grant us wise and righteous laws. May our commerce and our polity manifest the fear of God and the love of His truth. May we be preserved from war, and may our rulers remember that we are all Thy stewards.

O God our Father, keep watch over us, and over our beloved kindred and our friends. Help them and help us to remember that we are pilgrims and strangers here; that Thy grace is sufficient for us; and that we walk not by sight, but by faith, and ever looking unto Jesus, in whose name we plead with Thee.