Prayer on Sunday — The Threefold Sabbath

Holy and merciful God! Since I celebrate today the Sabbath and day of rest on which, in accordance with Thy holy ordinance, I am freed from my week-day labors, in order that I may be edified by Thy Word, and may rejoice in Thee: I beseech Thee to grant me Thy Holy Spirit, that I may spend the day in true devotion by hearing, reading, and meditating on Thy holy Word, and that I may shun all sinful distractions, worldliness, evil company, and sin.

On this weekly Sabbath I call to mind also the daily spiritual Sabbath, on which I should rest and abstain from sin, and should consecrate my body and soul, and my entire life, unto Thee. By Thy grace, therefore, O my God, this shall be my daily task: to do Thy will, not my own, and to banish all evil thoughts and desires by Thy power, so that Thou mayest dwell in me, and mayest enlighten and sanctify me more and more. O God! Grant that this spiritual and daily Sabbath of my heart may never be disturbed. Do Thou pray in my heart, sing in my heart, and instruct within my heart; then shall my heart be Thy consecrated temple.

And when, at last, according to Thy will, I shall have ended the days of my earthly life and at the same time shall have ended this daily Sabbath, let me enter upon the heavenly and eternal Sabbath, where, in everlasting rest and the enjoyment of the bliss of heaven, I shall praise Thee in the temple of Thy glory. There, with all the Cherubim and Seraphim, I shall join in the refrain, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Sabaoth. Grant me, O Lord, this blessedness at last. Amen.